The 17th-ranked Hillsdale College volleyball team has been dominant so far in Great Midwest Athletic Conference play, with a perfect 9-0 record. Now, the Chargers get to test their strength against the best the other conferences in the Midwest Region have to offer.
The Chargers enter the 2021 Midwest Regional crossover, now in its 13th year, as the top seed in the G-MAC. That position has Hillsdale drawing both of the top seeds from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Michigan Tech, and the Great Lakes Valley Conference, Lewis, in matches that could both be previews of the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional Final in a couple of months. The Chargers also face off against a familiar foe and old rival in Indianapolis in what is sure to be another thrilling match.
This year's Midwest Region Crossover will be held at the Hammond Sportsplex and Community Center in Hammond, Indiana. For more information on the event, check out the link to the Midwest Crossover home page below.
Schedule
#17 Hillsdale (16-2, 9-0 G-MAC) vs Indianapolis (10-8, 6-3 GLVC) | 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 15 | Hammond Sportsplex | Hammond, IN
#17 Hillsdale (16-2, 9-0 G-MAC) vs #16 Lewis (14-4, 9-1 GLVC) | 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15 | Hammond Sportsplex | Hammond, IN
#17 Hillsdale (16-2, 9-0 G-MAC) vs #25 Michigan Tech (12-4, 7-1 GLIAC) | 12:45 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16 | Hammond Sportsplex | Hammond, IN
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Event Homepage (Live Stats, Results, Ticket Information)
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | UIndy Roster | Lewis Roster | Michigan Tech Roster | 2021 Hillsdale Stats | 2021 UIndy Stats | 2021 Lewis Stats | 2021 Michigan Tech 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)
UIndy: #13 Hannah Huppenbauer, Sr., MB, Galesburg, IL/Galesburg (10th GLVC in hitting %); #7 Grace Hegwood, Jr., OH, Greenwood, IL/Roncalli (7th GLVC in K/S); #3 Alex Equiha, Jr., S, Crown Point, IN/Crown Point (3rd GLVC in A/S); #11 Makenna Barnhart, Jr, DS/L, Fort Wayne, IN/Normal (6th GLVC in D/S)
Lewis: #6 Juliana Van Loo, Jr., RS/MH, Burbank, CA/John Burroughs (3rd GLVC in hitting %, 10th in K/S); #27 Ava Venema, Sr., MH, Westmont, IL/Timothy Christian, UNC Asheville (4th GLVC in hitting %, 5th in K/S); #1 Lauren Stenman, So, S, Maplewood, MN/North St. Paul (1st GLVC in A/S); #5 Jamie Poppen, Sr., L, Ballwin, MO/Parkway West (1st GLVC in D/S)
Michigan Tech: #6 Anna Joynas, Sr., OH, Orland Park, IL/Carl Sandburg (2nd GLIAC in K/S, 8th in SA/S); #14 Olivia Ghormley, Sr., OH, Oneida, WI/Pulaski (6th GLIAC in K/S); #11 Laura De Marchi, Sr., S, Milan, Italy/Whittemore-Prescott (MI) (1st GLIAC in A/S); #20 Carissa Beyer, Jr., DS/L, Appleton, WI/Dayton (5th GLIAC in D/S)
Scouting the Opposition
UIndy: Always a team to watch in the region, the Greyhounds got off to a slow start this season with a 1-3 record in Anchorage, Alaska but have been steadily improving since, working their way into second place in the GLVC East Division and seventh overall heading into the crossover.
The Greyhounds have had moments of effectiveness offensively and defensively so far, sitting in the top four in the GLVC in both kills per set and digs per set, but consistency has been an issue at both ends of the floor – Uindy is below average in both hitting percentage and opponent hitting percentage in the GLVC to date.
An experienced team with just one sophomore in the regular rotation, UIndy has a solid go-to hitter in Grace Hegwood and one of the GLVC's top setters in Alex Equiha. A strong crossover could see them making a late NCAA Tourney push.
