Box score

October 30, 2010 - They were down 2-1. They were hearing chants of "over-rated" from the crowd. They were searching for answers. But as they have all season, the players on the Hillsdale College volleyball team dug down and won another match Saturday afternoon.

Playing a five-set conference match for the first time all season, Hillsdale rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat host Ashland University 3-2 Saturday afternoon at Ashland's Kates Gymnasium. The Chargers are now 23-1 on the season and 17-0 in the GLIAC, and have clinched at least a tie for the top overall record in the conference for the 2010 regular season.

Saturday, this Hillsdale team was tested in a new way, playing an opponent that was executing brilliantly and playing at home, while the Chargers were faced with trying to win their final road contest of the regular season. After a 25-20 win in the first set, Hillsdale would lose sets two and three by identical 25-20 scores.

Head coach Chris Gravel then tweaked his lineup, making his team bigger along the front line, while getting a career-best performance from sophomore Kaleigh Shuster, and the Chargers didn't look back from there. Hillsdale blew out Ashland 25-15 in the fourth set, and overcame an early 4-2 deficit in the fifth set to top the Eagles 15-9.

Shuster (pictured), who rarely saw playing time in the early part of the season, stepped in at outside hitter and turned in an incredible performance for the team. She delivered a career-high 10 kills, and had a .474 attack percentage while playing in all five sets.

Junior Ashlee Crowder had a team-high 20 kills, and was a powerful, nearly unstoppable force at the net. She hit .340 for the match and had three service aces and nine digs.

In a five-set match like this, defense and passing are critical, and senior libero Sydney Dow had another great match in both areas, leading the team with 26 digs. Junior Brogan Wells added a season-high 16 digs, and had three service aces. Junior Apryl Schmucker had 48 assists and matched Crowder's nine digs for the Chargers.

Hillsdale extended the nation's longest winning streak to 22, and faces a Friday night showdown with the North Division's first-place team, Northern Michigan University. Hillsdale and NMU have stood atop the conference standings all season, and finally, will meet in a match that could decide homecourt advantage for the upcoming GLIAC Tournament.