Hillsdale offense overpowers Cardinals

September 25, 2006 —

by Brandon Kish

Freshman outside hitter Allison Schlinkert spikes the ball past two Hillsdale blockers for one of her five kills on the afternoon. Schlinkert is second on the team in total kills, with 141 on the season.

by Brandon Kish

Freshman Kait Harris sets up the Cards offensive attack against Hillsdale. Harris had a team high 14 assists during the Cardinals' loss to the undefeated Chargers.

The SVSU volleyball team was no match for the offensive firepower of undefeated Hillsdale at home on Saturday, losing in three straight games, 30-15, 30-19, and 30-12.

The Chargers, ranked 11th in the nation, had a combined 46 kills in the three games while the Cards managed only 20 as they saw their record slip to 11-5 overall and 4-4 in the conference.

"We really didn't battle very hard tonight," head coach Will Stanton said. "We let them control the tempo from beginning to end."

Going into the match, Stanton said the team worked on slowing down the Chargers' potent middle offense, an offense he called "one of the best in the conference."

And while the Cards were successful in doing so for much of the match, their focus on the middle opened things up for Hillsdale junior outside hitter Melissa Bartlett, who tallied 15 kills and 14 digs in plaguing the Cardinals all afternoon.

"We learned that we can do some things," Stanton said. "But in doing those, we gave up others."

Senior outside hitter Becky Grzegorski also had a big game for Hillsdale with nine kills, while sophomore setter Stephanie Booms had 38 assists.

"They controlled the offense pretty well," Stanton said. "They got ahead in games, so they were able to be very aggressive off the serve, which put us on our heels."

On the afternoon, the Chargers had nine aces and hit .252. Hillsdale held the Cards to -.043.

For the Cards, senior outside hitter Suzanne Beaver and freshman outside hitter Allison Schlinkert posted solid all-around games with five kills and six digs apiece.

Defensively, senior libero Ashleigh Hubbard had 13 digs to lead the team.

With the win, Hillsdale runs its overall record to 17-0 with seven victories in conference play.

The Chargers are the fourth nationally ranked team the Cardinals have played this year. The Cards earned victories over Ferris State and Northern Michigan while they lost to Grand Valley.

Next up for the Cards is a weekend trip to Ohio, where the team will face Ashland on Friday and Findlay Saturday.

"We're happy (with the season so far) but we have to be prepared," Stanton said. "We still have a lot of work to do. There still is a lot of season left."

Cards handle Wayne State

Three different players for the Cardinals logged at least 16 kills to lead SVSU to a 3-1 victory over Wayne State University on Friday.

Beaver, junior outside hitter Danielle Dryer, and sophomore outside hitter Sarah Redoute all came up big on the offensive side of the net to bring the Cardinals back after dropping the first game of the match 30-26.

SVSU took control over the next three games and won three straight, 30-23, 30-25, and 30-26.

Redoute led the Cards with 18 kills, while Beaver and Dryer were close behind with 16 each. Junior setter Amy Howard paced the attack all night and logged 54 assists.

Several Cardinals made an impact on defense, with four players reaching double digits in digs. Hubbard led the way with 25, followed by Redoute with 18, sophomore defensive specialist Carmen Schacher with 15, and Beaver with 11.