After one of the biggest wins of the season on Saturday, two players from the Hillsdale College volleyball team received much-deserved recognition from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference on Monday afternoon.
Junior middle hitter Maizie Brown was named the G-MAC North Division Offensive Player of the Week and senior libero Alli Wiese was named the G-MAC North Division Defensive Player of the Week by the conference office after Hillsdale swept both Malone and G-MAC leader Walsh this weekend.
It's Brown's second weekly conference award of both this season and her career for the Chargers, and Wiese's 12th weekly conference honor in her career.
Brown was lethal offensively for the Chargers this weekend, averaging 3.6 kills per set and putting up seven total blocks, including three solo blocks, and three aces. The junior from Portage, Michigan tied for the team lead in kills against both Malone and Walsh while hitting a scorching .587 at the net with just one combined attack error across five sets. Her 11 kills on a .529 hitting percentage were critical to Hillsdale's dominant sweep of the visiting Cavaliers, who entered the match with a 15-0 conference record, on Saturday.
While Brown had a huge offensive week, she's made her name in four seasons at Hillsdale as one of the G-MAC's strongest defensive players at the net. Her 1.02 blocks per set average ranks fourth in the G-MAC this season, and her 31 solo blocks ranks second. With 344 total blocks for her career, Brown ranks seventh all-time in Hillsdale history in blocks, with one more season of eligibility still to play.
Wiese, meanwhile, was a defensive rock for the Chargers in both matches, leading Hillsdale in digs in both outings and chipping in four aces against Malone. A returning All-American from 2022, Wiese leads the G-MAC in digs per set with 4.91, and her 0.53 service aces per set ranks second in the G-MAC.
One of just three players in G-MAC history to surpass 2,000 digs in her career, with 2,121 digs through this past weekend, Wiese is closing in on Hillsdale's all-time digs record of 2,251 held by her older sister, Taylor. Her 177 aces also rank second all-time in Hillsdale history, and she needs just eight more aces this season to break the single-season record set by All-American Apryl Schmucker at Hillsdale in 2011.
The Chargers will seek to finish the regular season strong on the road this weekend, with matches at Malone on Thursday, at Tiffin on Friday, and at Findlay on Saturday, leading into the G-MAC Tournament next week.
Photos by Jordan Monnin and Anthony Lupi