Schedule
#21 Missouri-St. Louis (0-0, 0-0 GLVC) vs #13 Hillsdale (0-0, 0-0 G-MAC) | 11:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 3 | Ewigleben Sports Complex | Big Rapids, MI
#13 Hillsdale (0-0, 0-0 G-MAC) vs HM Saint Leo (0-0, 0-0 SSC) | 4:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 3 | Ewigleben Sports Complex | Big Rapids, MI
HM Winona St. (0-0, 0-0 NSIC) vs #13 Hillsdale (0-0, 0-0 G-MAC) | 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 4 | Ewigleben Sports Complex | Big Rapids, MI
#9 Oklahoma Baptist (0-0, 0-0 GAC) vs #13 Hillsdale (0-0, 0-0 G-MAC) | 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 4 | Ewigleben Sports Complex | Big Rapids, MI
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Live Stats Portal | Tickets available on-site (see live stats link)
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | UMSL Roster | Saint Leo Roster | Winona St. Roster | OBU Roster | 2021 Hillsdale Stats | 2021 UMSL Stats | 2021 Saint Leo Stats | 2019 Winona St. Stats | 2021 OBU Stats
Players to Watch
Hillsdale: #7 Karoline Shelton, Jr., OH, Shawnee, KS/Mission South (Spring 2021 G-MAC PoY, 2x 1st team All-G-MAC); #9 Allyssa Van Wienen, Sr., MH, Grand Rapids, MI/Christian (2019 All-American, 2019 G-MAC PoY, 4x 1st Team All-G-MAC); #4 Alli Wiese, Fr., L/DS, Mattawan, MI/Mattawan (1st Team All-G-MAC Spring 2021, 2nd in G-MAC in D/S, 1st in SA/S), #15 Lindsey Mertz, Sr., S, Frankenmuth, MI/Frankenmuth (3x 1st Team All-G-MAC, single-season school record-holder in assists)
Missouri-St. Louis: #8 Charlotte Richards, Sr., OH, Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier (Spring 2021 GLVC PoY, 2019 All-American, 2x 1st Team All-GLVC); #3 Kaileen Herman, Sr., S, Tinley Park, IL/Andrew, North Florida (2x 1st-Team All-GLVC, led GLVC in A/S); #1 Megan Woll, Sr., L/DS, Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville (2019 All-American, 2019 GLVC Libero of the Year, 2x 1st Team All-GLVC); #10 Mya Elliott, Jr., MB, Indianapolis, IN/North Central (2020 2nd Team All-GLVC)
Saint Leo: #8 Anna Garrett, Sr., S, Merritt Island, FL/Merritt Island (2017 AVCA All-American and All-SSC 2nd team, 2019 NCAA South Region All-Tournament Team); #7 Ashley Quero, Sr., OH, Hialeah, FL/Palmer Trinity (2017 SSC All-Newcomer Team, 2019 NCAA South Region All-Tournament Team); #5 Peyton Bellano, Sr., L/DS, Geneva, IL/Geneva (led team in D/S, 4.25, in 2019); #1 Elizabeth Sandoval, Jr., RS, Uruapan, Mexico/Liceo Uruapana, Louisiana Tech University (led DI Louisiana Tech in K/S, 1.98, during her one year there)
Winona St.: #8 Megan Flom, Sr., MB, Kenyon, MN/Kenyon-Wanamingo (2021 Preseason NSIC PoY, 2019 All-American and All-NSIC 1st Team); #2 Bre Maloney, Sr., S, Roseville, MN/Roseville (2019 2nd Team All-NSIC); #10 Becca Pagel, Sr., L/DS, Sumner, IA/Sumner-Fredricksburg (led Winona St. in digs in 2019); #15 Madison Rizner, Sr., MB, Richland Center, WI/Richland Center (2nd on the team in kills in 2019)
Oklahoma Baptist: #19 Kaylee Buell, Sr., S, Ponder, TX/Ponder (Spring 2021 GAC Setter of the Year, 1st team All-GAC); #4 Malia Leatherland, Sr., OH, Broken Arrow, OK/Homeschool (2019 All-American, 2x 1st-Team All-GAC); #10 Diana Carranza, Sr., L/DS, Lima, Peru/Polk State College (2021 2nd Team All-GAC); #2 Taneyah Brown, Jr., RS, Mesquite, TX/Dr. Ralph H. Poteet HS (2021 2nd Team All-GAC)
Scouting the Opposition
The Hillsdale College volleyball team kicks off the fall 2021 season with a slate that will give the Chargers a good estimation of where they stand among the national elite in Division II as the team travels to the Ferris State Invitational in Big Rapids, Michigan, this weekend.
