UNIONTOWN – The Hillsdale volleyball train just ain’t stopping.
Facing Lake Center Christian on Thursday at Uniontown Lake High School in a Division VI regional semifinal, the Falcons traded out a slow start for an electrifying finish in front of a raucous crowd.
The result was a four-set win – 19-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-20 – that sends Hillsdale to the Elite Eight at 3 p.m. Saturday at Barberton High School.
It continues a season that already had seen the Falcons (21-5) win their first district title since 1976.
“We had never played with that amount of noise and that amount of a crowd, and I think we were all just a little bit nervous about how to handle it,” fourth-year Hillsdale coach Matti Willeke said. “But once we settled in halfway through that first game, they were playing with control and confidence.
“Lake Center played a great game, but I just felt like the girls were just feeding off the energy instead of feeling the pressure from it.”
The only thing standing in the way of a regional title for the Falcons will be Wayne County Athletic League rival and fifth-ranked Dalton (25-1), which knocked off Independence in straight sets during Thursday’s early match at Lake.
The winner of that match will give the WCAL its first Final Four volleyball team since 2020, when the Bulldogs advanced for the third time in their history.
“It feels good to go into (Saturday) and we’re fired up,” said Willeke, who was leading Hillsdale in her 100th match as the program’s head coach Thursday night. “The energy from this big win is going to really help propel us and give us momentum to go against Dalton in a different light.”
It wasn’t a promising start against Lake Center (15-11), which stormed out of the gates in the opening set for a 9-2 lead.
The Tigers entered the semifinal riding a six-match win streak that was capped by a five-set upset of 10th-ranked Kirtland last week.
Hillsdale played Lake Center to a 17-16 count the rest of that opening set, but the Tigers took the early edge.
With great supporting crowds for both schools, the gym was at a fever pitch, but Willeke said her squad was able to relax and do what it does best to reclaim the night.
“Once we settled into the game we just realized, ‘Hey, we’re still playing volleyball and the noise doesn’t dictate our play,’” she said. “Once we got comfortable with the noise, we put our blinders on, focused on what we had to do and started taking care of the game.”
Sophomore Emily Smith was composed and finished the match with 47 assists. Her second assist gave her 1,000 for her young career.
Senior Jillian Cowger also played big, turning in 14 kills, four solo blocks and a pair of aces.
But perhaps the biggest boost came from senior hitters Kiki McFadden and Jordyn Fickes.
McFadden’s 19 kills were her most in a match since Sept. 5 at South Central, and she added 18 digs.
Fickes, meanwhile, turned in 16 kills – a season-high output for her at the net.
“When (McFadden and Fickes) are both on and we can feed (Cowger) some of those big points, it feels really unstoppable,” Willeke said.
The coach also credited senior Gracie Bishop (15 digs) and sophomore Macy Ritchey for their serve-receive performances, another crucial spot against the Tigers.
“(Lake Center) did not ever let us pull away very far,” Willeke said. “Their serve-receive was really good and they didn’t miss serves, either.”
In the end, though, it was Hillsdale continuing the wave of momentum it has ridden all season.
The team’s 21 wins might be a program record and its third-place finish in the WCAL was its best in at least two decades.
Willeke said the crowd was phenomenal throughout the regional semifinal match.
“Hillsdale shows up,” she said. “This community is huge and I was just in awe of how they came out, supported and really rallied behind the girls. It was incredible and such a fun environment to be a part of.”
Now the Falcons will take the court Saturday at Barberton against Dalton. Ironically, it’s the same gym in which the Hillsdale boys basketball team won its first-ever regional title just eight months ago.
If the Falcons are to make more of that history, they will need to be at their very best.
The Bulldogs have been nearly unstoppable this season, winning 75 of 84 sets for the year and running the table in the WCAL with a 14-0 record. Two of those wins were against Hillsdale.
The Falcons took Dalton to five sets Oct. 6, but since trailing HHS 2-1 that night, the Bulldogs have won their last 26 consecutive sets.
When Saturday arrives, it will have been more than a month since Dalton lost a single set.
“It’s regional finals, but it’s Dalton; this is so familiar to us,” Willeke said. “There’s gonna be a lot of uncertainty (with a new gym and the crowd), but there’s certainty in that we’ve played this team before.
“We have to use what we have and just play some consistent ball.”
