The Hillsdale College volleyball team kicked off the unprecedented Spring 2021 season in style last weekend, sweeping two conference opponents in front of a loud home crowd.
This weekend, the Chargers hit the road for the first time in 2021, looking to stay unbeaten in G-MAC play. They'll face perhaps their stiffest challenge in the season in a strong Walsh squad coming off an impressive weekend of its own, as well as a young and dangerous Malone team.
You can follow the Chargers on their road trip to Canton, OH on the Great Midwest Digital Network. Links to live stats and video streams for both matches are below.
Schedule
#12 Hillsdale (2-0, 2-0 G-MAC) at Malone (1-1, 1-1 G-MAC) | 7:00 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29 | Osborne Hall | Canton, OH
#12 Hillsdale (2-0, 2-0 G-MAC) at Walsh (2-0, 2-0 G-MAC) | 11:00 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 30 | Cecchini Center | North Canton, OH
Follow/Watch
Live Stats vs Malone | Webcast vs Malone | Live Stats vs Walsh | Webcast vs Walsh
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Malone Roster | Walsh Roster | 2021 Hillsdale Stats | 2021 Malone Stats | 2021 Walsh Stats
Players to Watch
Hillsdale: #9 Allyssa Van Wienen, Sr., MH, Grand Rapids, MI/Christian (2019 All-American, G-MAC POY, G-MAC Female Athlete of the Year); #15 Lindsey Mertz, Sr., S, Frankenmuth, MI/Frankenmuth (2019 1st Team All-G-MAC, 2nd Team All-Midwest); #7 Karoline Shelton, Jr., OH, Shawnee, KS/Mission South (2019 1st Team All-G-MAC, 2nd Team All-Region); #10 Maggie DePorre, Jr., OH, Troy, MI/Birmingham Marian (2019 2nd Team All-G-MAC)
Malone: #7 Audra Kocher, Fr., S, Lexington, OH/Lexington (leads Malone in assists per set with 4.67); #15 Anna Mallette, So., OH, North Canton, OH/Jackson (G-MAC leader in kills per set at 4.5 and points per set at 4.83); #5 Anna Hopple, So., OH, Canton, OH/Perry (2nd in G-MAC in aces per set at 0.83); #9 Cierra Guerney, So., OH, Shelby, OH/Shelby (second on Malone in points per set with 2.5)
Walsh: #7 Hallie Schroeder, Sr., OH, Avon, OH/Avon (1st Team All-G-MAC in 2019); #9 Amber King, Jr., MB, Broadview Heights, OH/Brecksville-Broadview Heights (2nd Team All-G-MAC in 2019); #8 Olivia Kearns, So., S, Lexington, OH/Lexington (2nd Team All-G-MAC in 2019); #2 Olivia Maczuzak, Jr., OH, Painesville, OH/Riverside (2nd in G-MAC in kills per set with 4)
Scouting the Opposition
Malone: Picked to finish eighth in the G-MAC in the preseason coaches poll, Malone split the opening weekend with a three-set sweep of Ohio Valley and a three-set loss to a Cedarville team that was expected to contend for the G-MAC title.
The Pioneers are a team in transition after graduating six of their top 10 athletes in sets played from a 2019 season where Malone went 10-22 and lost in the G-MAC quarterfinals to Hillsdale.
Malone does have talent returning, however. Sophomore Anna Mallette had an impressive first week and is currently the conference leader in kills and points per set, while fellow sophomore Anna Hopple is second in the G-MAC in aces per set.
With a starting lineup dominated by freshmen and sophomores, the Pioneers are banking on growth and improvement throughout the season to make them a contender by the end of the year and potentially in the G-MAC tournament.
Malone is coached by Tanya Hockman, who has led the program for 22 seasons. Hockman has helped the Pioneers post at least 15 wins in 17 of her 21 seasons in charge, and led Malone to its only national tournament appearance in program history in 2010 as a member of the NAIA.
Walsh: The Cavaliers have been one of the top teams in the G-MAC since joining in 2017, never finishing worse than fourth in the regular season and reaching the G-MAC Tournament semifinals in each of the past three seasons.
If the first week's results are any indication, Walsh might have its best team yet during that run, and be the most dangerous challenger to Hillsdale's reign of dominance atop the league.
The Cavaliers opened the season on Tuesday with an impressive three-set sweep of fellow title contender Cedarville on the road, then dispatched Ohio Valley in three sets on Friday to improve to 2-0.
