For the past two-plus seasons, Charger volleyball junior Lindsey Mertz has distinguished herself as the top setter in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Two First-Team All-Conference honors attest to that.
Monday afternoon, she was recognized as the best player in the league last week.
Mertz was named the G-MAC Offensive Player of the Week, her first such award this season. The award was announced and chosen by the conference office.
Although the 18th-ranked Chargers played just once last week, it was an important match, that featured Mertz playing at her best. The team's starting setter, Mertz handed out 39 assists in Hillsdale's 3-0 win over the University of Findlay in Ohio. That averaged out to 13 assists per set, an improvement on her already conference-leading average of 10.9 entering the match.
Mertz's setting helped Hillsdale to a .245 hitting percentage, 20 points above its season average against an opponent that had held its opponents to a season hitting percentage under .220. And it came in one of the most challenging venues in the league, against a team the Chargers constantly battle for the top spot in the G-MAC.
She leads the G-MAC averaging 10.96 assists per set and has helped lead Hillsdale to a 12-2 start to the season. Mertz hails from Frankenmuth, Michigan.