September 8, 2007 - The weekend finished much better than it started for the Hillsdale College volleyball team.

The Chargers split four matches at the Ashland Tournament over the weekend, losing both matches played Friday night, while recording a pair of 3-0 sweeps Saturday. Hillsdale, ranked No. 7 in the nation, is 9-4 upon completion of its early-season tournaments. The team opens GLIAC play at home this coming weekend, hosting Northwood at 7 p.m. Friday followed by a noon match against Saginaw Valley State University Saturday.

Hillsdale lost two matches in four games each on Friday, first to 24th-ranked Northern Kentucky, and later, to Wheeling-Jesuit. The loss to NKU was a tough one to stomach, given the 37-35 score of the fourth game. In volleyball's scoring format, that represents seven "overtime" points. Matches are decided by the first team to reach 30 points, but the final margin must be at least two points. That means the two teams never gained a lead of more than one point after the game was tied 29-29.

After hitting just .179 as a team in the first game, NKU cranked up its explosive offense, finishing the match with a team hitting percentage of .285. Three NKU players combined for 56 of the team's 73 kills in the match.

Hillsdale was led offensively by senior Melissa Bartlett's 20 kills, while sophomores Kitt Smith (17 kills) and Emily Bennett (10 kills) also played well for the Chargers.

The loss to the Cardinals of Wheeling-Jesuit was not a decision Hillsdale expected to have, especially after absorbing a tough loss earlier in the day Friday. Hillsdale easily won the second game of the match, 30-16, but struggled with all-around execution in losing the other games by scores of 30-26, 30-22 and 30-25. Senior Megan Howard delivered a career-high seven service aces to provide a highlight for Hillsdale in the loss.

The team came out Saturday with improved focus and execution in sweeping a pair of teams. The 3-0 win over Bellarmine also counts as a key regional victory for the team.

Six players registered at least four kills in the win over Bellarmine for Hillsdale. Freshman Amanda Bigney had eight kills and a .350 hitting percentage in the win, while Howard, Bartlett and junior Stephanie Booms combined to deliver seven service aces.

The weekend concluded on a high note for the Chargers, defeating Lock Haven by scores of 30-25, 30-25 and 30-19. The third game of the match featured some of Hillsdale's most efficient play of the weekend, as it had a team attack percentage of .421 in the game, while limiting Lock Haven to an attack percentage of .133 in the final frame.

Bartlett played a dominant match in the weekend finale, getting 24 kills, 10 digs and two service aces. Howard had six more service aces, and Booms had 49 assists, seven digs and five kills, to go along with a .714 attack percentage.

Howard now has 130 service aces for her career, ranking her sixth on Hillsdale's all-time list. She sits just 10 aces short of moving into fourth place on the list, a mark she figures to pass sometime during the season.

Click on the links below for box scores from all four Charger volleybal matches from the weekend.

Northern Kentucky 3, Hillsdale 1

Wheeling-Jesuit 3, Hillsdale 1

Hillsdale 3, Bellarmine 0

Hillsdale 3, Lock Haven 0