Box score

November 5, 2010 - The second-largest volleyball crowd in school history saw the Hillsdale College Chargers get homecoming weekend off to a perfect start.

The Chargers wrapped up the 2010 GLIAC regular season title with a closely fought 3-0 victory over 19th-ranked Northern Michigan University Friday night in Jesse Philips Arena. Hillsdale, ranked 9th in the nation, is now 24-1 overall and 18-0 on the season.

This is the second year in a row Hillsdale has won the GLIAC regular season crown, though it had to share last year's championship with Saginaw Valley State. The team also clinched homecourt advantage throughout the GLIAC Tournament. Hillsdale will play its first-round match at home Thursday, Nov. 11, and if it wins, will host next weekend's semifinals and finals, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 13 and Sunday, Nov. 14.

In front of a crowd of 890 family, friends, alumns and fans, the Chargers gutted out a win over the highest-ranked team they've played at home in this season. Northern Michigan's record fell to 20-4 with the loss, but the final 3-0 score couldn't have been more deceiving. The Wildcats held leads late in all three sets, and it was the Chargers who had to come up with big plays in the clutch to win all three sets.

Hillsdale was victorious by scores of 25-22 in the first and third sets, and 26-24 in the second set.

The dominant force in the match was Hillsdale College junior Clara Leutheuser, who tipped an evenly played match into Hillsdale's favor with her accurate hitting and superior blocking skills. The Wildcats had no answer for Leutheuser, who led all players with 13 kills, a .476 attack percentage, and compiled eight total blocks, including three solo. NMU moved a majority of its offensive attack attempts to the outside, in an attempt to negate Leutheuser's blocking, but her quickness and athleticism negated this adjustment, and proved to be a big difference in a very tight match.

The first set was tied at 21-21 before the Chargers closed out the Wildcats with a 4-1 run, capped on a Leutheuser kill. NMU appeared to be in control in the second set through much of it, and led at one point 23-22. Just two points away from facing a tied match, Hillsdale dug down and outscored NMU 5-1 to end the set. The Wildcats had set point, ahead 24-23, but junior Ashlee Crowder would have none of it, getting a kill and two blocks to finish off the set for the Chargers.

In the third set NMU led again 17-16, but the Chargers went on a 6-2 run to pull out in front, 22-19. Leutheuser teamed up with Amanda Geelhoed on a block to set Hillsdale up for the winning points.

Crowder played a strong match for the Chargers, with 11 kills, eight digs and five total blocks. Apryl Schmucker dished out 27 assists, and had 11 digs and four kills. Hillsdale's "little people" trio of Sydney Dow, Morgan Podkul and Brogan Wells all had outstanding matches passing and serve receiving against NMU's awesome serving game. Podkul had 10 digs for the Chargers, as well as two service aces. Dow had seven digs and consistently passed effectively against aggressive serves from the Wildcats.

Hillsdale will close out the 2010 regular season at 2 p.m. Sunday against Michigan Tech.