Hillsdale has a long history with UIndy, especially in the NCAA Tournament, where the two teams have met six times and the Greyhounds have a 4-2 edge. The Chargers, however, took the most recent meeting between the two teams, in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, in a 3-2 thriller.
Lewis: A perennial contender in the Midwest Region with 14 consecutive NCAA tourney bids and Final Four appearances in 2016 and 2018, Lewis represents the GLVC as the top seed in the crossover and is ranked 16th in the country.
The Flyers are the top team in the GLVC in every major category, boasting the conference's best offense (a .251 hitting percentage and 14.45 kills per set) as well as its top defense (.130 opponent hitting percentage and 18.06 digs per set). Experienced hitters Ava Venema and Juliana Van Loo give Lewis a variety of offensive options, and the Flyers have both the conference's top setter (assists per set leader Lauren Stenman) and libero (digs per set leader Jamie Poppen).
The Chargers and Flyers have met seven times, though interestingly never in the NCAA Tournament despite both teams being frequent participants in the last two decades. Lewis holds a 2-5 edge and has won the most recent three matchups, including a five-set thriller in the 2019 Midwest Crossover.
This season, three of the Flyers' four losses have come to AVCA ranked or receiving votes teams, though a recent loss to unranked Drury in conference play was surprising.
Michigan Tech: A recent rising power in the Midwest Region with three straight NCAA Tournament appearances entering this season, the Huskies are the GLIAC's top seed in the crossover and a loaded squad hungry to contend for titles.
After a rough 1-3 start against the always-tough Minnesota schools in the season's opening weekend, Michigan Tech has been on a tear, with 11 wins in its last 12 matches, and seven straight.
The key for the Huskies has been one of the most lethal offenses in the entirety of Division II. Michigan Tech has three players currently in the top 10 in the GLIAC in kills per set, led by senior Anna Joynas, who's currently 13th nationally in the stat. The MTU offense is run by setter Laura Di Marchi, who leads leads all of Division II in assists per set.
The Chargers are 11-7 against Michigan Tech, a former yearly opponent in the GLIAC, since 1998. Their most recent meeting was in the NCAA Tournament in 2019, when Hillsdale won 3-1 over the Huskies to advance to the regional final round.
Scouting the Chargers
The Chargers have seized control of the G-MAC title race over the last two weeks, running their win streak to 14 straight, becoming the sole undefeated team in the G-MAC and taking a two-game lead over Findlay in the North Division title race.
Now, at the Midwest Crossover, Hillsdale has a chance to pick up critical quality wins that could lock the team in as an NCAA Tournament participant, or even potentially give them a leg up in the race to be Midwest Regional host at the end of the year.
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
- The Chargers have been extremely successful in 12 previous Midwest Crossovers, with a total record of 24-13 and five undefeated performances. Seven different Hillsdale players have made the All-Crossover team over the years, with only two earning the honor twice – Clara Leutheuser in 2010 and 2011, and current senior Lindsey Mertz, in 2017 and 2018.
- Hillsdale was ranked in the AVCA DII Top 25 poll for the 34th consecutive week on Oct. 11, 2021, staying at 17th after starting the season 13th. 34 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 was the G-MAC North Division Offensive Player of the Week this week, and is among the national leaders for setters once again – as she has been several times in her five-year career. Mertz currently ranks eighth in Division II with 11.21 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 4,616, 24 behind school record holder Stephanie Booms.
- Defensively, libero Alli Wiese continues to shine after a strong start. A spring 2021 first-team All-G-MAC player, Wiese is second in the G-MAC and is 31st in Division II in digs per set with 5.23. She's also a strong server and currently sits fourth in the G-MAC with 0.41 aces per set, and 26 total on the season.
- Senior middle hitter Allyssa Van Wienen is among the national leaders in blocks per set early on, currently sitting in 25th in Division II with 1.19 and tied for third in total solo blocks with 25. 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 1,290, and also sixth among Chargers all-time in total blocks, with 385.
- Junior outside hitter Karoline Shelton continues to build her case as the G-MAC's best all-around player, recording her tenth and eleventh 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 893 kills and 932 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.