Box Score

HILLSDALE, Mich. -- Kristina Kerrigan had 19 kills and career-high 22 digs, while Kristina Hefferan added 18 kills and 12 digs, but No. 20 UIndy volleyball had its NCAA Tournament run halted at No. 8 Hillsdale, 3-1 (33-31, 25-21, 22-25, 25-19), in the Midwest Regional final at Jesse Philips Arena.

The Chargers (30-2) now advance to the Elite Eight, while the Greyhounds' (24-8) outstanding season as Great Lakes Valley Conference champions and Sweet 16 participants comes to a close in their third-consecutive appearance in the regional final.

"With all that we've gone through as a team, this has been an excellent season," head coach Jody Rogers said. "The girls learned more about character and handling adversity off the court. These are great women and I couldn't be prouder of what they have accomplished. This year, it was more about off the court and learning about each other. They'll remember those memories a lot more than the victories 10 years from now."

Hefferan and Kerrigan were named to the all-regional team, along with GLVC Freshman of the Year Meghan Binkerd who finished with 54 assists, five digs and three blocks.

Third Team All-GLVC middle hitter Courtney Anglemyer had a career-high four aces, 10 kills and four blocks and Courtney Roach tallied 12 digs.

Hillsdale was led by Ashlee Crowder with 24 kills and hit .346, while Apryl Schmucker had 55 assists and Morgan Podkul had 21 digs. The Chargers had 14 blocks, led by Lauren Grover with eight and Clara Leutheuser with six.

"It's such an older team with girls who have been together for four or five years and become comfortable with each other," Rogers said. "Even when we went on a run against them, they could rally back and it wasn't a big deal. That's what comes with experience. They were more relaxed under pressure and did a great job of executing."

The Chargers hit .293 with 69 kills, while the Greyhounds hit .219 with 58 kills. UIndy had five aces and one error to eight aces and 10 errors for Hillsdale.

The Greyhounds took the early lead with a 5-0 run in the first set, 12-7, on a Hefferan kill, Anglemyer/Binkerd block, Hefferan kill, Roach ace and Anglemyer kill. The Chargers came back with four in a row, but a Kerrigan kill, Anglemyer ace and Julia Watkins kill put UIndy back up four, 16-12.  The Greyhounds remained up four, 20-16, after Kourtney Crawford and Anglemyer blocked Caitlin Kopmeyer. Hillsdale rallied to tie, 21-21, but UIndy went on a 3-1 run to earn set point, 24-22, after an Anglemyer ace.

The Chargers responded in front of their home crowd with three points in a row, 25-24, for set point, but Binkerd had a solo block during a long rally and then had a good serve that led to an attack error for another UIndy set point, 26-25, that Hillsdale fought off. UIndy earned set points at 27-26, 28-27, 29-28 and again at 31-30 after Kerrigan tipped a kill over the block. That would be the last point for the Greyhounds as Hillsdale had two kills around a long attack by UIndy to survive, 33-31, a set that had 13 ties and six lead changes.

"That was a deal-breaker," Rogers said. "It took the wind out of our sails a little bit. The match might have have been different had we won, but that's with every play and we did give ourselves a chance by coming back to win the third set."

UIndy hit .167 with 16 kills, eight by Hefferan, and tallied four aces, while the Chargers finished with 21 kills and hit .326 in the set.

The Chargers took advantage of their first set momentum to build a six-point lead, 13-7, early in the second set. UIndy showed its heart by coming back and eventually evened the set, 20-20, with a Hefferan kill. The teams then traded points with Anglemyer connecting to keep the score tied, 21-21. Hillsdale came right back with a kill to start a 4-0 run to take the set, 25-21.

UIndy had 14 kills and hit .140, while HC hit .244 with 15 kills and had six blocks.

The Chargers quickly staked a 7-4 lead in the third set, but UIndy came back with a 7-0 run to take control, 11-7. UIndy eventually grew the lead to five, 16-11, after a solo block by Anglemyer. HC responded with a 7-2 run to tie the set, 18-18, but then they missed the next serve by hitting a teammate in the head to start a 4-0 UIndy run. Kerrigan had back-to-back kills and Anglemyer scored for a 22-18 lead. The Chargers scored two in a row, but then Kerrigan had back-to-back kills for set point, 24-20. Hillsdale saved two, but then Kerrigan had a kill deflect off the block to keep the match alive, 25-22.

UIndy hit .222 with 13 kills, seven by Kerrigan, while holding Hillsdale to .156 hitting with 14 kills in the third set.

A Kerrigan kill kept the fourth set tied, 7-7, but Hillsdale then strung together a 6-2 run that forced a UIndy timeout, 13-9. The Greyhounds tried to rally and closed within two, 19-17, but Hillsdale wouldn't let them any closer as they scored six of the last eight points, including the last three, of the match to win their first regional title, 25-19.

"For our returning players, it is a phenomenal experience to be here playing in pressure situations and getting to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament," Rogers said. "I hope they will be hungrier in the spring to improve and I expect to be right back here next year."