2021 AVCA Division II All-America Teams
The Hillsdale College women's volleyball team is on an impressive run in 2021.
At 30-4 overall, Chargers are one of just eight teams left in the hunt for the NCAA Division II national championship this weekend in Tampa, Florida after capturing the Midwest Regional championship on Saturday with a 3-1 over Ferris State.
You don't get to this stage without talented players, and the American Volleyball Coaches Association is well aware of that fact.
On Tuesday afternoon, the AVCA announced that three Charger volleyball players had joined an exclusive group, both across the nation and in program history, in earning NCAA DII All-American honors for the 2021 season as selected by the organization.
Senior middle hitter Allyssa Van Wienen was named to the AVCA DII All-America Second Team, junior outside hitter Karoline Shelton received third-team honors and senior Lindsey Mertz received honorable mention honors.
It's just the third time in program history that the Charger volleyball program has had three players recognized as All-Americans by the AVCA in the same season. The last time was in 2011 – also the last time the program won the Midwest Regional championship and made it to the NCAA DII Elite Eight round.
With the second-team honor, Van Wienen becomes just the fourth player in Hillsdale College volleyball history to earn All-American honors twice, joining Ashlee Crowder (2009-10-11), Clara Leutheuser (2009-10-11), and former teammate Paige Vanderwall (2017-18).
A 2019 first-team All-American to both the AVCA and the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association, as well as a 2020-21 CoSIDA Academic All-American, Van Wienen continues to be an impact player for the Chargers in her final season, finishing second on the team in kills (340) and kills per set (3.18), leading the team and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference in blocks per set (1.01) and solo blocks (31) and finishing second on the team with 436.5 points.
For her career, Van Wienen is also leaving an outsized mark on Hillsdale College, sitting third in program history with 1,443 career kills and fifth with 419 career blocks. She's the only player in Charger history to exceed 1,400 kills and 400 blocks in her career.
Van Wienen has been stellar throughout the Chargers' NCAA Tournament run so far, contributing 39 kills and hitting .315 in three victories, including upsets of the top two seeds in the Midwest Region, Michigan Tech and Ferris St.
The third-team nod is the first time Shelton has been recognized as an All-American, but if her career to date is any indication, it won't be the last.
The G-MAC Player of the Year in the Spring 2021 season, Shelton has continued to excel for Hillsdale in the fall, with a team-best 393 kills and 3.67 kills per set this season, good for fifth in the conference. A talented and versatile all-around player, Shelton also has contributed 490 digs and 4.58 digs per set this season for the Chargers, good for fifth in the conference, with only full-time liberos ahead of her on the list.
With one season of eligibility still to come, Shelton's all-around excellence has put her in rarified air statistically at Hillsdale College. The junior surpassed both 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career this season, making her just the second Charger in school history to surpass both milestones after 2000 graduate Cassandra Cole. She now sits 10th in program history with 1,070 kills and eighth in 1,190 digs and will have the opportunity to climb Hillsdale's top 10 lists in both stats in 2022.
Shelton has been excellent so far in the postseason for Hillsdale, with double-doubles in both of the Chargers' G-MAC tournament matches and in all three of their NCAA Tournament matches, giving her 21 for the season. Her 17 kills and 22 digs in Hillsdale's Midwest Regional Final win over Ferris St. were critical in helping the Chargers bring home the crown.
The honorable mention nod for Mertz, meanwhile, is long overdue recognition for a player who's led Hillsdale for five seasons and has accomplished virtually everything else to accomplish individually in her career. Mertz has earned three All-Region honors, two first team from the D2CCA, previously, as well as AVCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year honors earned in 2017. This season, Mertz has been one of the top setters in the country, with an 11.58 assists per set ratio that leads the G-MAC and ranks fifth in the nation.
The senior from Frankenmuth, Michigan already held the Chargers' single-season assists record for the 25-point rally scoring era, set in 2018, and this year Mertz became the program's career leader, surpassing 2009 graduate Stephanie Booms' mark of 4,640 in October. Mertz now has 5,170 assists for her career, and her 1,193 assists this season are the fourth-most for a single season in program history with the record of 1,264 within reach if the Chargers can keep winning in the Elite Eight.
Mertz also has had an excellent postseason, with 50-plus assists in three of her last four matches, including 57 in the Midwest Regional final win over Ferris State.
The Chargers (30-4) open play in Tampa, Florida on Thursday at 5 p.m. in a quarterfinal matchup with fifth-seeded Gannon. A victory there would advance the Chargers to the Final Four round against either top-seeded Tampa or eighth-seeded Augusta at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.