HILLSDALE, Mich. – In a battle of the top two seeds from the West Division, No. 1 Hillsdale outlasted No. 2 Findlay in a competitive Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship final on Saturday, 3-1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-17, 26-24).
It was an all-out war for the conference tournament trophy and NCAA Championship automatic-qualifying bid between the two respective programs, who came into the match each with 27 wins and a split during the course of the regular season.
In the end, it was the Chargers (28-3 overall) who prevailed on their home floor inside the Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena and rode the momentum of the home crowd to championship glory.
It was just the right stage for junior right side Paige VanderWall, the Great Midwest Player of the Year, to showcase her talents on. And VanderWall did just that as she rose to the occasion to help her team surge to victory.
VanderWall had 15 kills, nine digs and four blocks while hitting .378, making her presence known on the floor with a memorable performance in Great Midwest tournament history.
The Oilers (27-6 overall) advanced to the final after beating No. 3 Malone (East) and No. 1 Lake Erie (East) in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Findlay will hinge its hopes on an at-large selection from the national committee during the NCAA Selection Show that is scheduled to air on Monday evening at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Great Midwest Coach of the Year Chris Gravel was matching wits like a chess match with his counterpart on the sideline, Findlay’s Wick Colchagoff. The Chargers found themselves in a position the team hasn’t been accustomed being in this year, behind after the first set.
“It really is a battle out there is Findlay because we see each other so much and our kids play so hard against each other,” Gravel said afterwards. “We’re always fortunate when we come out on top, which we don’t always, but today we did. Our team showed a lot of resilience at times and it really made the difference.”
It was a wake-up call for Hillsdale going into the second set and VanderWall spoke about the team wanting to take pride and pick each other up.
“I know it sounds so cheesy, but we needed to go out there and have fun,” she said. “That’s when our team plays the best because we love each other and we’re a great family. I think we just wanted to win this one for each other and I think that’s what really drove us to push to perform how we did.”
Digging was a noticeable area the Chargers simply shined in. Defense was the name of the game as sophomore Taylor Wiese made some acrobatic plays in the back row and even a memorable sequence came from freshman Allyssa Van Wienen making four digs alone in the back in one possession that led to a Hillsdale point.
“We pride ourselves on defense and every day in practice we’re working on live-game situations and just keeping that ball off the floor,” Gravel added. “The ones on the floor did a great job and people that didn’t see floor have been doing a great job in that area too. Our best play hasn’t been on game days – it’s been in practices.”
The Chargers gained some separation in the second and third sets, seemingly surging with the crowd getting louder after each point and realizing what’s at stake. Findlay pushed Hillsdale to the brink of a decisive fifth set, but an attack attempt clipped the net to end it.
This is the second Great Midwest team trophy for Hillsdale in the 2017-18 academic year. The Chargers also won the women’s cross country championship title in Nashville, Tenn.