After falling behind rival Findlay in the G-MAC North Division standings, the Chargers have clawed their way back to a dead heat with the Oilers in the title race thanks to three straight G-MAC victories.
And sophomore libero Alli Wiese has been at the center of that effort, with strong two-way play that helped her earn G-MAC Volleyball North Division Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this season, the conference office announced on Monday afternoon.
Wiese tied one single-game program record and came close to breaking another one on the road in a critical five set victory on Northwood on Tuesday, posting six aces and tying her career-high in digs with 38. She continued her strong serving over the weekend, serving up another six combined aces in wins over Lake Erie and Ursuline to help the Chargers improve to 12-2 in conference play and reach 20 match wins for the sixth consecutive season.
For the week, Wiese finished with 63 total digs, good for 5.72 per set, and 12 aces, good for an astounding 1.09 per set. Her 5.31 digs per set for the season tops the G-MAC and is 16th in the nation at the NCAA DII level, while her 47 aces on the season to date is tied for 21st most in the country.
Along with weekly honors, Wiese is also well on the hunt for a number of Charger program records as well. Her 526 digs put her just 98 behind the program record for a season of 624 she set last year, while her 47 aces are just 10 behind All-American Apryl Schmucker's single-season program record of 57 set in 2011 as well.
For her career, Wiese ranks seventh in program history in digs with 1,460 with the rest of this season and two more years of eligibility remaining -- making it extremely likely she will break the program record for career digs set by her older sister, Taylor, from 2016 to 2019. Meanwhile, at 119 service aces for her career, she sits just outside the top 10 for career aces, and with an outside chance at threatening what was thought to be one of the more difficult Charger career records to break -- the record for career aces of 219 set by Katie Keane from 1994 to 1997, in the side-out era of volleyball when players got more service attempts per match than under the current rally scoring rules.
While Wiese could be in line for substantial individual honors at the end of this season, her focus remains on team goals and a huge weekend for the Chargers, who play Findlay at home on Friday and then travel to the Oilers on Saturday in showdowns that likely will determine the G-MAC North Division title.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan