Last week's road trip proved to be a fruitful one for the 12th-ranked Hillsdale College volleyball team, which improved to 4-0, remained atop the G-MAC and ran its winning streak in G-MAC regular season and tournament matches to 59 matches.
The Chargers hit the road this week hoping for more success against tough competition, including a Friday trip to Ursuline to take on a conference rival, and a Saturday showcase match against the Chargers' first ranked opponent of the season, 2019 NCAA Division II Elite Eight qualifier Gannon.
You can follow along with the Chargers on the road on the Great Midwest Digital Network, by clicking on the links below for live stats and webcasts for both of this weekend's matches.
Schedule
#12 Hillsdale (2-0, 2-0 G-MAC) at Ursuline (1-3, 1-3 G-MAC) | 7:00 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5 | Seidman Gymnasium | Pepper Pike, OH
#12 Hillsdale (2-0, 2-0 G-MAC) at #23 Gannon (0-0) | 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6 | Hammermill Center | Erie, PA
Follow/Watch
Live Stats vs Ursuline | Webcast vs Ursuline | Live Stats vs Gannon | Webcast vs Gannon
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Ursuline Roster | Gannon Roster | 2021 Hillsdale Stats | 2021 Ursuline Stats | 2019 Gannon Stats
Players to Watch
Hillsdale: #9 Allyssa Van Wienen, Sr., MH, Grand Rapids, MI/Christian (2nd G-MAC in hitting %, 8th in K/S, 3rd in B/S, 4th in P/S); #15 Lindsey Mertz, Sr., S, Frankenmuth, MI/Frankenmuth (1st in G-MAC in A/S, 2019 1st Team All-G-MAC, 2nd Team All-Midwest); #7 Karoline Shelton, Jr., OH, Shawnee, KS/Mission South (3rd in G-MAC in hitting %, 2nd in K/S, 6th in SA/S, 2nd in P/S); #4 Alli Wiese, Fr., L/DS, Mattawan, MI/Mattawan (4th in G-MAC in D/S, 6th in SA/S)
Ursuline: #2 Abigail Aguilera-Ayala, Fr., OH, Chino, CA/Aquinas (9th in G-MAC in K/S); #16 Zoe Skinner, Sr., DS, Danville, IN/Danville (2nd in G-MAC in D/S); #20 Regan Nickol, Jr., S, Tallmadge, OH/CVCA, Mount Vernon Nazarene (7th in G-MAC in A/S); #12 Devin Gerth, So., OH, Elmira, ONT, Canada/Elmira (led Arrows in K/S in 2019)
Gannon: #5 Ashley Beyers, Sr., S, Lanark, IL/Eastland (Honorable Mention All-American, 1st Team All-Region, 1st Team All-PSAC in 2019); #22 Ashley Kerestes, Sr., MB, Loves Park, IL/Rockford Lutheran (Honorable Mention All-American, 1st Team All-Region, 1st Team All-PSAC in 2019); #8 Lauren Sampson, Jr., OH, Hilliard, OH/Davidson (Honorable Mention All-Region, 2nd Team All-PSAC in 2019); #4 Ashley McClung, Jr., S/RS, Charleston, WV/George Washington (3rd Team All-PSAC in 2019)
Scouting the Opposition
Ursuline: The Arrows struggled through a difficult 2019 campaign, winning just four matches, but return in 2021 more experienced and with the potential to make a leap in the G-MAC standings.
Freshman outside hitter Abigail Aguilera-Ayala has given a boost to the Ursuline offense, and helped Ursuline sweep Ohio Valley and take two teams expected to finish in the top four in the conference, Tiffin and Cedarville, to five sets in competitive losses.
Senior libero Zoe Skinner has been critical to Ursuline's defense so far and is one of the top players in digs per set in the G-MAC, helping lead an Arrows squad that's fourth in the conference as a team in that stat in 2021.
While Ursuline has been solid defensively, improvements on offense could make a big difference. The Arrows are just ninth in the conference in hitting % and 10th in total kills as a team so far.
