After a long road trip that's lasted more than two weeks and six matches, the Hillsdale College volleyball team is back in Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena this weekend.
Frist, the 17th-ranked Chargers have to navigate a trip to Davenport for a match that's outside of conference play but has important regional implications. Then, on Friday and Saturday, Hillsdale faces two talented teams from the G-MAC South Division looking to solidify their lead in G-MAC play.
Schedule
#17 Hillsdale (13-2, 7-0 G-MAC) at Davenport (8-6, 3-3 GLIAC) | 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5 | Davenport Student Center | Grand Rapids, MI
Cedarville (3-8, 2-5 G-MAC) at #17 Hillsdale (13-2, 7-0 G-MAC) | 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
Ohio Dominican (11-5, 5-2 G-MAC) at #17 Hillsdale (13-2, 7-0 G-MAC) | 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 9 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
Follow/Watch
Live Stats vs Davenport | Video vs Davenport | Live Stats vs Cedarville | Video vs Cedarville | Tickets vs Cedarville | Live Stats vs ODU | Video vs ODU | Tickets vs ODU
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Davenport Roster | Cedarville Roster | Ohio Dominican Roster | 2021 Hillsdale Stats | 2021 Davenport Stats | 2021 Cedarville Stats | 2021 ODU Stats
Players to Watch
Hillsdale: #7 Karoline Shelton, Jr., OH, Shawnee, KS/Mission South (4th G-MAC in K/S, 3rd in P/S, 7th in D/S, 9th in hitting %); #9 Allyssa Van Wienen, Sr., MH, Grand Rapids, MI/Christian (1st G-MAC in B/S, 8th in P/S, 6th in hitting %); #4 Alli Wiese, Fr., L/DS, Mattawan, MI/Mattawan (1st G-MAC in D/S, 7th in SA/S), #15 Lindsey Mertz, Sr., S, Frankenmuth, MI/Frankenmuth (1st G-MAC in A/S)
Davenport: #4 Hailey Kreiger, Sr., OH, South Haven, MI/South Haven (1st GLIAC in K/S, 1st in P/S); #7 Grace Hayes, Jr., S, Frazeyburg, OH/River View (8th GLIAC in A/S); #8 Kenzy Corstange, Jr., DS/L, Richland, MI/Gull Lake (2nd GLIAC in D/S); #6 Nicole Odeen, So, S, Buffalo, MN/Buffalo (9th GLIAC in A/S)
Cedarville: #5 Liene Miller, Sr, OH, Westfield, IN/Westfield (5th G-MAC in K/S, 6th in P/S); #14 Lauren Willow, Sr., MH, Arlington, OH/Arlington (3rd G-MAC in B/S, 5th in hitting %); #17 Haley Goff, So., S, Bridgman, MI/Bridgman (8th G-MAC in A/S); #11 Emily Ward, Sr., DS/L, Sugar Grove, IL/Aurora Christian (8th G-MAC in SA/S)
Ohio Dominican: #21 Emilee Fecht, Jr., MB, Hilliard, OH/Davidson (7th G-MAC in K/S, 5th in P/S, 8th in hitting %); #6 Olivia Kirksey, So., RS, Reynoldsburg, OH/Reynoldsburg (8th G-MAC in K/S, 10th in P/S); #12 Carleigh Deitsch, Jr., S/DS, St. Henry, OH/St. Henry (3rd G-MAC in A/S, 3rd in SA/S); #1 Kelsey Shoup, So., DS/L, Dalton, OH/Dalton (4th G-MAC in D/S)
Scouting the Opposition
Davenport: While Davenport's overall record isn't impressive, the Chargers can't afford to overlook a dangerous team that took one of the two teams that beat Hillsdale this year, Oklahoma Baptist, to five sets earlier this season.
The Panthers have one of the most dangerous hitters in the country in Hailey Kreiger, currently ranked sixth nationally in kills per set, and two more solid attacking options in Megan Herr and Riley Groves. Defensively, Kenzy Corstange is a solid libero and leads a quality back row for Davenport.
Davenport has struggled with attack and service errors at times this season, so efficiency for the Chargers could be a real edge in the matchup. Winning the battle at the net will be critical as both teams will try to slow down the others' powerful hitters.
Davenport is coached by Brian Netzler, who is in his third season and led the Panthers to the GLIAC tournament and its best winning percentage in a season since 2014 last year.
Cedarville: Expected to be the main challenger to Hillsdale's G-MAC title run, things haven't gone as planned for the Yellow Jackets, who enter Friday's match fifth in the G-MAC South Division and desperate for a victory, knowing that every additional loss makes the path back to contention for a G-MAC tourney berth that much more difficult.
Cedarville has struggled defensively, currently sitting in eighth in the G-MAC in total digs, and ninth in opponent hitting percentage and opponent kills. That's made it hard for the Yellow Jackets to set up a consistent attack and keep pace with the better teams in the conference so far.
When the Yellow Jackets are passing at a high level, they still have the attackers that made them one of the most feared offensive teams in the G-MAC in seniors Liene Miller and Lauren Willow. With the firepower at its disposal, any team overlooking Cedarville does so at their own risk, regardless of the record.
