Hillsdale College Sports: Chargers take down Walsh, Volleyball sweeps weekend
Football marches to 2-0 record; beats Walsh 35-17
For two weeks, the Chargers found themselves down seven points heading into the second half of their games. For the second time this season, the Charger football team overcame that deficit to win a G-MAC conference showdown.
The Chargers outscored the visiting Wash College football team 28-3 in the second half to win 35-17. The home opener was followed by a fireworks display that matched the Charger performances on the field.
Hillsdale went 68 yards on 10 plays to start the second half, with senior tailback Michael Herzog punching it in to tie the game at 14.
A Walsh field goal the ensuing drive was the final score for the Charger opponent. Isaac Teslaa and Herzog led the Chargers offensively. Teslaa caught eight passes from Luke Keller for 189 yards and three touchdowns. The performance was a top 10 all-timer for a Charger receiver in terms of yardage. Herzog had 134 rushing yards and two touchdowns, becoming the first Charger to rush for 100 since April of 2021. Keller finished 12 of 24 passing for 205 yards and an interceptions. It was his second straight game of three passing touchdowns.
Senior Kyle Kudla tied for the team lead in tackles with nine, 1.5 for loss, and added an interception as well, and sophomore Sam Zemis also picked off a pass for the Chargers. Vince Francescone added nine tackles as well, Julius Graber chipped in eight, and Kendall Tobin added six tackles, two for loss as well. Riley Tolsma and Ransom each finished with a sack for the Chargers. On special teams, sophomore kicker Julian Lee was 5 for 5 on extra points for the second straight week as well for Hillsdale.
The Chargers are now 2-0 on the season, their first 2-0 start since 2017. Four teams in the G-MAC are 2-0, including Tiffin, Ashland and Northwood.
Next week, Hillsdale takes on Truman State at 1 p.m. for a G-MAC/GLVC crossover. Hillsdale is looking for revenge on the Bulldogs after losing their regular season and bowl game matchups last year. The Bulldogs will be a formidable opponent, starting the year with a 3-0 record.
#20 Chargers Volleyball sweep Ursuline; go undefeated on opening weekend of G-MAC play
The nationally ranked Charger volleyball team upped their G-MAC regular season win streak to 73 matches and opened the 2022 conference season undefeated. The Chargers headed to Ursuline and took down the hosts in three sets. The Chargers nearly led the entire way through, earning 25-13, 25-18 and 25-20 victories to take down the Arrows and improve to 9-2 on the season.
Their weekend sweeps of Lake Erie and the Arrows is in part due to their strong roster which saw each player earn significant playing time.
Sophomore Marilyn Popplewell led Hillsdale at the net with eight kills, senior Karoline Shelton chipped in six kills and six digs, and sophomore Maizie Brown, sophomore Lauren Passaglia and freshman Emory Braswell each chipped in four kills as well, as 11 different Chargers finished with at least one kill in the contest.
Defensively, sophomore libero Alli Wiese led the Chargers with 17 digs, Passaglia chipped in 10 digs and senior Megan Kolp added three block assists. Senior Audrey Riley also finished with a team high three service aces for Hillsdale.
The Chargers head to Malone on Friday and Walsh on Saturday for two G-MAC North Division showdowns. Three other teams have unbeaten conference records in the North Division: Findlay and Northwood. The Chargers will need to have another strong weekend of matches to stay in the race for the divisional crown.
Chargers win two flights at season-opening home invitational
The Hillsdale College men's tennis team opened the season at home on Friday and Saturday in its annual Charger Invitational, performing well against tough competition that included national DII runner-up Wayne State and defending G-MAC champion Tiffin, among others.
Two standouts brought home co-championships in singles to lead the way for Hillsdale. Junior Brennan Cimpeanu, a 2021 ITA All-American, picked up right where he left off last season in the A Singles flight, winning three straight matches to reach the finals and share the title in the top single bracket.
Cimpeanu opened the day by defeating Findlay's Wilfredo Lara 6-3, 6-2, then knocked off Tiffin's Maxime Navrotchi 6-1, 1-6, 10-6 in a hard fought match in the quarterfinal and Wayne State's Daniel Grey 4-6, 7-6 (7), 10-6 in the semifinal to finish off an undefeated run.
Meanwhile, in the C Singles Bracket, freshman Nik Wastcoat had a promising debut for the Chargers, pulling off three straight victories of his own to share the title in his flight as well. Wastcoat took down Findlay's Brayden Doherty 6-2, 6-1 in the the opening round, won a tight 4-6, 7-5, 10-7 match against Purdue Northwest's Luis Alvear in the quarterfinal, and rolled past Ethan Shoesmith of Findlay 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinal to finish off an unbeaten run.
Several other Chargers had decent results in singles play on the day. Senior Tyler Conrad made the A bracket quarterfinal, beating Tiffin's No. 3 Matthew Telford 3-6, 7-6 (5), 10-5 in the round of 16.
In the B draw, junior Daniel Gilbert went 2-1, beating Octavio Carrasco of Findlay 5-7, 6-1, 10-3 and Joe Kelt of Wayne State 7-5, 6-2 to reach the semifinals, while junior Sean Barstow defeated Paul Hawes of Purdue Northwest 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals as well.
In consolation bracket action in the B draw, freshman Aidan Pack bounced back from a hard-fought opening round loss to reach the consolation finals for the Chargers, taking down Pedro Garcia-Orellana of Lawrence Tech 3-6, 6-3, 11-9 in a tight, highly competitive match and advancing by default in the semifinals.
In the C singles consolation bracket, senior Bogdan Janicijevic and freshman Lennart Kober each advanced to the final after picking up a victory -- Janicijevic over Doherty of Findlay, 6-4, 6-1 and Kober of Aidan Beilke of Purdue Northwest 6-0, 6-3.
The Chargers head to the ITA Midwest Regional hosted by Indianapolis University this weekend in a three-day tournament.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Hillsdale College: Chargers take down Walsh, Volleyball sweeps weekend