The Arrows are coached by Calaeb Campbell, who is in his second season as head coach after taking the job in 2019. Campbell was an assistant coach at Division I Youngstown State and Southeast Missouri St. prior to taking the Ursuline job.
Gannon: In a season where the Chargers face several tough opponents, Gannon looms largest as a consistent player on the national stage in Division II volleyball.
The Knights have made five NCAA Division II Elite Eight appearances, including two in the last three seasons, and in 2019, where Gannon fell to eventual national runner-up Nebraska-Kearney in a four-set battle.
Gannon is an experienced squad that returns several key pieces from last year's team, including two honorable mention All-Americans in senior setter Ashley Beyers, and senior middle blocker Ashley Kerestes, as well as honorable mention All-Atlantic Region outside hitter Lauren Sampson and All-Conference right-side hitter Ashley McClung.
The back row is the question mark for the Knights, who must replace All-Region libero Toni Leitshuh as well as outside hitter Ally Smith, their second-best player in terms of digs per set in 2019. But Gannon is a program that's reloaded more than rebuilt over the last decade, so expect the Knights to have good answers for those questions in 2021.
Gannon is coached by Matt Darling, who in 13 seasons has guided the Knights to a 302-25 record, 10 straight seasons of 20 or more wins and NCAA Tournament appearance, two trips to the Division II Elite Eight, and the program's first-ever Final Four appearance in 2017, as well as its first conference title in 2012.
Scouting the Chargers
Last weekend, Hillsdale got its first real test in a road match against G-MAC title contender Walsh, and showed their mettle in a hard-fought four-set victory to improve to 4-0 overall and in conference play.
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 defenses keying on All-American middle hitter Allyssa Van Wienen, junior outside hitter Karoline Shelton has proven so far that that's a lethal mistake, racking up 55 kills in four matches on a .370 hitting percentage.
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. Three Chargers had 10 or more kills in both of Hillsdale's road victories last weekend.
The Chargers also have played extremely clean volleyball so far. Hillsdale has a kill to attack error ratio of 2.95 in the four matches it's played, and has committed just 14 service errors and 14 reception 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 4-0 all-time against Ursuline, winning in straight sets in all four meetings, including on Nov. 16, 2019 last season.
- The Chargers lead a long series with Gannon 21-12, with most meetings between the two coming during their shared time as members of the old GLIAC South Division from the mid 90s to the mid-2000s. The Knights have won two straight in the series, in 2016 and 2017, in the most recent meetings between the two schools. Those wins snapped an 11-match win streak for Hillsdale over Gannon prior to the 2016 contest.
- Junior Karoline Shelton teammate Allyssa Van Wienen in an exclusive club this past week, becoming just the third Charger in program history to win Sports Imports/AVCA Division II National Player of the Week honors after leading the Chargers with 21 kills and 19 digs in a win over previously unbeaten Walsh. Van Wienen won the honor last season on Sept 9, 2019 on the way to All-American honors, and 2012 graduate and three-time All-American Ashlee Crowder also earned the honor on Sept. 22, 2009.
- Senior setter Lindsey Mertz moved up a spot on the all-time career assists lists at Hillsdale in a 3-0 win over Malone on Friday, surpassing former All-American Apryl Schmucker ('12) for fourth place on the list. At 3,749 for her career, Mertz needs just 892 assists to pass Stephanie Booms ('09) for the program's all-time record.
- Senior Allyssa Van Wienen is also approaching a milestone of her own in career kills. The 2019 All-American has 980 for her career and could reach 1,000 kills as soon as this weekend. Van Wienen, a 2019 All-American, needs just 67 kills to surpass Melissa Bartlett ('08)'s career total of 1,046 and break into the top 10 all time in Charger history in the statistic.
- Freshman Alli Wiese also earned recognition for her play against Walsh this weekend, bringing in G-MAC Defensive Player of the Week honors after finishing with a team-high 33 kills in the Charger win. That dig total is one off the record for a four-set match held by Wiese's older sister, Taylor, and it's also tied for the highest mark in a single match in the G-MAC to date. Both the other players with 33 digs reached that mark in a match that went to five sets, as well.