With five starters returning from a team that made just the third regional final appearance in program history, there's a lot of excitement surrounding the Hillsdale College volleyball team as the 2020 season approaches.
Adding to that excitement is a three-player recruiting class with the kind of talent to keep a recent run of Charger excellence going.
Joining Hillsdale College in the 2020 season are: Ava Aldag (5-10 outside hitter, Neenah, WI), Maizie Brown (6-0 middle blocker, Portage, MI) and Alli Wiese (5-6 libero/defensive specialist, Mattawan, MI).
Aldag, playing at Neenah High School in the largest classification in the state of Wisconsin, was a standout as a senior, leading the entire Fox Valley Association in kills with 375, and earning first team all-conference honors and honorable mention all-region honors in the process. The outside hitter also was a part of regional championship teams in 2017 and 2018, and was named a team captain and Neenah High School's offensive player of the year as a senior.
For her club career, Aldag played with the FC Elite, the Impact, and the Fox Valley Thunder, serving as a team captain in 2019 and helping the FC Elite 18 Navy team earn the Badger Region qualifying bid in 2020.
Off the court, Aldag is a standout in the classroom, making the honor roll at Neenah four consecutive years with a cumulative GPA of 3.96, winning the Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association Academic Award in 2018, 2019 and 2020 and the Excellence in Chinese Learning Award from the Wisconsin Association of Chinese Language teachers in 2017. Aldag also was a Special Olympics volunteer from 2016-2019, as well as member of the Neenah High School Launch Leadership Program from 2018-20 and a Launch Leadership Team Captain from 2019-20.
Brown, meanwhile, is a late addition to the class and a true under-the-radar recruit coming from Portage Central.
The middle blocker spent most of her sports life focused on basketball, with volleyball only becoming her main sport in her senior year of high school. Once she made the switch, however, Brown became an impact player in the middle for the Mustangs, averaging 5.3 kills per game and earning all-conference honors in the tough Southwest Michigan Athletic Conference, as well as all-region honors.
Brown played club volleyball with the Dead Frog 18U Black team, and is also an excellent student, earning Academic All-State honors from the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association for the 2019 season.
Over the years, the Chargers have gotten big returns from players who were under-recruited by other programs due to a lack of club volleyball experience, and Brown could be the latest.
Last but certainly not least is Wiese, who will be familiar to followers of the Charger volleyball program as she's following in the footsteps of her older sister Taylor, who played for the Chargers from 2016-19.
Taylor matured into one of the best liberos to ever play at Hillsdale College, setting a school record for career digs and earning honorable mention All-American honors as a senior.
In a standout high school career, Alli showed that she has the same kind of talent as her older sister, earning Division 1 All-State honors from MIVCA all four years at Mattawan and first team honors in her junior and senior year, while also being one of 10 finalists for the Michigan Ms. Volleyball Award as a senior.
During her high school career, Mattawan won three district titles and a regional title, and as a senior Wiese led the Wildcats to a 41-5 record, a SMAC Conference championship and a quarterfinal appearance, as Mattawan fell to eventual state runner-up Lowell in a competitive four-set match.
Wiese played club volleyball with FarOut Volleyball Club, helping the team win a 15U national title in 2017.
Off the court, Wiese is a top-notch student, earning membership in the Mattawan National Honor Society and being named to the Academic All-American fifth team by prepdig.com.
All three recruits will join a Charger squad that's loaded with talent this fall as head coach Chris Gravel and his wife and associate head coach Stephanie Gravel enter their 25th season running the Hillsdale College program.
The Chargers will kick off the 2020 campaign with their annual home tournament, hosting Illinois-Springfield, Ashland, Upper Iowa and Malone for three days of volleyball action starting on Thursday, Sept. 3 at 4:30 p.m.
It's part of an ambitious schedule for Hillsdale, which is looking for its fourth straight sweep of the G-MAC regular season and tournament titles, its third straight NCAA Division II tournament appearance, and to contend for just the second DII regional title in program history.
Photos: (all courtesy, from left) Alli Wiese, Ava Aldag, Maizie Brown