2017 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Awards Release
On the morning of Saturday, September 16, the Hillsdale College volleyball team was four days into Great Midwest Athletic Conference play. It was 0-2 and sitting in last place after a pair of discouraging losses to conference contenders.
But the old saying goes it's not where you start, it's where you finish that matters. Few have proven that to be true like this year's Chargers.
Since that loss to Cedarville on September 15th, Hillsdale has won 18 straight matches, earned the number one seed in this week's conference tournament, and had three members of the program get recognized for their excellence this season.
Junior right-side hitter Paige VanderWall was named the 2017 G-MAC Player of the Year, becoming the fourth player in Hillsdale College history to be named a conference player of the year, joining Taryn Rudland (2006), Melissa Bartlett (2007) and Ashlee Crowder (2010, 2011).
Freshman setter Lindsey Mertz was named the G-MAC Freshman of the Year, joining Rudland (2003) and Crowder (2008) as the only Chargers to win that award in program history.
And for the fifth time in his tremendous career, Chris Gravel earned conference coach of the year honors, adding the year 2017 to a list that includes 1999, 2006, 2010 and 2011. All three members of the Chargers team were honored with their awards at the G-MAC Volleyball Awards Banquet, held Wednesday night at the Searle Center on campus.
In addition to sweeping the three G-MAC individual awards for the season, Hillsdale was well-represented on the two all-conference teams. Joining Mertz and VanderWall as First-Team All-Great Midwest players were junior outside hitter Kara Vyletel, sophomore libero Taylor Wiese and freshman middle hitter Allyssa Van Wienen. Senior Jackie Langer earned Second-Team All-Conference honors for the recently completed regular season.
VanderWall took her game to new heights in 2017, improving her offensive efficiency, her defensive skills and her leadership within the team. She finished the regular season with 279 kills and a .327 hitting percentage, both marks ranking her in the top 10 in the conference. She's already set a career-high with 228 digs and delivered 30 service aces on the season. VanderWall's consistency was impressive, registering 10 or more kills in 17 of the team's 28 matches. Her .909 hitting percentage (10 kills in 11 attempts) versus St. Michael's September 8 set a single-match school record and was the second-best mark recorded by any player in Great Midwest history.
Any freshman entering college volleyball play has a steep learning curve. But perhaps none as much as a freshman setter, who has to learn the offense installed by the coach, learn the tendencies of her teammates and read a defense, all the while playing at a speed not typically seen earlier in their careers. Lindsey Mertz made that transition look awfully easy in establishing herself as the quarterback of one of Division II's most brutally efficient offenses.
Mertz directed the Chargers to a .283 hitting percentage as a team in the regular season, ranking Hillsdale 7th in all of NCAA Division II. She had 920 assists, 31 service aces and 179 digs, putting together one of the finest freshman seasons Hillsdale has ever seen from its setter position.
In his 22nd season directing the Charger volleyball program, Gravel proved he hasn't lost his touch. After a – by his lofty standards – a disappointing 2016 season that saw the team see a 12-year streak of qualifying for the postseason end, Gravel retooled his lineup with a dynamic freshman class while nurturing his older players into all-around forces. On that September 16th morning, his team was 7-3. Not a poor record by any stretch, but the team had lost three of five after a 5-0 start. But through the rest of the season, he handled his lineup masterfully, knowing when to tinker and when to leave well enough alone as his team ripped off 18 straight wins – none of them requiring a fifth set – to put it in a position to host a conference tournament for the fourth time since 2006.
Vyletel led the Chargers in kills during the regular season with 324 and had a .291 hitting percentage. She improved her accuracy and consistency throughout the season and was capable of carrying the offense for long stretches of matches.
Wiese established herself as the G-MAC's finest libero, delivering outstanding play day in and day out in the back row for Hillsdale. She was the G-MAC's regular season leader in digs per set with 5.39. But beyond her raw dig numbers was her passing accuracy and outstanding serve receive game, which directly translated to Hillsdale's high-powered offense. There wasn't much more a coach could ask of a libero than what Wiese gave the Chargers in just her sophomore season.
Van Wienen was a revelation as a freshman middle hitter, leading the conference in hitting percentage at .349. She was named G-MAC West Player of the Week twice and had 241 kills with 64 total blocks on the season. She steadily improved throughout the season and was a legitimate candidate for conference freshman of the year.