Schedule
#22 Hillsdale (14-2, 7-0 G-MAC) at Cedarville (7-8, 5-3 G-MAC) | 4:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30 | Callan Athletic Center | Cedarville, OH
#22 Hillsdale (14-2, 7-0 G-MAC) at Ohio Dominican (6-11, 3-5 G-MAC) | 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1 | Alumni Hall | Columbus, OH
Follow/Watch
Live Stats & Video | Tickets (Cedarville)
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Cedarville Roster | Ohio Dominican Roster | 2022 Hillsdale Stats | 2022 Cedarville Stats | 2022 Ohio Dominican Stats
Players to Watch
Hillsdale: #7 Karoline Shelton, Sr., OH, Shawnee, KS/Mission South (5th G-MAC in K/S, 6th in P/S, 13th in D/S) #4 Alli Wiese, So., L/DS, Mattawan, MI/Mattawan (3rd G-MAC in D/S, 10th in SA/S); #8 Maizie Brown, So., MH, Portage, MI/Central (1st G-MAC in B/S); #13 Marilyn Popplewell, So., OH, Mason, OH/Mason (4th G-MAC in K/S, 7th in P/S); #11 Lauren Passaglia, So., S, Cary, IL/Cary Grove (4th G-MAC in A/S)
Cedarville: #3 Kaley Matney, Fr., S, Fort Wayne, IN/Carroll (5th G-MAC in A/S); #11 Haley Koch, Fr., OH, Oconomowoc, WI/Oconomowoc (2nd G-MAC in Hitting %); #13 Mallory Delamarter, Sr., DS/L, Danville, IN/Danville (1st Team in D/S); #15 Cassi Shields, Fr., OH, Westminster, MD/Westminster (10th G-MAC in K/S, 12th in P/S)
Ohio Dominican: #1 Kelsey Shoup, Jr., DS, Dalton, OH/Dalton (12th G-MAC in D/S); #6 Olivia Kirksey, Jr., RS, Reynoldsburg, OH/Reynoldsburg (8th G-MAC in K/S, 8th in P/S); #12 Gabrielle Kirker, Fr., S, Tallmadge, OH/Tallmadge (5th G-MAC in SA/S); #22 Grace Zinchuk, Fr., MB, Schaumburg, IL/Schaumburg (7th G-MAC in B/S)
Scouting the Opposition
Cedarville: The Yellowjackets have outperformed expectations after significant graduation losses from last year's squad, including several multi-time All-G-MAC athletes.
Three of Cedarville's top four offensive players – Cassi Shields, Haley Koch and Cam Davenport – are freshmen, as is setter Kaley Matney. Together, those players have teamed with returners Riley Hensley, Hannah Willow and Payton Krahn to give the Yellowjackets one of the better offenses in the G-MAC so far.
The Yellowjackets have not been as crisp defensively, but if Cedarville can continue to improve in that area throughout the 2022 season, they could be one of the last teams standing in the G-MAC Tournament and a legitimate threat to the top teams in the conference.
Cedarville is coached by Greg Smith, who is in his fifth season after posting a 49-45 record in four previous campaigns. The veteran coach previously led Division I programs at Virginia Tech and University of Toledo before arriving at Cedarville in 2018.
Ohio Dominican: Like Cedarville, the Panthers are also attempting to reload quickly after the departure of four All-G-MAC honorees in the offseason.
Holdovers Olivia Kirksey and Kelsey Shoup, both All-G-MAC talents in their own right, have paired with several fresh faces, including setters Gabrielle Kirker and Saige Avery, outside hitter Lauren Lucas and middle blocker Grace Zinchuk, to try and maintain the momentum built by the Panthers' first ever G-MAC Tournament semifinal appearance last season.
Kamryn Maxwell is another experienced holdover on the outside for ODU, which has shown promise at times in 2022, but also lacked consistency. Their best wins – over Walsh and Tiffin – prove that ODU can be a G-MAC Tourney team if it continues to develop, but sweeps at the hands of Cedarville and Malone show there's still improvements that need to be made to get to that point.
ODU is coached by Amy Bambenek, who is in her third season. Bambenek was named conference co-coach of the year in 2021 after the best season ODU has had in over a decade, and has helped lead the Panthers to a quick turnaround after arriving from Division I UNC-Wilmington in 2020.
Scouting the Chargers
Fresh off one of the best seasons in program history, including the program's second-ever NCAA DII Midwest Regional championship and Elite Eight appearance, Hillsdale looks to keep a run of recent success going in 2022.
The Chargers will have to overcome significant graduation losses to do so, as Hillsdale bid farewell last spring to a talented five-player senior class that included two All-Americans, two more All-G-MAC players and a player who finished in the top 10 all time in career digs at Hillsdale.
Despite the losses, however, Hillsdale is still well-stocked with talent, as well as meaningful experience at multiple positions. A third 2021 All-American, senior outside hitter Karoline Shelton, returns for the final season of a stellar five-year career, and is joined by two-time All-G-MAC libero Alli Wiese, who set the Hillsdale single-season record for digs last year, as well as two-time All-G-MAC middle hitter Maizie Brown.
