Even though it's not a G-MAC match, there'll be a familiar foe on the other side of the net for the second-ranked Hillsdale College volleyball team on Wednesday.
The Chargers host Ashland, a former rival in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, for a match that night. Few volleyball teams have met more frequently than Hillsdale and the Eagles over the last 30 years, as the two teams regularly played three or even four times a year during their time together in the GLIAC.
Ashland is not the only GLIAC opponent Hillsdale will be facing in a busy three-match week. The Chargers are also hosting Davenport, another GLIAC squad, on Friday. Both matches start at 7 p.m. and while Hillsdale will be treating the contests as official matches, both Ashland and Davenport will be officially counting the games as exhibitions due to current GLIAC rules.
Hillsdale wraps up the weekend with a conference match against Lake Erie at home on Saturday.
While complying with MDHHS orders, Hillsdale College is now allowing a limited number of fans to attend games at Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena for the remainder of the season. You can find more details at this link, and you can also find links to ticket pages for each game below. Tickets will not go on sale until 24 hours before each match.
You can also follow along with all the action on the Great Midwest Digital Network. Links to both live stats and the streaming webcast for each match are below.
Schedule
Ashland (0-0, 0-0 GLIAC) at #2 Hillsdale (5-0, 5-0 G-MAC) | 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
Davenport (0-0, 0-0 GLIAC) at #2 Hillsdale (5-0, 5-0 G-MAC) | 7:00 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
Lake Erie (1-2, 1-2 G-MAC) at #2 Hillsdale (5-0, 5-0 G-MAC) | 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
Follow/Watch
Live Stats vs Ashland | Webcast vs Ashland | Live Stats vs Davenport | Webcast vs Davenport | Live Stats vs Lake Erie | Webcast vs Lake Erie | Tickets
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Ashland Roster | Davenport Roster | Lake Erie Roster | 2021 Hillsdale Stats | 2019 Ashland Stats | 2019 Davenport Stats | 2021 Lake Erie Stats
Players to Watch
Hillsdale: #9 Allyssa Van Wienen, Sr., MH, Grand Rapids, MI/Christian (1st G-MAC in hitting %, 7th in K/S, 3rd in B/S, 3rd 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 (4th in G-MAC in hitting %, 1st in K/S, 6th in SA/S, 1st in P/S); #4 Alli Wiese, Fr., L/DS, Mattawan, MI/Mattawan (4th in G-MAC in D/S, 4th in SA/S)
Ashland: #14 Zoey Peck, Jr. S, Homeworth, OH/Marlington (2019 1st Team All-GLIAC, 2nd in GLIAC in A/S); #16 Erin Krupar, Jr., OH, East Sparta, OH/Canton Central (2019 2nd Team All-GLIAC, led Eagle starters in K/S); #12 Lexi Lombardo, Sr., MH, Olmsted Falls, OH/Olmsted Falls, Lake Erie College (2019 2nd Team All-GLIAC, 2nd in GLIAC in Hitting %); #4 Brooke Peiffer, Sr., OH, Lansing, MI/Holt, Lake Erie College (2nd Team All-GLIAC)
Davenport: #4 Hayley Kreiger, Jr., OH, South Haven, MI/South Haven (2019 1st Team All-GLIAC, 5th in GLIAC in K/S); #5 Nina Rudnitsky, Jr., DS, Warren, MI/Bishop Foley (led Panthers in D/S in 2019); #2 Megan Herr, Jr., Camden, IN/Carroll (2nd on team in K/S in 2019); #9 Kendra DeJonge, Sr., OH, Rockford, MI/Rockford, Grand Rapids CC (2nd in GLIAC in SA/S in 2019)
Lake Erie: #18 Kariema Rodriguez, Jr., OH, Naranjito, Puerto Rico/College of Central Florida (4th in K/S, 5th in P/S in G-MAC); #7 Dora Olah, So., RS/ God, Hungary/Berzenyi Daniel (2nd in G-MAC in SA/S); #10 Maria Blatnik, Jr., RS, Eastlake, OH/North (8th in G-MAC in B/S); #13 Taylor Metzler, So., OH/Lewis Center, OH/Olentangy Orange (led Storm in K/S in 2019)
Scouting the Opposition
Ashland: The Eagles have been a consistent contender in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference over the last two decades, including back-to-back South Division titles and a 2018 NCAA Tournament bid.
Ashland looks to be strong again in 2021, and a real contender for its first outright conference title since 2006. The Eagles return four starters, led by first-team All-GLIAC setter Zoey Peck, who was in the top five nationally in assists per set in 2019.
While Ashland has significant holes to fill with the loss of first-team All-GLIAC O/MH Sophi Cudworth and libero McKinley Smith to graduation, the Eagles bring in two high-profile transfers in former Eastern Michigan starter Heidi Fausze and Lake Erie standout Courtney Rosebrook to add to their firepower.
The Eagles are coached by Kevin Foeman, who has a 49-14 record with Ashland entering his third year, and led the Eagles to an NCAA tournament bid in 2018. Prior to Ashland, Foeman led Lake Erie to a new program record in wins and before that was an assistant coach at Hillsdale.
Davenport: In three seasons as an NCAA Division II school and GLIAC member, the Panthers have made the conference tournament two out of three years, but have yet to break into the top four in the GLIAC standings.
Davenport is hoping to achieve that breakthrough season this year with an experienced group of front-row attackers led by junior Hayley Kreiger, a first-team All-GLIAC honoree in 2019.
Along with Kreiger, Megan Herr and Kendra Dejonge give the Panthers a potent offense on paper, but to unlock the team's full potential, Davenport will have to find a capable replacement for graduated senior setter Sami White, herself an All-GLIAC honorable mention player.
The Panthers were toward the middle-to-low end of the pack both offensively and defensively in 2019, and those numbers will have to improve if Davenport is to improve on a 6-10 GLIAC finish.
Davenport is coached by Brian Netzler, who is entering his second season with the Panthers. Prior to taking the job with Davenport, Netzler spent time as an assistant coach at both Miami (OH) and Austin Peay University.
Lake Erie: The Storm started their run in the G-MAC in 2017 with a bang, with two 20-plus win seasons, an East Division title, and two tournament semifinal appearances.
Last year, Lake Erie came back to earth, falling to 10-20 and missing the G-MAC tournament, but the Storm are looking to turn things around in 2021.
Junior outside hitter Kariema Rodriguez, a transfer from the College of Central Florida, has been one of the most effective attackers in the G-MAC so far, sitting at fourth in kills per set and fifth in points per set, and the Storm have been one of the G-MAC's best serving teams, led by Dora Olah, who's averaging 0.8 aces per set.
Lake Erie could be bolstered in the near future by the return of sophomore outside hitter Taylor Metzler, and junior setter Alexandria Becerra. The two led the Storm in kills per set and assists per set, respectively, in 2019, but have yet to play in a match this season.
The Storm are coached by Kyle Peck, who's entering his third season in charge of the Lake Erie program, and who guided the Storm to a 23-10 record and a G-MAC tournament semifinal appearance in his first season in 2018. Prior to Lake Erie, Peck was the head coach at Gulf Coast State Junior College in Florida.
Scouting the Chargers
Although the second-ranked Chargers didn't get the showcase match against No. 22 Gannon they were hoping for this past weekend, they did take care of business at Ursuline to improve to 5-0 on the season.
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 69 kills in five matches on a .367 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. Five Chargers are averaging 1.5 or more kills per set through the team's first five matches.
The Chargers also have played extremely clean volleyball so far. Hillsdale has a kill to attack error ratio of 2.99 in the five matches it's played, and has committed just 16 service errors and 18 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 and Ashland have a long-running and competitive series dating back to 1989, and including a long tenure for both teams in the GLIAC. The Chargers lead the series 33-21 and won the most recent meeting, a 3-set victory on Sept. 12, 2019. The two teams will become conference rivals once again in 2021 when Ashland joins the G-MAC as a full member.
- The Chargers have played Davenport only once, beating the Panthers in three sets on Sept. 9, 2008.
- Hillsdale is a perfect 15-0 against Lake Erie dating back to 2008, though the Storm have taken a set off of the Chargers in six of their last seven meetings.
- The Chargers moved up to 2nd in the nation in the most recent AVCA Coaches poll last week. That ranking is the highest in Hillsdale volleyball history, surpassing the 2006 squad, which was ranked as high as third in the nation on Oct. 30, 2006. The last time Hillsdale was ranked in the top five was the 2011 season, when Hillsdale reached the NCAA Division II Final Four for the only time in program history.
- Junior Karoline Shelton continued her strong start to the season with 14 kills against Ursuline on Friday. Shelton is not only leading the G-MAC in multiple categories, she's also fifth among all Division II players in points per set (5.00) and seventh among all DII players in kills per set (4.31) through last weekend's games.
- Senior setter Lindsey Mertz is currently second in the nation in all of Division II with 11.31 assists per set through five matches. At 3,773 for her career, Mertz needs just 867 assists to pass Stephanie Booms ('09) for the program's all-time record.
- Senior Allyssa Van Wienen is approaching a milestone in career kills. The 2019 All-American has 985 for her career and could reach 1,000 kills as soon as this weekend. Van Wienen 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. She's already in the career top-10 in blocks for the Chargers, passing former teammate Hannah Gates ('20) and Molly Daugherty ('02) in the last two weeks to move into 9th all time with 278 for her career.
- Senior libero/defensive specialist Madie Schider finished with 19 digs, a career-high for a three-set match, against Ursuline on Saturday. She now has 863 for her career and is 66 digs behind Amanda Proctor ('04) for 10th all-time in Charger history. Schider also has a very real chance to become the 10th player in program history with 1,000 digs.