Among their four opponents are four teams mentioned in the 2021 AVCA DII Preseason rankings, three teams who made the 2019 NCAA Tournament, and four 20-plus match-winning squads in the last full DII volleyball season.
The Chargers kick off the weekend with a match against Missouri-St. Louis, the 21st-ranked team in the AVCA preseason poll, as well as the favorite to win the GLVC Central Division and a possible opponent at the season-ending NCAA Midwest Regional.
The Tritons went 16-3 in the abbreviated Spring 2021 season, winning the GLVC Central Division title and reaching the semifinals of the GLVC tournament. UMSL returns all seven starters from that squad, including GLVC Player of the Year and outside hitter Charlotte Richards, one of the top offensive players in the country.
Strong senior leadership across the board will make the Tritons a tough out, as UMSL also returns 1st-team All-GLVC honorees in senior setter Kaileen Herman and senior libero Megan Woll.
Later on Friday, the Chargers will take on Saint Leo, who's making the trip up from Florida to take part in the invite.
The Pride largely sat out the 2020-21 school year, playing just four official matches, but when they were last on the court full-time, they were one of the top teams in the country, going 24-11 and reaching the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Saint Leo returns several key pieces from that 2019 team, including All-American setter Anna Garrett and outside hitter Ashley Quero. The addition of Division I transfers Elizabeth Sandoval and Ally-Reese Williams should make the Pride a force again in 2021.
The Chargers' first Saturday opponent, Winona State, is another team who's largely been out of action since 2019, but the Warriors are a dangerous squad with a lineup full of seniors who returned for an extra year just for the chance to get back on the court.
Winona State relies heavily on the chemistry between 2021 Preseason NSIC Player of the Year and 2019 All-American Megan Flom, and senior setter Bre Maloney at the net. The pair are a lethal combo, but the Warriors have other weapons, including senior Madison Rizner and junior Madison Larson, up front as well.
Hillsdale wraps up the tournament on Saturday with arguably its toughest challenge of the event, taking on ninth-ranked Oklahoma Baptist.
The Bison have been a force in the GAC for several years and wrapped up an 18-0 season in the spring of 2021, with almost every player from that squad returning this fall. Hitters Malia Leatherland and Taneyah Brown give OBU a potent combination up front, and the Bison are tough to rattle with 2021 GAC Setter of the Year Kaylee Buell calling the shots.
The Chargers and Bison originally were supposed to meet in the AVCA Division II National Championship Invite this past April, but the match didn't come to pass. Thankfully, for volleyball fans of both schools, we'll get a second chance to see two top 15 teams in the country go at it this weekend.
Scouting the Chargers
The 13th-ranked team in the AVCA preseason poll, 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 opens the season ranked 13th in the AVCA DII Preseason top 25, after finishing the 2019 season 12th in the nation. During the spring 2021 season, the Chargers held the top ranking in the nation for the first time in school history, and finished the non-traditional year ranked 10th overall. The Chargers also were the top vote-getter in the 2021 G-MAC Preseason Coaches poll, and named the favorite to win the North Division.
- Two Charger seniors are approaching career milestones that they could reach this weekend. Senior setter Lindsey Mertz is currently fourth in program history with 3,977 assists, and could become the fourth Charger ever to reach the 4,000 assist milestone in the team's first Friday match. Senior libero/defensive specialist Madie Schider is also 10th all-time in program history with 972 digs, and could become just the 10th Charger to go over 1,000 digs for her career this weekend as well.
- Senior middle hitter Allyssa Van Wienen became just the fourth player in program history to produce over 1,000 kills and over 300 blocks this past spring, and in July she received another honor, becoming just the second player in Hillsdale volleyball history to earn CoSIDA Academic All-American honors. Van Wienen joins All-American middle hitter Clara Leutheuser ('12) in that group, and adds that honor to All-American honors from both the AVCA and D2CCA in 2019 as well.
- Junior outside hitter Karoline Shelton 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 677 kills and 700 digs in her career so far, she's closing in on becoming just the second player in program history with 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career with two seasons of eligibility remaining.