August 29, 2009 - After spending five days in Colorado, the Hillsdale College volleyball team is coming home exactly what it hoped it would - an undefeated record.

The Chargers finished off a perfect opening weekend with a 3-0 sweep of Colorado State-Pueblo Saturday afternoon in Colorado Springs. Hillsdale is 4-0 on the season, and will try to duplicate this weekend's record next weekend at the University of Findlay tournament.

The Chargers were declared tournament champions, and were the only team to go 4-0. Sophomores Ashlee Crowder and Clara Leutheuser were named to the All-Tournament Team in a vote conducted by the coaches of the teams at the tournament.

Hillsdale 3, Colorado State-Pueblo 0
In the tournament finale, the Chargers whipped CSU-Pueblo with wins of 25-19, 25-15 and 25-15. In the final match of the weekend, sophomore Clara Leutheuser set a new career-high with 14 kills to lead all players.

Hillsdale put forth a very balanced effort in the fourth match of the weekend. Five players had four or more kills in the match, with sophomore setter Apryl Schmucker handing out 27 assists in the sweep.

Making her collegiate debut, freshman Kaleigh Shuster had the final two kills in the first set, clinching the win for the Chargers. She finished with four kills, four digs and four service aces for Hillsdale.

Fellow freshman Lauren Grover had five total blocks in the match, including two solo blocks. She also had six kills from her middle hitter position. Junior Amanda Bigney added seven kills, and junior libero Sydney Dow led the team with 17 digs.

Click on the link below for the box score from Saturday's final match.

Chargers 3, Colorado State-Pueblo 0

Hillsdale 3, Wayne State (Neb.) 1
The only nationally ranked team on Hillsdale's schedule through the first two weeks of the season became the Chargers' third victim of the opening weekend.

Hillsdale played a strong overall match in defeating Wayne State (Neb.) 3-1 at the Colorado Springs Tournament Saturday afternoon.

The two teams split the first two sets by identical 25-20 scores. An 11-1 run in the third set keyed a Chargers' 25-18 triumph, with the match ending on a 25-21 win by Hillsdale in the fourth set.

Hillsdale's front row players did a brilliant job of blocking the Warriors' attackers in the match. The Chargers had 14 blocks as a team, led by five total blocks by Leutheuser. She also had 10 kills in the match.

Schmucker also played an excellent match, getting eight kills, 42 assists and 13 digs. Sophomore Ashlee Crowder continued a dominant weekend with a team-high 18 kills to go along with three service aces and eight digs.

Bigney had 10 kills, while Dow led the team with 21 digs. Senior Hannah Barrett had six kills and hit .462 for the match. Sophomore Morgan Podkul had 17 digs in the victory.

Click on the link below for the box score.

Chargers 3, Wayne State (Neb.) 1

August 28, 2009 - There are times when the Hillsdale College volleyball team likes to keep things dramatic. Its first match of the 2009 season was one of those times.

Hillsdale came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Unviersity of Colorado - Colorado Springs 3-2 in the first match of that school's tournament Friday afternoon in Colorado Springs. Later Friday, the Chargers used an 8-0 set-ending run vs. Texas Women's College to help them earn a 3-0 victory.

Hillsdale 3, Colorado-Colorado Springs 2
The Chargers were close to winning the first set, holding a 25-24 lead. But the team made three consecutive errors, falling 27-25.

UCCS dominated the second set, winning 25-17. But Hillsdale came back, cutting down on its attack errors and getting the ball to Crowder, last year's GLIAC Freshman of the Year.

Crowder was an awesome offensive force in the match, leading all players with 26 kills, a career-high. That total also ranks as the 11th-most kills in a single match in school history. She also came up with 16 digs, also a career-best.

Hillsdale was able to force more mistakes by UCCS as the match went along. The Lions played superb offense in the first two sets, committing a total of just eight attack errors in those sets. But in the third, fourth and fifth sets, Hillsdale forced the Lions into committing 21 attack errors, giving the Chargers easy points.

Schmucker, playing her first match as the team's primary setter, dished out a career-high 47 assists, to go along with five kills (just one error) and nine digs.

Several other players turned in strong games for the Chargers in the opener. Leutheuser had five total blocks and 12 kills, one shy of her career-high. Senior Emily Bennett played another efficient match, with 11 kills and a .455 hitting percentage. Bigney added 12 kills to the Charger offense.

Dow led Hillsdale with 23 digs, while Podkul added 12 digs. Sophomore Brogan Wells delivered two service aces and had seven digs.

Hillsdale 3, Texas Women's College 0
Although the final score of Friday's second match reflects a sweep, it was anything but easy for the Chargers.

Hillsdale won a nip-and-tuck first set, 25-22, but a long match appeared likely when TWC held a 23-17 lead in the second set. Cue the dramatics once again, for the Chargers.

Hillsdale went on an 8-0 run to close out the second set with a 25-23 win. Bigney contributed three kills during the scoring streak, while Leutheuser added two kills and a block. Earlier in that set, Hillsdale held an 8-7 lead, but fell behind 16-8 after a 9-0 run by TWC.

Hillsdale jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the third set, successfully carrying over momentum it built during the end of the second set, and never looked back.

Crowder led the team again with 12 kills. Leutheuser hit .400 in the match and had 10 kills and four block-assists. Sophomore Amanda Geelhoed, seeing her first action on the court since November 2007, had one kill and three block assists.

Schmucker handed out 28 assists, while Crowder led the team with 13 digs. Wells added a career-high 10 digs for the Chargers. Podkul served up two aces in the win.

As a team, Hillsdale held TWC to a negative team hitting percentage in the second and third sets and .000 for the match overall.

Click on the links below for box scores from Friday's matches.

Chargers 3, UCCS 2

Chargers 3, Texas Women's College 0