We're entering championship season for the 18th-ranked Hillsdale College volleyball team, as the focus turns to the final three weeks of the regular season and a push for G-MAC and postseason titles.
The Chargers kick off a busy week on Tuesday with a critical home match against one of the top teams in the Midwest Region, Ferris State, before hitting the road to Canton, Ohio for G-MAC contests against Malone and Walsh this weekend.
Schedule
Ferris St. (17-4, 8-2 GLIAC) at #18 Hillsdale (20-3, 11-0 G-MAC) | 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
#18 Hillsdale (18-3, 9-0 G-MAC) at Malone (8-15, 3-8 G-MAC) | 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 29 | Osborne Hall | Canton, OH
#18 Hillsdale (18-3, 9-0 G-MAC) at Walsh (13-9, 7-4 G-MAC) | 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 30 | Cecchini Center | North Canton, OH
Follow/Watch
Live Stats vs Ferris | Video vs Ferris | Tickets vs Ferris | Live Stats vs Malone | Video vs Malone | Tickets vs Malone (must be purchased ahead of time, will not be sold at the gate) | Live Stats vs Walsh | Video vs Walsh
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Ferris Roster | Malone Roster | Walsh Roster | 2021 Hillsdale Stats | 2021 Ferris Stats | 2021 Malone Stats | 2021 Walsh Stats
Players to Watch
Hillsdale: #7 Karoline Shelton, Jr., OH, Shawnee, KS/Mission South (5th 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, 6th in P/S, 6th in hitting %); #4 Alli Wiese, Fr., L/DS, Mattawan, MI/Mattawan (1st G-MAC in D/S, 6th in SA/S), #15 Lindsey Mertz, Sr., S, Frankenmuth, MI/Frankenmuth (1st G-MAC in A/S)
Ferris: #7 Katie O'Connell, Sr., RS, Evergreen Park, IL/Chicago Mother McAuley (5th GLIAC in K/S, 5th in P/S); #12 Kaylee Maat, Fr., S, Hudsonville, MI/Hudsonville (3rd GLIAC in A/S); #6 Nina Gorgijevska, Sr., L, Potsdam, Germany/Colby Community College (1st GLIAC in D/S); #3 Samantha Hermann, Sr., MH, Channahon, IL/Minooka (9th GLIAC in B/S)
Malone: #15 Anna Mallette, Jr., OH, North Canton, OH/Jackson (leads team in K/S); #3 Macy McCauley, Fr., OH, North Canton, OH/Hoover (7th G-MAC in D/S); #11 Kristen Hankins, Jr., MH, Farmington Hills, MI/Harrison (3rd G-MAC in B/S); #2 Hallie Pinkerton, So., DS/L, Chillicothe, OH/Unioto (2nd on team in D/S)
Walsh: #2 Olivia Maczuzak, Jr., OH, Concord, OH/Riverside (6th G-MAC in K/S, 9th in P/S); #8 Olivia Kearns, So., S, Lexington, OH/Lexington (4th G-MAC in A/S, 4th in SA/S); #9 Amber King, Sr., MB, Broadview Heights, OH/Brecksville-Broadview Heights (5th G-MAC in B/S); #18 Sam Wentz, Sr, DS/L, Copley, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban (10th G-MAC in D/S)
Scouting the Opposition
Ferris: Tuesday's matchup with the Bulldogs is irrelevant for the G-MAC standings, but in terms of postseason implications, it's as important as any the Chargers will play over the next month.
At 17-4, Ferris is the only team remaining on Hillsdale's regular season schedule that's receiving votes in the AVCA Division II poll, and one of a small group of teams, along with the Chargers, Lewis, Michigan Tech and Wayne State, that have a real chance at earning the top seed and hosting rights for the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament in December.
The Bulldogs are an experienced and dangerous team building off a pedigree of nine straight NCAA tournament appearances. Senior right side hitter Katie O'Connell is Ferris' unquestioned offensive leader, but sophomore Kira Merkle and freshmen Keona Salesman and Olivia Henneman-Dallape give the Bulldogs plenty of quality options at the net.
Senior libero Nina Gorgijevska is one of the best in the region, and, though just a freshman, setter Kaylee Maat has done a strong job so far in directing the Bulldog offense.
Ferris' results so far against common competition with Hillsdale matches the Chargers' closely, and there's every indication that Tuesday's match will be close and extremely hard-fought.
