Hillsdale volleyball takes control of PAL Bay Division with sweep of Burlingame

Hillsdale’s offense started off slow — Burlingame, despite dropping Game 1, out-killed the Knights 7-6 in the opening set — but hit stride in Game 2. But it was the front-row defense that put the exclamation mark on the second-set performance, as the Knights scored four blocks within a six-point span.

“Honestly, this was our best block party game,” Hillsdale opposite Rachel Reed said. “Yesterday (in practice), we worked a lot on blocking, so I think it paid off.”

Senior setter Rianna Liu kicked off the Game 2 block party to make it 17-10. Then, senior outside hitter Ashley Driscoll pivoted to put back a loud swing off the right side to make it 20-13; senior middle Vivian Gilbert followed with a roof to make it 21-14; and Reed finished off the stretch defending the left pin to make it 22-14.

Hillsdale scored seven match blocks, while Burlingame totaled just 19 team kills throughout.

“We just all get so hyped,” Reed said. “We all love each other and any time we get a block — because, you know, we’ve got some short people on the team, but they have hops — we all go crazy for each other.”

But it was from the backline that Hillsdale set the tone. The Knights served spectacularly from the outset, and immediately had the Panthers’ defense on its heels. Hillsdale totaled 13 aces, with Liu leading the way with a match-high five.

“The one thing we work on in practice all the time is serving aggressive,” Hillsdale head coach Dwight Crump said. “We don’t worry about mistakes, we just serve aggressive, serve aggressive, serve aggressive.”

It was an ace by Reed — her first of three aces in the match — that settled an early back-and-forth to give the Knights a 7-6 lead in Game 1. They’d never trail again in the set, despite not earning their first match kill until a few points later when Liu won a joust amid a 5-0 Hillsdale run. Driscoll finally connected for a prototypical kill off the left side to make it 12-9.

By the time Hillsdale middle Ella Jensen finished off the first set with kill through the middle on a Burlingame over-pass, the Panthers’ defense was in utter disarray.

“I’ve got to give it to Hillsdale, they served well and made it really tough for us,” Burlingame head coach Nga Tran said. “Serve receive has been one of the things we’ve struggled in. It was doing really well yesterday at practice. So, the fact that we weren’t moving our feet made a big difference.”

Burlingame (4-1, 11-3) never looked comfortable but finally got its feet moving in Game 3. But when the Panthers started to show signs of life — leading as late as 17-16 and tying it late at 22-22 — the Knights’ defense was dancing around making consistently remarkable plays.

Sophomore outside hitter Natasha Abbaszadeh turned in two of the best defensive plays of the night to force match point, lunging into the back row to produce two straight diving digs on consecutive Burlingame attacks. The Panthers prolonged the point, but Liu followed with a rangy dig to keep the ball up before Abbaszadeh repositioned for a kill with an attack off the left pin.

“I was very impressed with myself and the team, personally, because prior to those two dives, I could not get tips,” Abbaszadeh said. “Normally Rianna, our setter, she would get it for me. But we’ve just formed a trust, and that allowed me to get it. And I kind of impressed myself at the end.”

Reed finished with nine kills and three blocks, both match-highs. Hillsdale libero Allison Khau totaled a team-high 13 digs.

Tran said Burlingame was certainly not on its game, but the Panthers’ first-year coach seemed to be looking forward to Tuesday, Oct. 18 when the two PAL Bay Division frontrunners meet again at Burlingame.

“This is like us hitting rock bottom,” Tran said. “But the thing is, I have to think of it in a positive way, if we’re going to hit rock bottom now then there’s so much more to rise. So, we’re on our way up. We’ll take it now. If I took it at the end of the season, that would be heartbreaking.”