Volleyball Drops Hard-Fought 3-2 Road Match At Hillsdale

OVERVIEW – HILLSDALE

SCORE: Hillsdale Chargers 3, Northwood Timberwolves 2 (25-19, 23-25, 23-25, 26-24, 15-9)

RECORDS: Northwood 7-10, 2-6 G-MAC | Hillsdale 7-10, 5-3 G-MAC

LOCATION: Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena – Hillsdale, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood Volleyball drops hard-fought 3-2 road match at Hillsdale Friday night (October 24).

INSIDE THE MATCH

• Northwood started the match strong, scoring the first three and five of the first six points. NU, which had led throughout the set, was up 14-11 when Hillsdale made a run. The Chargers scored six straight points to take a 17-14 lead. Hillsdale went on to score 14 of the final 19 points to take the opening set 25-19.
• For the second straight set, the Timberwolves got off to a strong start, putting up six of the first eight points. Hillsdale responded with five of the next six points to tie the score at 7-7. NU led 12-10, only to see HC post six of the next eight points to take a 16-14 lead. The end of the set saw the lead go back and forth between the two teams. Northwood led 20-17 when Hillsdale posted another 6-2 run to go up 23-22. But it was the Timberwolves who finished the set strong in the second, scoring the final three points to take the set 25-23 to level the overall match.
• Set three saw the Chargers start fast, holding a 6-3 lead after nine points. Hillsdale held leads of 10-5, 15-9 and 19-14 before Northwood started to fight back. Three straight NU points forced an HC timeout at 19-17. Trailing 23-20, Northwood finished the set with a bang, scoring the final five points to win 25-23 for a 2-1 match lead.
• The fourth set saw many runs for both teams. After Northwood scored the final five points of set three, Hillsdale came out with the first five points of the fourth. The Timberwolves came right back with six straight points of their own to force a Charger timeout. Hillsdale then scored six of the next seven points to take an 11-7 lead.  NU followed with seven of the next nine points to take a 14-13 lead, only to see Hillsdale put up the next four points to force a Northwood timeout at 17-14. NU scored five of the next six points to take a 19-18 lead.  The remainder of the set was tight – the next two-point lead came at the conclusion of fourth. Northwood had a match point at 24-23, but Hillsdale earned the final three points to win 26-24 to force a fifth set.
• Hillsdale took the lead for good at 4-3 in the final set. The Chargers used a 7-2 run to open up a 12-6 lead.  Northwood got back within four at 13-9, but Hillsdale scored the final two points to win 15-9 and earn the overall victory.

MATCH STATS

• HITTING: Hillsdale .229 (70-22-210), Northwood .215 (74-28-214)
• DIGS: Hillsdale 103, Northwood 108 (Laney Kokaly – 28 – career-high)
• BLOCKS: Hillsdale 12, Northwood 7 (Soleil Allen – Four)
• ACES: Hillsdale 5, Northwood 1 (Mackenzie Scheid)

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Sage Kissman: 25 kills, 13 digs, 82 attacks (career-high)
• Scheid: 19 kills (career-high), ace, three blocks
• Olivia Nester: 10 kills, 17 digs (career-high)
• Renee Brines: 55 assists, six kills, 17 digs (matches career-high), two blocks

UP NEXT

• Northwood travels to Ursuline Friday (October 31). First serve is set for 7 p.m.