Box score



November 13, 2010 - The Hillsdale College volleyball team stands one step away from back-to-back conference tournament championships. But the next step will be the toughest.

The Chargers knocked off Ferris State University 3-1 Saturday evening at Jesse Philips Arena in the 2010 GLIAC Volleyball Tournament semifinals. Hillsdale (27-1) will take on Grand Valley State University in Sunday's championship match, which is scheduled for 4 p.m. The Lakers defeated Northern Michigan University 3-1 in Saturday's other semifinal.

The championship match will also be held at Hillsdale College's Jesse Philips Arena. Sunday's match pits the last two GLIAC champions (HC in 2009, GVSU in 2008) against one another.

Hillsdale beat Ferris State in the first two sets by scores of 25-23 and 25-17. The Bulldogs pulled off an incredible comeback in the third set, finishing the set on a 9-0 run to beat Hillsdale 26-24. But the Chargers quickly closed out the match with a 25-17 win in the fourth set.

Hillsdale's outstanding blocking was a big factor in the win. Not only did the Chargers score points with their blocks - 17.0 total blocks as a team is a season-high - but those blocks also prevented the Bulldogs from hitting a high percentage. FSU hit .026 as a team for the match.

Junior middle hitter Clara Leutheuser led the block parade with four solo blocks and 11 block assists, both season-highs for the First-Team All-GLIAC player. She also had seven kills and a service ace, and helped negate Ferris State'sa powerful offense.

Freshman Caitlin Kopmeyer (pictured), after playing extremely well in her playoff debut Thursday vs. Ashland, upped her game to another level against the Bulldogs, as she came off the bench to deliver 11 kills, a .375 hitting percentage, and six digs. She gave the team a big spark in the second set, anc continued it through the rest of the match.

Senior Amanda Bigney, who was honored as an honorable mention All-GLIAC player Saturday, had a terrific all-around match, with 12 kills and seven block assists. But she also passed extremely well and stood strong in the serve receive part of her game. Her play not only helped Hillsdale score points directly with her kills, but engineered the team's offense from the start, with her strong passing.

Junior Ashlee Crowder, the 2010 GLIAC Player of the Year, led all players with 15 kills in the match, while hitting .387. She also had four block assists and five digs.

Junior Apryl Schmucker led the team with 44 assists, and was one of thee players with double digit digs (10). Senior Sydney Dow, named the GLIAC Libero of the Year for the second year in a row, had 13 digs and a service ace. Junior Morgan Podkul led the Chargers with 16 digs.

Hillsdale and Grand Valley State last met in the postseason in the 2007 GLIAC Tournament Championship Match, played in Allendale and won by the Lakers 3-1.