The Yellow Jackets are coached by Greg Smith, who has guided Cedarville to three straight G-MAC tournament appearances in his three seasons in charge of the program entering this year.
Ohio Dominican: After a surprise G-MAC tournament bid last season, the Panthers have continued their upward trend and currently sit in second in the G-MAC South Division entering this Saturday.
ODU has done it so far with one of the deepest and most balanced offenses in the conference, led by junior Emilee Fecht and sophomore Olivia Kirksey. Strong play from several other hitters has allowed the Panthers to keep opposing defenses off-balance and made them extremely tough to defend.
ODU also boasts one of the best defenses in the conference, currently sitting in second in opponent hitting percentage and third in team digs per set, with sophomore libero Kelsey Shoup playing a big role.
The Panthers are coached by Amy Bambanek, who was the co-Coach of the Year in the G-MAC last season, and who is rapidly turning ODU into a consistent contender in the G-MAC in just her second year.
Scouting the Chargers
Fresh off a big three-match week that saw the Chargers take sole possession of first place in the G-MAC North, Hillsdale faces another critical week of three matches – starting with a tough road nonconference test on Tuesday.
The Chargers also play host to two dangerous teams that made the G-MAC tournament this spring – Cedarville and Ohio Dominican – on the weekend looking to stay unbeaten in conference play.
Hillsdale has its sights set on its fifth-straight G-MAC regular season and tournament titles, and also on a deep NCAA Tournament run after not having the opportunity to compete in the tourney last year due to covid-19.
The Chargers return every player that saw action in the partial spring 2021 season, including four players who were slated to graduate in the spring of 2021 but who couldn't pass up the opportunity to make one more run at NCAA glory after a Covid-19 waiver was extended to preserve their eligibility.
That core group of unprecedented fifth-year players – Allyssa Van Wienen, Lindsey Mertz, Madie Schider and Maddie Clark – is just the tip of the iceberg on a loaded and talented roster that may be the deepest in Hillsdale College history.
Van Wienen, a consensus 2019 All-American and the 2019 G-MAC Player of the Year, is joined up front by junior Karoline Shelton, who was the G-MAC Player of the Year in the 2021 spring season, along with a host of past All-G-MAC honorees – senior Maggie DePorre, sophomore Megan Kolp, and freshman Maizie Brown (who played with the Chargers in the spring) – to give Hillsdale a formidable group of hitters.
The decorated Mertz, who's on track to set the Charger program's career assists record, conducts the offense from the setter position, and Hillsdale proved in the spring it has a capable backup in Madeline Zenas, who was named to the All-G-MAC third team after filling in for Mertz following an injury.
In the back row, Schider, top 10 in program history in digs, is joined by sophomore Audrey Riley and freshman Alli Wiese, a breakout star at libero who earned first-team All-G-MAC honors in the spring, to give the Chargers an elite back row.
Returning Chargers at all positions will be pushed by a strong and talented five-player freshman class which has the skill and the determination to contribute early on, the way Brown and Wiese did in the spring of 2021.
Coaching the Chargers for the 26th 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 eight conference regular season titles, seven 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 was ranked in the AVCA DII Top 25 poll for the 33rd consecutive week on Oct. 4, 2021, staying at 17th after starting the season 13th. 33 weeks in the poll is a program record for consecutive weeks as a ranked team, surpassing the longest previous stretch in program history from 2006-2008.
- Charger senior Lindsey Mertz is among the national leaders for setters once again – as she has been several times in her five-year career. Mertz currently ranks seventh in Division II with 11.30 assists per set. The Frankenmuth, Michigan native holds the single-season school record for assists (1,264) set in 2019, and is currently second in career assists with 4,508, 132 behind school record holder Stephanie Booms. If she maintains her current pace, Mertz should overtake Booms for the school record in the next two weekends.
- Strong serving is becoming an increasingly important part of the Chargers' success in recent weeks. The Chargers have five players on the roster with double digit aces, led by freshman libero Alli Wiese's 20. Hillsdale's 11 aces in Saturday's win over Ursuline were a season high.
- Defensively, Wiese continued a strong start with 4.88 digs per set in three matches last week. A spring 2021 first-team All-G-MAC player, Wiese is first in the G-MAC and is 25th in Division II in digs per set with 5.36.
- Senior middle hitter Allyssa Van Wienen is among the national leaders in blocks per set early on, currently sitting in 15th in Division II with 1.29 and third in total solo blocks with 22. Both an All-American (in 2019) and an Academic All-American (in spring 2021), Van Wienen continues to climb the career statistical ranks at Hillsdale, sitting in sixth place all-time in program history in kills with 1,250, and also sixth among Chargers all-time in total blocks, with 377.
- Junior outside hitter Karoline Shelton continues to build her case as the G-MAC's best all-around player, recording her eighth and ninth double-doubles of the season this past week. The Shawnee, Kansas native had a break-out campaign in the spring 2021 season, earning G-MAC Player of the Year honors and leading the Chargers in kills. Shelton's all-around versatility is impressive – with 857 kills and 889 digs in her career so far, she's rapidly closing in on becoming just the second player in program history with 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career with another season of eligibility remaining after this one.