Sept. 9, 2009 - After two successful weekend road trips, the Hillsdale College volleyball team is ready to play some conference rivals. The team will get that chance this weekend, as it travels to Tiffin and Ashland for GLIAC matches Friday night and Saturday afternoon, respectively.

The Chargers went 7-1 during their two early-season tournaments, including four wins by 3-0 sweeps, two victories over regionals rivals from the GLVC, and a 3-1 triumph over 25th-ranked Wayne State of Nebraska.

Entering the conference schedule, the Chargers own the second-best overall record in the GLIAC, trailing only Wayne State's 8-0 record. Going on the road will be more common for Hillsdale this year than in recent years past. Hillsdale plays four away weekends on this year's schedule, compared to three weekends at home. The first of those away weekends takes the team to a pair of gyms where it hasn't lost in a while.

Tiffin is in its second year as part of the GLIAC. The Dragons finished tied for last place on the GLIAC South Division last year, and was swept by Hillsdale by identical 3-0 scores in 2008. In the last meeting between the teams in Ohio, the Chargers held the Dragons to less than 18 points in all three sets.

While the rivalry with Tiffin is a new one, the Chargers' rivalry with Ashland goes back many years, and have many great matches between the two programs.

Ashland handed the 2006 Hillsdale College volleyball team its only two losses of that season, a year when the Chargers finished 29-2. Both of those losses occured in postseason tournaments. But since then, Hillsdale has done its best to erase the pain of those stomach-punch losses.

The Chargers haven't lost to the Eagles since November 2006, sweeping the season series between the teams for three straight seasons. A 3-0 win over Ashland in the 2007 GLIAC Tournament Semifinals is part of the seven straight victories by Hillsdale over Ashland.

The Eagles are off to a 4-4 start to the season, and have won three straight matches. As of Wednesday afternoon, the only statistics available for Ashland were of its first four matches of the season.

The Chargers have featured a balanced offense with a lineup that is still primarily made up of underclassmen. Sophomore outside hitter Ashlee Crowder was named the first GLIAC South Division Player of the Week, and has achieved double digits in kills in seven of eight matches this season.

Two more front-row players have enjoyed strong starts to the season. Sophomore Clara Leutheuser joined Crowder on the All-Tournament Team at the Colorado Springs Tournament, and had career-highs of 17 and 20 kills in the first two matches of the University of Findlay tournament, both career-highs.

Freshman Lauren Grover hit for a very high attack percentage at the Findlay Tournament, and had back-to-back matches of 12 kills/1 error and 9 kills/1 error from her middle hitter position.

Junior Sydney Dow, a Second-Team All-GLIAC selection as libero a year ago, was named to the All-Tournament Team at the University of Findlay last season, and has stabilized the team's serving and defensive play.

After this weekend's road trip, Hillsdale will play three straight home matches, starting Tuesday, Sept. 15 against rival Findlay.