Ferris is coached by Tia Brandel-Wilhelm, who in her 26th year with the program has guided the Bulldogs to 14 NCAA Division II tournament appearances, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2014.
Malone: Picked to finish fifth in the G-MAC North Division in the preseason coaches poll, the Pioneers have had an up-and-down campaign in 2021, coming close to pulling a few surprising upsets, but sitting at just 3-8 in conference play entering Friday's match.
Malone has some promising hitters up front, led by returning All-G-MAC third team honoree Anna Mallette and middle blockers Ri'Gyn Humes and Kristen Hankins. Freshman outside hitter Macy McCauley also is off to a strong start, and provides another weapon up front for the Pioneers. Setter Molly Bullion and libero Sam Wentz also play important roles for Malone.
The Pioneers are around the league average in most categories but have struggled with inefficiency offensively, with just a .127 hitting percentage, good for 10th in the G-MAC as a team.
Malone is coached by Rafael Gonzalez, who is in his first season coaching the Pioneers. A long-time assistant at Malone, Gonzalez served under former coach Tanya Hockman for 19 seasons and took the head job when Hockman was named Malone's Director of Athletics this past spring.
Walsh: The regular-season runner-up to Hillsdale in the G-MAC in the spring 2021 season, the Cavaliers were picked to finish just behind the Chargers in the North Division in the fall and represented one of the biggest threats to Hillsdale's four-year run of dominance in the G-MAC.
The conference season didn't start off quite as planned, with an 0-3 start, but since then the Cavaliers have won nine of their last 12 matches and seven of eight in conference play.
The Cavaliers return three first team All-G-MAC players from last year's squad -- one of the conference's top attacking threats in junior outside hitter Olivia Maczuzak, imposing junior middle blocker Grace Lindquist, and sophomore setter Olivia Kearns.
Two more returners earned second-team All-G-MAC honors, as seniors Amber King and Alexis Gilland combine with Maczuzak and Lindquist to give Walsh a front row that few other programs in the G-MAC can match.
The Cavaliers have a history of pushing the Chargers in the past and will be a dangerous opponent for Hillsdale to face as the Chargers look to close in on a G-MAC North Division title.
Scouting the Chargers
Hillsdale locked up a berth in the G-MAC tournament and took a big step toward securing the G-MAC North Division crown and the top overall seed with sweeps of Ashland and Tiffin this past weekend.
The Chargers have another big week ahead with a chance to bolster their NCAA Tournament resume against a strong GLIAC foe, and a road trip to Canton that presents an opportunity to move closer to their conference goals.
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, the Charger program's career assists record-holder, 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 36th consecutive week on Oct. 25, 2021, coming in at 18th after starting the season 13th. 36 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.
- With a sweep of Tiffin on Saturday, the Chargers surpassed the 20-win mark for the fifth season in a row, and the sixth time in the past seven years. In head coach Chris Gravel's 26-year tenure, this is the 15th time the Chargers have surpassed the 20-win mark. Five straight seasons of 20 or more wins is the longest stretch in program history, surpassing the previous record of four set from 1980-83.
- Charger senior Lindsey Mertz achieved something special earlier this season, breaking Hillsdale's career record for assists set by Stephanie Booms from 2004-08. Mertz, who has 4,770 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 fifth in Division II with 11.43 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.
- Defensively, libero Alli Wiese continues to shine after a strong start. A spring 2021 first-team All-G-MAC player, Wiese is first in the G-MAC and is 30nd in Division II in digs per set with 5.35. Her 423 digs in the season so far are already in the top 10 all-time for a single season at Hillsdale with at least eight matches remaining in the year. She's also a strong server and currently sits sixth in the G-MAC with 0.37 aces per set, and 29 total on the season.
- Senior middle hitter Allyssa Van Wienen is among the national leaders in blocks per set early on, currently sitting in 29th in Division II with 1.12 blocks per set and tied for fifth in total solo blocks with 27. 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 fourth place all-time in program history in kills with 1,336 after passing former teammate Kara Vyletel this weekend, and also sixth among Chargers all-time in total blocks, with 396.
- Junior outside hitter Karoline Shelton became just the 11th player in Hillsdale history to surpass 1,000 digs for her career against Ashland last Friday, and now has 1,018 entering Tuesday night. 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 949 kills in her career so far to go along with those digs, 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.