In her fourth year on the court for the top-ranked Hillsdale College volleyball team, there aren't many firsts left for senior Allyssa Van Wienen.
But the middle hitter from Grand Rapids, Michigan got to experience a couple last week anyways.
On Friday night, Van Wienen reached her first major career milestone, surpassing 1,000 kills in a three-set sweep of visiting Davenport.
Then, on Monday afternoon, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference office announced that the nine-time conference volleyball player of the week and seven-time offensive player of the week had earned her first-ever G-MAC Defensive Player of the Week honor.
Van Wienen did stand out defensively in the Chargers' three-win week, averaging 0.9 blocks per set in victories over Ashland, Davenport and Lake Erie. She's currently third in the conference in blocks per set with 1.09 on the season, and she's the driving force behind a Charger defense that leads the G-MAC in opponent hitting percentage (.089) and blocks per set (2.56).
The senior is leaving a legacy defensively at Hillsdale. Van Wienen is up to eighth all-time in career blocks in the school record book with 286. She's 11 behind Haylee Booms for seventh on the list and could be as high as sixth by the end of the spring 2021 campaign.
A complete player, Van Wienen is also making a big mark offensively for the Chargers. She's second in the G-MAC in hitting percentage (.418), sixth in kills per set (3.3), 10th in service aces per set (0.43) and second behind teammate Karoline Shelton in total points per set (4.46).
Van Wienen and the Chargers have just one match this week, hosting 13th-ranked Findlay on Friday at 7 p.m. in a showdown of two top-15 ranked teams with significant G-MAC title implications.
Photo by Anthony Lupi