Dragons fall in GMAC Championship 3-1

Jenna Huffman and the Dragons fell in four sets to Hillsdale in the GMAC Championship.
Jenna Huffman and the Dragons fell in four sets to Hillsdale in the GMAC Championship.

Tiffin University (19-13) put up a battle, taking the first set but eventually falling to Hillsdale 3-1 in the GMAC Championship match.

The Dragons claimed the opening set 28-26 but then fell in set two 25-19. Hillsdale controlled the third game 25-13 and held on to win the final set 25-20.

Hillsdale used solid hitting to take the title, hitting .243 overall while the Dragons managed .087. The Chargers actually improved their hitting as the night went on, opening with a ,050 mark but then rebounding to .294 in set two, .385 in set three, and .333 in the final set. 

After Hillsdale opened up a 9-4 lead to start the match, Tiffin rallied back, going on a 12-2 run to take a 16-11 lead. The Chargers rallied back to tie the score 20-20 but Tiffin countered with three straight points to lead 23-20. Again Hillsdale came back, tying Tiffin and forcing the Dragons to play four set points before a kill by Alicia Kessler and an attack error from Hillsdale gave the first set to TU.

The second set was also close, with Tiffin taking a slim 15-13 lead. The Chargers pulled it together with a 12-4 run to close out the set and even the score at 1-1.

After Hillsdale opened with another 9-4 lead to start the third set, Tiffin pulled to within 16-13 before Hillsdale used superior hitting to win the final 9 points in a row and race to a 2-1 set advantage.

In the final set, with the score tied 11-11, the Chargers stayed just ahead of Tiffin by an 11-9 score to lead 22-20. The Chargers then won the final three points to take the championship.

Huffman finished with 20 kills and 13 digs, while Kyndall Hellyer had 8 kills. Kessler added 7 kills while Grace Schreiber and Loryn Huffman had 6 kills each. Loryn Huffman also had 35 assists while Sam Fallis had 29 digs to lead the team.