NCAA Championship Bracket
Box Score
BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – After getting through an adventurous first set, No. 3 seed Hillsdale scored a first-round sweep over No. 6 Grand Valley State to start the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship Midwest Regional on Thursday afternoon.
The Chargers were one of four programs to advance out of the Midwest Region quarterfinals at Jim Wink Arena with Ferris State serving as host.
Hillsdale, a five-time Great Midwest Athletic Conference tournament champion, advanced to Friday’s semifinal matchup at 5 p.m. ET against No. 2 Michigan Tech, which survived a five-set final against No. 7 Wayne State.
The other contest in the top half of the bracket features No. 1 Ferris State vs. No. 5 Missouri-St. Louis. The two semifinal winners will play for the region title on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET.
The Chargers beat the Lakers by set scores of 26-24, 25-19, 25-17, while extending their current win streak to eight straight.
Hillsdale and GVSU exchanged a few different lead changes in the first set and the Chargers were up 24-21. Seeking out match point, the Lakers came back to tie at 24-24 and the Chargers used a service error and kill from freshman outside hitter Marilyn Popplewell to take a 1-0 lead.
From there, Hillsdale wore down Grand Valley State while holding the Lakers to a .000 and .049 hitting percentage in the second and third sets.
Popplewell would close the match with seven kills while first team all-region performers Karoline Shelton and Allyssa Van Wienen ended with a combined 24 kills. All-region setter Lindsey Mertz paced the offense with 41 assists as the team connected on a .246 clip attacking. Alli Wiese led all players with 21 digs.
Hillsdale’s overall record is now 28-4 as head coach Chris Gravel meets the Huskies (25-6 overall) from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).
Friday’s matchup will be the second time the programs have met this year on a neutral court after Michigan Tech won 3-0 at the Midwest Region Crossover Tournament in Hammond, Ind.