Schedule
Ashland (11-10, 8-1 G-MAC) at #17 Hillsdale (18-3, 9-0 G-MAC) | 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
Tiffin (11-12, 5-4 G-MAC) at #17 Hillsdale (18-3, 9-0 G-MAC) | 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
Follow/Watch
Live Stats vs Ashland | Video vs Ashland | Tickets vs Ashland | Live Stats vs Tiffin | Video vs Tiffin | Tickets vs Tiffin
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Ashland Roster | Tiffin Roster | 2021 Hillsdale Stats | 2021 Ashland Stats | 2021 Tiffin Stats
Players to Watch
Hillsdale: #7 Karoline Shelton, Jr., OH, Shawnee, KS/Mission South (4th G-MAC in K/S, 4th in P/S, 5th in D/S, 9th in hitting %); #9 Allyssa Van Wienen, Sr., MH, Grand Rapids, MI/Christian (1st G-MAC in B/S, 9th in K/S, 5th in P/S, 5th in hitting %); #4 Alli Wiese, Fr., L/DS, Mattawan, MI/Mattawan (2nd G-MAC in D/S, 5th in SA/S), #15 Lindsey Mertz, Sr., S, Frankenmuth, MI/Frankenmuth (1st G-MAC in A/S)
Ashland: #16 Erin Krupar, Sr., OH, East Sparta, OH/Canton Central (2nd G-MAC in K/S, 1st in P/S); #14 Zoey Peck, Sr., S, Homeworth, OH/Marlington (5th G-MAC in A/S); #17 Anna Krikke, Jr., MB, North Royalton, OH/North Royalton (4th G-MAC in B/S); #18 Madison McCloskey, Fr., MB, Alexandria, KY/Newport Central Catholic (8th G-MAC in B/S)
Tiffin: #2 Loryn Huffman, Sr., S, McComb, OH/McComb (6th G-MAC in A/S); #5 Grace Schreiber, Sr., MH, Dublin, OH/Bishop Watterson (10th G-MAC in B/S); #8 Sam Fallis, Sr., DS/L, Toledo, OH/Sylvania Southview (1st G-MAC in D/S); #24 Wakaya Wilson, Fr., OH/DS, Columbus, OH/Thomas Worthington (Leads Tiffin in K/S)
Scouting the Opposition
Ashland: The G-MAC's newest member, Ashland was expected to be a contender right out of the gate but stumbled to a 1-7 start in the first two weeks of the season.
Once conference play started, however, the Eagles have been exactly what they were expected to be, with a 10-3 overall record and an 8-1 record in conference, good for the G-MAC South Division lead and the second-best mark in the conference, one match behind Hillsdale.
Ashland has at its disposal one of the most gifted offensive weapons in the conference, senior outside hitter Erin Krupar, who leads the G-MAC in points per set. Freshmen Sage Kissman and Graceann Hartman give the Eagles alternative options at the net.
The Eagles have been above-average offensively and defensively throughout the season, with a knack for pulling out close sets and performing at a high level when it counts in conference matches. That makes Ashland a dangerous opponent for any team in the league.
Ashland is coached by Kevin Foeman, who has a 69-32 record in his fourth season with the Eagles. Foeman came to Ashland with his wife and assistant, Remy, after a successful tenure as the head coach at Lake Erie, and also spent three years as an assistant at Hillsdale.
Tiffin: Always one of the top teams in the G-MAC, the Dragons are in contention for another conference tourney berth despite an up-and-down season to date.
Much like last year, the Dragons have struggled to generate fireworks offensively, currently eighth in hitting percentage and ninth in kills per set as a team. But Tiffin has remained competitive despite a lack of offensive punch thanks to a rock-solid defense, led by libero Sam Fallis, who is currently leading the G-MAC in digs per set.
In senior Loryn Huffman, the Dragons have a top-notch setter as well. If a promising group of young hitters, led by freshman Wakaya Wilson, can continue to develop, the Dragons could find themselves right in the mix for the G-MAC Tournament crown at the end of the year once again.
Tiffin is coached by Shauna Hurles, who's led the Dragons to five conference tournament berths in five seasons and runner-up finishes in the G-MAC tournament in both 2019 and the Spring 2021 seasons. A former player at Bluffton University, Hurles coached at the high school level and was an assistant at Tiffin for multiple years before taking over the top job in 2017.
Scouting the Chargers
At last week's Midwest Regional Crossover, Hillsdale solidified its spot as one of the top teams in the region, with a 2-1 record and a sweep of top GLVC seed Lewis.
Now, the Chargers turn their attention to the back half of their conference schedule, looking to continue to remain unbeaten in legue 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 35th consecutive week on Oct. 18, 2021, coming in at 18th after starting the season 13th. 35 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 achieved something special this past weekend, breaking Hillsdale's career record for assists set by Stephanie Booms from 2004-08 in the Chargers' win over Indianapolis on Friday. Mertz, who has 4,720 assists for her career, already set the Charger single-season school record for assists with 1,264 in 2019, and is among the national leaders for setters once again, currently ranking eighth in Division II with 11.26 assists per set. Mertz also became the first Charger to make the Midwest Crossover All-Tournament team three times in her career, adding to honors received in 2017 and 2018.
- Joining Mertz on the Midwest Crossover All-Tournament team was freshman middle hitter Maizie Brown, who finished with 15 blocks this past weekend and 1.67 blocks per set. A first-team All-G-MAC player in the spring of 2021, Brown has been raising her play in recent weeks, and her 49 total blocks are second on the team behind Allyssa Van Wienen. She could have a big role for the Chargers in the conference stretch run.
- 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 32nd in Division II in digs per set with 5.23. She's also a strong server and currently sits fifth in the G-MAC with 0.37 aces per set, and 27 total on the season.
- Senior middle hitter Allyssa Van Wienen is among the national leaders in blocks per set early on, currently sitting in 26th in Division II with 1.15 and tied for fifth in total solo blocks with 26. 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 fifth place all-time in program history in kills with 1,319 after passing former teammate Paige Vanderwall this weekend, and also sixth among Chargers all-time in total blocks, with 393.
- Junior outside hitter Karoline Shelton continues excel this season. 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 925 kills and 979 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.