Karoline Shelton is off to an impressive start to the spring 2021 season.
And now, the Shawnee, Kansas native is joining a very exclusive club in Hillsdale College volleyball history.
Shelton, a junior outside hitter, was announced as the Sports Imports/AVCA Division II National Player of the Week on Wednesday afternoon. The junior is the third player in Hillsdale College volleyball history to be named the national player of the week, joining teammate Allyssa Van Wienen, who won the award on Sept. 9, 2019, and 2012 graduate and All-American Ashlee Crowder on Sept. 22, 2009.
She's also the third player in the history of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference to win a national weekly award from the AVCA, joining Van Wienen and Cedarville's Abby Shelton, who won the award in 2016.
Shelton won the award thanks to a dominant performance in Hillsdale's 3-1 victory over previously unbeaten Walsh last Saturday. The junior finished with 21 kills, a career-high for a four-set match and the highest total in the G-MAC in 2021, with a .364 hitting percentage and 19 digs as the Chargers rallied from a 29-27 first set defeat to stretch their win streak in G-MAC regular season and tournament play to 59 straight matches.
The junior was also impressive the night before in a 3-0 win over Malone, leading the Chargers with 12 kills on a .458 hitting percentage, as well as four aces.
Shelton has been the Chargers' kills leader in all four matches Hillsdale has played this season, and she's also the only player in the G-MAC who is in the Top 10 in all three major offensive categories, currently sitting in second in kills per set (4.23), third in hitting percentage (.370) and sixth in service aces per set (0.54). The junior has 55 kills and just four attack errors on 138 total attacks so far this season, and has won both Offensive Player of the Week awards handed out by the G-MAC in 2021.
A first-team All-G-MAC and second-team All-Midwest Region player as a sophomore in 2019, Shelton's been a key piece of the Charger attack for multiple seasons. She will look to continue her strong play with a big road week ahead that includes contests at G-MAC foe Ursuline on Friday at 7 p.m. and against 23rd-ranked Gannon on Saturday at 1 p.m.