HILLSDALE, Mich. - The No. 1 and No. 6 seeds will battle it out for the Great Midwest Volleyball Championship, as Hillsdale and Tiffin advanced to Saturday's championship match, set for 5 p.m. ET in Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena.
In Friday night's first seminal, No. 4 Cedarville proved they could play with one of the nation's top programs, as the match went to five sets before Hillsdale was able to pull away with the 3-2 win (20-25, 25-15, 21-25, 25-23, 15-13).
The explosive offense of both teams was on full display as Great Midwest Player of the Year Karoline Shelton connected for a match-best 22 kills on .426 hitting to lead the Chargers. The first team all-conference duo of Liene Miller and Lauren Willow weren't far behind with 21 and 16 kills, respectively, to lead the Yellow Jackets. First team all-conference middle blocker Alyssa Van Wienen added 11 kills and third team all-conference outside hitter Maggie DePorre had 10 kills for the Chargers.
The match was filled with great rallies, highlighted by a rally in the fifth set that lasted almost two full minutes, ending with a kill by DePorre to give the Chargers a 9-8 advantage.
On the defensive side, first team all-conference defensive specialist Alli Wiese finished with 30 digs for the Chargers. Van Wienen and Shelton made their presence felt at the net with four and three blocks, respectively. For the Yellow Jackets, Willow added three blocks.
The last time a conference opponent took Hillsdale to five sets was when Findlay defeated the Chargers in the 2017 NCAA Regional, which the winning program has not forgotten.
The second semifinal of the night was a different story as the No. 6 seed Tiffin upset No. 2 Walsh in three sets (25-19, 25-19, 25-18). Tiffin controlled the pace through all three sets, rarely trailing.
Olivia Karhoff led the Dragon offense with 10 kills, but it was Tiffin's defensive efforts that won them the match as Grace Schreiber and Alicia Kessler each had eight blocks, while Danielle Sargent added seven.
Second team all-conference defensive specialist Sam Fallis was out with an injury, but Kyley Keene and Morgan White stepped up in her place with 14 digs a piece.
Walsh struggled offensively with a team hitting percentage of .098. Grace Lindquist led the Cavaliers with 13 points and two blocks.
Saturday's championship match will be streamed on the Great Midwest Digital Network.