Walsh lost two All-G-MAC players to graduation in Lauren Loucks and Justine Coffman, but returned three more all-conference honorees in Hallie Schroeder, Amber King and Olivia Kearns. The Cavaliers also have another breakout star in junior Olivia Maczuzak, who is second in the G-MAC in kills per set after a strong opening-week performance.
Walsh's offense is potent, leading the G-MAC in hitting percentage (.294) and kills per set (13.5), but the Cavaliers also boast a strong defense, holding opponents to a G-MAC best .014 hitting percentage in the opening weekend.
The Cavaliers are coached by Jayme Plummer, who is entering his second season after leading Walsh to an 18-10 record in 2019. Before coming to Walsh, Plummer was the coach at fellow G-MAC school Ursuline, where he led the Arrows to 45 wins and three G-MAC tournament bids in four seasons.
Scouting the Chargers
Last weekend, the Chargers stretched their winning streak in G-MAC regular season and tournament matches to 57 with three-set sweeps of Trevecca Nazarene and Kentucky Wesleyan at home.
Hillsdale is chasing a fourth-straight G-MAC regular season and tournament title, and looks well on its way with a squad that's got a level of depth and talent that few Charger teams have had in head coach Chris Gravel's storied 25 year tenure.
With the Trojans and Panthers keying defensively on All-American middle hitter Allyssa Van Wienen, junior outside hitter Karoline Shelton showed why that was a lethal mistake, racking up 22 kills across the two matches to lead the Chargers to the victory.
Hillsdale's ability to spread the ball around to effective hitters, thanks to setters Lindsey Mertz and Madeline Zenas, is a large part of what makes the team so dangerous. Six different Chargers had three or more kills in Saturday's win over KWC.
The Chargers also have played extremely clean volleyball so far. Hillsdale has a kill to attack error ratio of 2.84 in the two matches it's played, and has committed just five service errors and six serve-receive errors. That lack of mistakes makes it extremely difficult for opponents to get back in the match if the Chargers' powerhouse offense can get out to an early lead.
Coaching the Chargers for the 25th year is Chris Gravel, who's built Hillsdale's program from the ground up and into one of the top programs in the Midwest Region. Under Gravel, the Chargers have won seven conference regular season titles, six conference tournament titles, made 12 NCAA Division II tournament appearances, won the Midwest Regional title in 2011, and reached the NCAA DII Final Four in that same year.
Other Notes
- Hillsdale is a perfect 9-0 against Malone and also 9-0 against Walsh in matches against the two programs dating back to their days in the GLIAC, though both have been tough opponents, taking a combined 12 sets off the Chargers in those 18 meetings.
- Junior Allyssa Van Wienen enters the 2021 season as a national player of the year contender after an impressive 2019 campaign that saw her become the Chargers' 11th NCAA DII All-American in program history and win one of the G-MAC's highest honors, the Female Athlete of the Year. Van Wienen has an opportunity to become just the fourth repeat All-American in program history. Her efficiency sets her apart; among Division II leaders in both hitting percentage (2nd, .427) and points per set (fourth, 4.92), Van Wienen was the only player in the country to finish in the top 15 in both categories.
- Senior setter Lindsey Mertz has flown under the radar when it comes to national recognition, but she's quietly assembling one of the most statistically productive careers for a setter in Hillsdale history. Mertz set a new single-season school record for the 25-point rally scoring era in assists in 2019, with 1,264, breaking the mark set by former All-American Apryl Schmucker in 2011. She's also rapidly approaching the career assists mark set by Stephanie Booms from 2005-08 – at 3,671 for her career, Mertz is 1,014 assists shy of Booms' record, a mark she's exceeded in every one of her three seasons to date.
- Junior Karoline Shelton had an impressive first week for the Chargers, finishing with a team high 22 kills and a .339 hitting percentage in Hillsdale's two victories, and also earning G-MAC Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in her career. She's one of just two G-MAC players to be in the top 10 in both hitting percentage and kills per set, with Malone's Anna Mallette the other.
- Freshman Maizie Brown had an impactful debut in limited action for the Chargers this weekend, finishing with a .438 hitting percentage, the second-best in the G-MAC, on 16 attacks and tying with teammates Maggie DePorre and Megan Kolp for second-best in the G-MAC with 1.25 blocks per set.
- While Hillsdale will miss graduated libero Taylor Wiese, a 2019 All-American on the court, she hasn't gone far. Wiese has joined the Charger coaching staff as Gravel's lead assistant this season, and will look to pass her knowledge along to the current Charger squad. That includes Taylor's younger sister, Alli, a freshman who joined the squad this past fall and who will look to continue the Wiese family tradition of excellent defensive play at Hillsdale.