HILLSDALE, Mich. – In straight-set fashion, Hillsdale delivered another Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship trophy to the home fans, sweeping Findlay on Saturday evening, 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-18).
The Chargers, already ranked eighth in the Midwest Region, earned the conference’s automatic qualifying bid into the NCAA Championship Midwest Regional.
Hillsdale was the final conference champion determined in the Midwest Region as Rockhurst won the Great Lakes Valley Conference and Ferris State captured the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title.
Hillsdale and Findlay had a late afternoon start after hosting GLIAC and GLVC women’s basketball competition inside Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena throughout the day.
The final point of the match was hammered home by senior right side and two-time Great Midwest Player of the Year Paige VanderWall, who once again played a starring role in the offense for head coach Chris Gravel.
Hillsdale completed its championship run with a win in Tuesday’s quarterfinals over Ursuline and a semifinal victory last night against Lake Erie.
The Chargers were able to beat the Oilers for the third time this season after winning both times in the regular season – not an easy task to do with two programs so familiar with each other.
After recording 25 kills against Lake Erie in four sets in the semifinal, VanderWall delivered 18 more on the championship stage. Senior Kara Vyletel and sophomore Allyssa Van Wienen came through with an efficient 10.
The Oilers were able to keep pace early on in each set, but Hillsdale was able to withstand any kind of push and methodically pull away while forcing UF to use both timeouts relatively early.
Outside hitters Amanda Winner and Izzy Murphy, both second team all-conference selections, led the Oilers with 11 kills apiece as their season record settled at 24-7 overall.
Hillsdale will carry a 25-6 overall record into the NCAA Championship Midwest Regional. Findlay advanced to the title match for the second year in a row, but the final chapter was closed on the illustrious careers of the senior trio of Amanda Winner, Hailee Olson and Kara Scherger.
The NCAA Selection Show will be streamed live on Sunday night at 10 p.m. ET.