All good things must come to an end, which is exactly what happened to the Ashland University volleyball team (17-13, 10-9 GLIAC) over the last two weeks. November 11, the Eagles were ousted from the GLIAC Playoffs in the first round by No. 9 ranked, first place in the GLIAC, Hillsdale Chargers (26-1, 19-0 GLIAC). The following Monday, it was revealed that the head coach of eight years, Connie Surowicz will not be returning for her ninth season at AU.

Ashland traveled to tournament-hosting Hillsdale but left with a season-ending loss. Ashland never led in the first set and dropped the opener, 25-18. AU matched kills with attacking errors.

The second set was close throughout but Ashland stopped the Hillsdale charge to finish, evening the match at a set a piece. The set was the worst hitting wise for the Chargers who only hit .167.

The third set was over quickly after it started as AU fell, 25-14.The score was tied at 7-7 in the fourth set before Hillsdale took over and ended the Eagles’ season. The Chargers hit for an impressive .457 percent.

Ashland was lead by freshman Kate Eckels who finished with 15 kills and nine digs. Anesia Benton added 12 kills while sophomore Crystal Elliott had a team-high 37 assists. Arian Martin added 22 digs. For Hillsdale, Lauren Grover hit .667 with 10 kills.

Seniors Sophie Paddock and Lauren Schweitzer finished their careers on a good note. Paddock had six kills and three blocks (two solo, one assisted), while Schweitzer had nine digs.

Ashland University is currently in the process of finding a new head volleyball coach.