Sept. 18, 2009 - This was the kind of performance Hillsdale College volleyball coach Chris Gravel prepares his teams for.

Playing with an equal mix of passion and execution, the Chargers put together one of their finest performances in recent years in a 3-0 sweep over a very good Wayne State University team before a packed house inside the Jesse Philips Arena Friday night.

The win gives Hillsdale a two-game lead in the GLIAC South Division, a 4-0 conference record and 11-1 mark overall. Hillsdale is back home at 2 p.m. Saturday, hosting Northwood University.

The Chargers lost all three meetings with the Warriors in 2008, and gained a measure of revenge in this match. There were standout performances by players all over the Hillsdale roster, as the team was able to outblock the best blocking team in the GLIAC.

Hillsdale limited Wayne State to a team hitting percentage below .200 in all three sets, while hitting .269 itself for the match. The Warriors had just 27 kills in the entire match, while committing four service errors and giving up five service aces to the Chargers. Wayne State struggled with its serve reception all night, and was unable to generate the kind of offense that helped it to a 10-1 start to the season.

On the Hillsdale side, there were almost too many great performances to focus on just one.

Playing without injured defensive specialist Brogan Wells, junior Amanda Bigney stepped in and played all the way around and turned in a wonderful performance.

She served a team-high 23 times and had three service aces and just one error. Bigney is not normally on the court when she moves to the back row, so rarely gets an opportunity to serve. But she took full advantage of her chance to serve and helped get the Chargers on a match-turning scoring run in the second set with her accurate serving.

Wayne State came into the match with a big and powerful set of middle blockers, but they were neutralized by the only two seniors on the Charger roster. Hannah Barrett and Emily Bennett were brilliant in the front row, combining for two solo blocks and 11 block assists. They were a front-row tandem during the same rotation that saw Bigney serving throughout the match, and this combination on the court for Hillsdale proved to be too much for the Warriors to handle. Bennett had five kills and hit .333 for the match, while Barrett added four kills and didn't have an attack error, for a .571 hitting percentage.

Sophomore Apryl Schmucker handed out 36 assists, while junior Sydney Dow played another terrific match from her libero spot, making accurate passes all night to go along with 23 digs.

Sophomore Ashlee Crowder played another strong match on offense for Hillsdale, with a match-high 17 kills along with eight digs and one service ace. Bigney finished with nine kills and six digs, while sophomore Clara Leutheuser added eight kills and a solo block.

Click on the link below for the stats from Friday's match.

Chargers 3, Wayne State 0