November 6, 2007 - For the third time in four years, the Hillsdale College volleyball team will host a first-round match in the GLIAC Volleyball Tournament. But this year, an opponent new to postseason play will be visiting Jesse Philips Arena.

Admission for all Hillsdale College students with proper ID will be free. General admission tickets are $5. College faculty and staff members with proper ID will be charged $3 for tickets, while tickets for seniors are $2.

Hillsdale (24-6) will host Saginaw Valley State University (20-11) at 7 p.m. Wednesday inside the Jesse Philips Arena. The winner of this quarterfinal match will advance to Saturday's tournament semifinal, with time, opponent and location to be determined after all of Wednesday's matches are complete.

While the Chargers (ranked 11th in the nation) are working on a run of four consecutive appearances in postseason play, this is the first time Saginaw Valley will participate in a postseason tournament since 1997. That was even before the current rally-scoring system was implimented. It is just SVSU's second-ever GLIAC tournament appearance.

Although the playoff histories of the two schools are very different, Hillsdale knows how improved Saginaw Valley is this season. Back on Sept. 15, the Cardinals put a serious scare into the Chargers, winning the first two games of their match, which was eventually won by Hillsdale, 3-2. That day, SVSU featured a team with tall and strong hitters up front, to go along with excellent passing from its setters and back-row players.

Saginaw Valley finished the regular season with a 20-11 record, the most wins in its school history. The team took fourth place in the GLIAC North Division with a 9-9 conference ledger. That finish gave it the first of two available wild card spots in the postseason tournament.

Hillsdale got matched up with Saginaw Valley based on its first-place finish in the GLIAC South Division. Hillsdale finished the regular season on a five-game winning streak after sweeping Ashland 3-0 Saturday to clinch its second straight division title. Hillsdale was 15-2 in conference play this season, and has won 35 of its past 37 conference matches, dating back to the end of the 2005 season.

Hillsdale hosted quarterfinal matches in 2004 and 2006. Both matches were 3-0 sweeps for Hillsdale, as the team defeated Findlay in 2004 and Northern Michigan in 2006. In 2005, the Chargers rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Oilers at Findlay. Hillsdale has never won a conference semifinal match.

The Chargers put together an outstanding regular season, often using a lineup with three to four underclassmen on the court at the same time. The team entered GLIAC play with a 7-4 record after those August and early-September tournaments. But the young players adjusted to the new level of play quickly, and the team ended up winning its first 10 conference matches in a row.

The only two conference losses suffered by the Chargers came on back-to-back days, at Ferris State and Grand Valley. Hillsdale lost both matches 3-2, with the fifth-game scoring margins ending up at two and four points. But like they did earlier in the season, the Chargers responded well to the losses, going into their next matches with improved focus and execution.

Hillsdale has one of the most powerful outside hitters in the nation on its team in senior Melissa Bartlett. A four-time GLIAC South Division Player of the Week, Bartlett leads the GLIAC in total kills and kills per game, and has been in the top five in the nation in both categories throughout the season. She finished the regular season with back-to-back 21-kill performances in wins over Findlay and Ashland on the road.

Hillsdale's offense has developed nicely throughout the season, with underclassmen showing great improvement in their games since those early-season tournament matches. Sophomore Kittrick Smith (pictured) has more than doubled her kills total from 2006, ranking second on the team with 329 kills. She also played big in a hostile environment, recording her first career 20-kill match on the road against Grand Valley on Oct. 13.

Sophomore middle hitter Emily Bennett has been a pleasant surprise for the Chargers, leading the team with a .341 hitting percentage. After playing in just seven total games last year, Bennett has played in all 30 games and given the team consistent scoring from the middle hitter position.

Junior setter Stephanie Booms has continued her brilliant play all season, ranking second in the GLIAC in assists per game while ranking third on the team in digs and service aces.

Senior Megan Howard claimed Hillsdale's career digs lead this season, and is the first player in school history to record more than 2,000 digs in her career. Her 44 service aces are second on the team, and is finishing her second year as team captain. She solidifies the team's defensive presence, which is strengthened by the play from freshman Sydney Dow and junior Jamie Murray. All three players have given the team consistent passing and serving all season.

In the first match between these two teams this season, SVSU stunned the Chargers by winning the first two games by scores of 30-27 and 30-26. Hillsdale hung in by winning games three and four by identical 30-28 scores. Hillsdale closed out the Homecoming Day win with a 15-11 triumph in the fifth game. SVSU's Allison Schlinkert had a match-high 25 kills in that contest. Hillsdale committed 11 more attack errors than Saginaw Valley in the match (39-28), and had eight service errors. The Chargers have improved on both of those statistics in recent weeks, averaging just 15 hitting errors in the team's current five-match winning streak.

The other GLIAC quarterfinal matchups on Wednesday are as follows: Michigan Tech at Grand Valley, Ferris State at Northern Michigan, and Findlay at Ashland. The tournament is re-seeded after the first round, with the highest remaining seed playing the lowest remaining seed in one of the semifinal matches Saturday. The GLIAC championship match, set for Sunday, does not have a start time yet. That will be determined after the four quarterfinal matches Wednesday night.

For more information on Saginaw Valley's volleyball team, click on the link below.


Saginaw Valley volleyball page