Hillsdale shakes off slow start to down Lake Center in regionals

UNIONTOWN - Jillian Cowger had never experienced anything like Thursday's match against Lake Center Christian.

Not just because it was Hillsdale's first regional appearance in volleyball since 1976, but Lake High School's gymnasium holds approximately 2,000 people and it was jam-packed for a Division VI regional semifinal between the Falcons and Tigers.

"I couldn't even hear anything my teammates were saying unless we were huddled in the middle," Cowger said. "It was pretty insane ... but that fuels me personally, hearing all the loud energy.

"I love a loud crowd and that was great."

It was great indeed for the Falcons who shook off a sluggish opening set to take the next three for a 19-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-20 win to advance to the regional championship for the first time in — you guessed it — 50 years.

"I'm honestly speechless," Cowger said. "It's a very surreal feeling because all the work we've put in is paying off. Over the past four years, it's finally paying off."

Hillsdale went down 4-0 in the first set and then 7-1 forcing coach Matti Willeke into using her first timeout. The Falcons kept the game within reach, but couldn't overcome the slow start despite matching the Tigers at 18-18 over the remainder of the set after the timeout.

"We've never played in a gym with that amount of noise where you can barely hear the person because you," Willeke said. "We were just vibrating at a really high level, we needed to calm our nervous system back down to get settled in.

"(And) we did settle into the (first) game, so it was more so let's just continue that. We're good, we found our rhythm at the end of the game, we just found it too late — let's keep it going."

Once they settled into unfamiliar territory, the Falcons looked a lot more like the team that won 20 games.

"It's definitely a different atmosphere than we're used to — a lot louder — so we had to acclimate to that," Cowger said. "But once we got used to it and got the jitters out, we started settling in and started to play our game better."

Hillsdale stormed out to an 11-6 lead in the second set and stretched it to 18-13 before getting set-point at 24-18. Lake Center tried to rally winning four consecutive points before the Falcons closed out to even the match.

And it was a similar story in the third and fourth sets as Hillsdale stretched a lead, saw it nearly slip away, but managed to close out for just the program's second regional semifinal win.

"Like any volleyball match, you know how quickly it can turn to the other side," Lake Center Christian coach Hannah Miller said. "It's tiring coming out that hard then trying to keep that up, but the girls did well fighting back. And throughout this season in tough matches, win or lose, they've fought and they keep fighting."

While the Falcons struggled with the atmopshere early, the Tigers embraced it as they have all season long.

"We made history coming to regionals," Miller said. "Lake Center had never been here, and last year we made it to the district final for the first time. It was a totally different environment ... very hyped, a lot of love from our fans and supporters. They all came out and it was amazing to feel the love from them this year."

In each of Hillsdale's sets won, a different senior hitter stepped up to ensure the result was a positive one. Cowger was instrumental in closing out the second set, Jordyn Fickes wowed in the third set, and Kiki McFadden was unstoppable in the fourth.

"I know when I come into games, my job is to change the tempo, make the ball better for my teammates, and try as hard as we can," Cowger said finishing with 14 kills, four solo blocks, and two aces.

Fickes had a season-high 16 kills with two aces, McFadden led all with 19 kills, 18 digs, and two aces. Sophomore Emily Smith had a career-best 47 assists in a four-set match — she matched or topped it three times earlier but in five sets — along with two aces, and senior Gracie Bishop had 15 digs.

"Once we got our server in place and putting balls up to Kiki and Jill, they really took care of the ball," Willeke said. "They were composed under pressure, even when they got blocked a couple times, they continued to put the ball in play."

Hillsdale now shifts its focus to Saturday's regional championship at Barberton High School. The Falcons get a third shot at Wayne County Athletic League rival Dalton who won earlier in the night in straight sets 25-22, 25-14, 25-8 over Independence.

"It's surreal," Willeke said. "It's just exiting to continue to win and now Dalton is a little familiar to us. Even though it's regional finals, that familiarity makes it more like — OK, let's go get Dalton. It's fun to be challenged by a team we already know."

Having lost both regular season meetings with the Bulldogs, Hillsdale has a chance to avenge those and make a half-century long return to state.

"They're so solid," Willeke said. "It's really about our composure ... we know every team is going to mess up and make their own errors, it's if we can make less unforced errors and put balls in play, take care of our serves and serve revive. We'll win games if we can take care of that first touch ... they're not easily rattled, so we just gotta keep our composure."

"We definitely need to work on finishing games, keeping our composure, and not letting the other side's momentum get to us," Cowger added. "We gotta work on keeping our side steady and get a good first pass, first serve ... basically just play our game without letting the moment get too big for us."

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