HIILLSDALE, Mich. - The 2009 GLIAC Volleyball
Tournament Championship match featured two teams that seemingly
kept pace with each other all season. Saginaw Valley State
University and Hillsdale College both finished their respective
GLIAC regular seasons with 12-4 records and shared the regular
season championship as well as winning their respective divisions
outright. There was no suprise, then, when the two squads
found themselves facing-off in today's championship match (Nov. 15)
to lay ultimate claim to the top spot in the GLIAC. There was
also no suprise in how the final match played-out. Saginaw
Valley was defeated by Hillsdale in an absolute thrilling five-set
match that went back-and-forth all afternoon.
SVSU jumped-out to take an early 1-0 lead with a 25-23 victory
in the first set. Hillsdale would respond with a 25-18 win in
the second. The advantage would shift back to the Cardinals,
though, after a 25-15 score in the third. The Chargers would
even things up in the fourth after a 25-20 victory. With
things all-square at two sets apiece, Hillsdale took the fifth and
final set of the afternoon by a score of 17-15.
Junior Jessica Treiber
(Sebewaing, Mich./USA HS) led offensively in the match, tallying 16
kills while hitting .517 and adding three block assists and three
digs. Sophomore Annie Buxton
(Aurora, Ont.) had 17 kills and 12 digs and two blocks on the
defensive end. Senior setter Kait Harris
(Essexville, Mich./Garber HS) recorded 50 assists in the thriller
while adding 11 digs and a block on the defensive side of the
net. Sophomore libero Laura Ward (White
Lake, Mich./Lakeland HS) had 27 digs for the Cardinals.
Senior Allison
Schlinkert (Marysville, Mich.) also had double-digit digs
against Hillsdale, totaling 10.
Three Cardinals garnered individual honors for their
performances in the tournament, as Harris, Treiber, and Buxton were
all selected to the 2009 GLIAC Volleyball "All-Tournament Team".
The Cardinals now stand at 21-9 overall on the season while the
Chargers improve to 23-7. Both teams will almost certainly
gain berths into the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament
and await their next opponents.
