Box score

September 25, 2010 - Playing with a focus and determination worthy of a foe like Grand Valley State, the Hillsdale College volleyball team put together a terrific effort in achieving a 3-0 win over the Lakers Saturday afternoon at Jesse Philips Arena.

Hillsdale, ranked 16th in the nation, completes its three-day homestand Sunday against Saginaw Valley State University at 2 p.m.

From 1990-2006, Hillsdale did not beat Grand Valley State once in volleyball. But a 3-0 win by the '06 Chargers started a trend that has seen Hillsdale achieve success against the Lakers unlike any other team in the conference. GVSU opened the 2010 season with a 3-0 win over three-time defending national champion Concordia-St. Paul.

In Saturday's matchup, Hillsdale's entire team played with focus and execution. Led by Sydney Dow, Apryl Schmucker, Amanda Bigney and Morgan Podkul, the Chargers passed the ball very effectively against the Lakers' big and powerful hitters throughout the match. It was in part, thanks to that passing, that enabled Hillsdale to keep the ball in play in the first set, when GVSU committed 10 attack errors and four service errors in a 25-19 Chargers win.

Hillsdale won the other two sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-20.

Bigney, in particular, played a strong all-around game, passing and serve receiving well, and finished with a team-high 11 kills. She also had five digs and one solo block.

GVSU outblocked Hillsdale 8-7, but the Chargers were able to pull out a few more points during many of the long rallies in the match. Schmucker played terrific defense as well in the match, and added three kills, 34 assists and 11 digs.

The team also improved its serving accuracy in this match, committing only two service errors compared to eight the night before. Hillsdale hit .424 in the third set of the match.

Dow had a team-high 21 digs, while junior Ashlee Crowder had nine kills and eight digs. Sophomore Lauren Grover had a team-best three block assists.