PLAYOFFS!!!
Volleyball downs Ferris, On to Gliac's
Casey Cheney
Issue date: 11/12/09 Section: Sports
In four games of Hillsdale College volleyball, the Chargers worked their way to a spot in the semi-finals of the GLIAC Conference Tournament. Had they lost against Ferris State University Thursday, their playoff hopes would have ended last night. Now they will host Ashland Saturday at 5 p.m.
"They embarrassed us last time on our court, so we're hoping to shut them up," sophomore Ashlee Crowder said.
This Wednesday win came after defeating Wayne State University and Northwood University last weekend.
"I think this was even a bigger match," Crowder said of Wednesday's game over their weekend wins. "This is the team that played against Wayne State and Grand Valley which was who we've been looking for all along."
She said they served aggressively though the passing was "sketchy."
"Overall, we just controlled the pace of the game and took over," she said. "We've picked it up more, and we can pick it up even more."
Junior co-captain Sydney Dow said, other than the first game, they played with a lot of intensity. She said they went to the other side of the court after losing their first game and decided it wouldn not happen again.
"It looked like no kill that they got and no block that they got could hurt us," Dow said. "We always answered with something better."
This was the first time Hillsdale beat Ferris in four years. With a win against Ashland, Hillsdale will proceed to the championship game on Sunday.
"We really want to win a conference title," Dow said. "We haven't done that ever. Ever."
Head coach Chris Gravel said last night showed what they've been working on in practice.
"They've really been working hard the last couple weeks," he said.?"They've been getting healthy. That helps, too."
He added Wednesday displayed better problem-solving by the team after errors.
Winning the conference title Sunday would move the team to the national tournament.
The top eight teams in the nation move on to the tournament, and the national selection comes out either Sunday night or Monday morning.
Gravel said Hillsdale is around seventh in the ranking, leaving them with a good percentage chance of moving on.
"We don't even want to look to that," he said. "We want to worry about the conference first and worry about that next week."
"They embarrassed us last time on our court, so we're hoping to shut them up," sophomore Ashlee Crowder said.
This Wednesday win came after defeating Wayne State University and Northwood University last weekend.
"I think this was even a bigger match," Crowder said of Wednesday's game over their weekend wins. "This is the team that played against Wayne State and Grand Valley which was who we've been looking for all along."
She said they served aggressively though the passing was "sketchy."
"Overall, we just controlled the pace of the game and took over," she said. "We've picked it up more, and we can pick it up even more."
Junior co-captain Sydney Dow said, other than the first game, they played with a lot of intensity. She said they went to the other side of the court after losing their first game and decided it wouldn not happen again.
"It looked like no kill that they got and no block that they got could hurt us," Dow said. "We always answered with something better."
This was the first time Hillsdale beat Ferris in four years. With a win against Ashland, Hillsdale will proceed to the championship game on Sunday.
"We really want to win a conference title," Dow said. "We haven't done that ever. Ever."
Head coach Chris Gravel said last night showed what they've been working on in practice.
"They've really been working hard the last couple weeks," he said.?"They've been getting healthy. That helps, too."
He added Wednesday displayed better problem-solving by the team after errors.
Winning the conference title Sunday would move the team to the national tournament.
The top eight teams in the nation move on to the tournament, and the national selection comes out either Sunday night or Monday morning.
Gravel said Hillsdale is around seventh in the ranking, leaving them with a good percentage chance of moving on.
"We don't even want to look to that," he said. "We want to worry about the conference first and worry about that next week."
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