The Chargers have plenty of options in the front row, led by sophomore outside hitter Marilyn Popplewell, who was the breakout star of Hillsdale's NCAA Tournament run as a freshman after barely playing in the first half of the season, as well as senior middle hitter Megan Kolp, who's played an important role on multiple Charger squads.
In the back row, Hillsdale can call on rock-solid veteran Audrey Riley, who's been part of the rotation since arriving as a freshman, and athletic sophomore Amy Buffini, who impressed with her defensive skills in limited playing time last year and who brings added flexibility to the lineup with her ability to play in the front row as well.
The biggest question mark for Hillsdale is at setter, where the Chargers will have to replace five-year starter Lindsey Mertz, the program's assists record-holder. Luckily, Hillsdale has a promising new starter in sophomore Lauren Passaglia who beat out several other quality options for the spot and has been solid so far.
Coaching the Chargers for the 27th 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 nine conference regular season titles, eight conference tournament titles, made 13 NCAA Division II tournament appearances, won the Midwest Regional title in 2011 and 2021, and reached the NCAA DII Final Four in 2011 while making the Elite Eight round in 2021.
Other Notes
- Hillsdale was ranked 22nd in this week's AVCA DII Top 25, after entering the season ranked 16th in the nation. Hillsdale has now made the AVCA DII Top 25 for 47 consecutive polls, continuing to extend a program record. The Chargers also were the top vote-getter in the 2022 G-MAC Preseason Coaches poll, and named the favorite to win the North Division.
- The Chargers enter the 2022 season looking to extend its dominance of the G-MAC for another campaign. Hillsdale has won five consecutive regular season titles and five G-MAC tournament titles in a row since joining the conference in 2017, and are currently on a 78-match winning streak in conference games (87 including conference tournament matches). Hillsdale's last loss in G-MAC play came in a four-set defeat at the hands of Cedarville on Sept. 15, 2017, during the program's first week as a G-MAC member.
- Hillsdale has dominated the all-time series with both Cedarville (11-1) and Ohio Dominican (15-1), but both teams have been among the trickier opponents for the Chargers in the G-MAC historically speaking. The Yellowjackets are one of only two G-MAC programs to hand Hillsdale a conference loss, in 2017, and came the closest any team has to dethroning the Chargers in a 3-2 G-MAC Tournament Semifinal loss to Hillsdale in 2021. Ohio Dominican, meanwhile, beat the Chargers as a member of the GLIAC in 2014 and taken Hillsdale to five sets two more times.
- Senior outside hitter Karoline Shelton is building a resume as one of the most accomplished all-around players in program history. The 2021 All-American is one of just two players in program history, along with Cassandra Cole (1996-99), to surpass both 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs for her career. At 1,260 kills and 1,398 digs through this past weekend, an injury-free campaign should see Shelton move into the top five all-time at Hillsdale in both stats.
- Sophomore libero Alli Wiese reached an important career milestone early, becoming the 12th Charger to surpass 1,000 digs on opening weekend. She now sits at 1,237 digs for her career, and was named the Outstanding Libero of the Hillsdale Invite early in the season. Wiese, who set a program record for single-season digs with 624 last fall and is averaging 5.33 digs per set for her career, has a great shot at chasing down the program's career digs record of 2,251 held by her older sister, Taylor, if she can stay healthy the next three seasons.
- Hillsdale currently leads the G-MAC in blocks per set with 2.50 in 2022, and is 11th nationally in the statistic – a testament to the Chargers' strength up front. Leading the way is sophomore Maizie Brown, who has 55 total blocks this season, and whose 1.28 blocks per set is tied for 10th in the entire nation at the NCAA DII level. Senior teammate Linnea Larson would also be in the top 50 at 1.16 blocks per set but has not accumulated enough sets played yet – something that should change soon if her strong play continues.
- Lauren Passaglia had a career-best contest in a win over Northwood on Tuesday night, dishing out 59 assists – just two off the Charger record for a four-set match set by All-American Lindsey Mertz in 2018. Passaglia is currently fourth in the G-MAC in assists per set at 9.43 and has been climbing steadily throughout 2022 as she gains experience.
- Family ties play an interesting role for the Hillsdale College volleyball team this year, with several players following in the footsteps of family members who played Charger athletics. Three of Hillsdale's five incoming freshmen have older siblings who are or were Chargers – libero Chloe Pierce's older sister, Sophia, just wrapped up her career as a women's basketball player at Hillsdale, front row player Adi Sysum is the younger sister of women's basketball player Arianna Sysum, and setter Josie TeSlaa is the younger sister of Charger football player Isaac TeSlaa. They join Alli Wiese, whose older sister, Taylor, also was a libero for the Chargers and is currently on the coaching staff.
- Familiar faces are all over head coach Chris Gravel's coaching staff. As mentioned above, assistant Taylor Wiese was an All-American libero for the Chargers from 2016-19. She's joined this year as an assistant by Allyssa Van Wienen, who just wrapped up her Charger career last fall and finished as a two-time All-American.