2019 D2CCA All-Midwest Region Release
D2CCA Awards
Two of the better teams in the Midwest Region - Rockhurst and Michigan Tech - had two representatives on the D2CCA All-Region Team, released Wednesday afternoon. All but one team had just one representative on the two teams.
Hillsdale College had four.
No other team came close to the number of all-region winners the Chargers had. Senior libero Taylor Wiese and junior middle hitter Allyssa Van Wienen were named First-Team All-Region, and are now eligible for All-American honors through this program, which has a nomination and voting process done by sports information directors in the region.
Sophomore outside hitter Karoline Shelton and junior setter Lindsey Mertz earned Second-Team All-Region honors. This was the third time in Mertz's three seasons she's been named All-Region, while Shelton recorded the first all-region honor of her career, in just her second season.
Wiese, Hillsdale's all-time leader in digs, was the top vote-getter among defensive-oriented players in this voting. She ranks fifth in Division II averaging 6.09 digs per set and was the runaway leader in the G-MAC in that category. She was named G-MAC Defensive Player of the Week three times.
Van Wienen had a magnificent season for the conference champion Chargers. She started the year off being named AVCA Division II National Player of the Week, thanks in part to a 21-kill performance in a win over national power Concordia-St. Paul. She went on to win an unprecedented seven G-MAC Offensive Player of the Week awards on her way to being named conference player of the year. She enters regional tournament play with 370 kills, a .443 hitting percentage and 94 total blocks on the season.
AVCA Awards
The American Volleyball Coaches Association also released its all-region teams Wednesday afternoon, and the Chargers were well-represented.
Wiese and Van Wienen duplicated their First-Team All-Region awards through this program, voted on by coaches of the region.
In addition, Chris Gravel was named the 2019 Midwest Region Coach of the Year. Gravel had another banner year in 2019, guiding Hillsdale to its sixth postseason tournament championship and third in a row. His team ran through the G-MAC undefeated in the regular season and postseason for the second year in a row, and on November 19, he picked up his 500th career victory. All six of his conference tournament titles have come since 2009, and he's won three in a row twice - 2009-11 and 2017-19.