Schedule
QF1: #7 Northwood (16-15) vs #2 Hillsdale (24-6) | 12 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10 | Kates Gymnasium | Ashland, Ohio
QF2: #6 Walsh (15-11) vs #3 Findlay (18-13) | 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10 | Kates Gymnasium | Ashland, Ohio
QF3: #8 Tiffin (14-16) vs #1 Ashland (23-7) | 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10 | Kates Gymnasium | Ashland, Ohio
QF4: #5 Trevecca Nazarene (19-11) vs #4 Cedarville (13-14) | 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10 | Kates Gymnasium | Ashland, Ohio
SF1: QF1 Winner vs QF2 Winner | 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11 | Kates Gymnasium | Ashland, Ohio
SF2: QF3 Winner vs QF4 Winner | 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11 | Kates Gymnasium | Ashland, Ohio
Final: SF1 Winner vs SF2 Winner | 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12 | Kates Gymnasium | Ashland, Ohio
Follow/Watch
Live Stats | Live Stream | Tickets
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | 2022 Hillsdale Stats | Tournament Central
Players to Watch
Hillsdale: #7 Karoline Shelton, Sr., OH, Shawnee, KS/Mission South (3rd G-MAC in K/S, 5th in P/S, 11th in D/S); #4 Alli Wiese, So., L/DS, Mattawan, MI/Mattawan (1st G-MAC in D/S, 4th 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 (8th G-MAC in K/S, 8th in P/S); #11 Lauren Passaglia, So., S, Cary, IL/Cary Grove (5th G-MAC in A/S)
Northwood: #7 Renee Brines, Fr, S, Cadillac, MI/Cadillac (3rd G-MAC in A/S, 15th in SA/S); #9 Sydney Sweet, Sr, MB/RS, Clio, MI/Clio (8th G-MAC in B/S); #16 Megan Acs, Sr., L/DS, Hartland, MI/Hartland (5th G-MAC in D/S); #18 Sydney Hasenfratz, Fr, OH, Clarkston, MI/Clarkston (2nd G-MAC in K/S, 2nd in P/S, 2nd in B/S)
Scouting the Quarterfinal Opposition
Northwood: The newest member of the G-MAC, Northwood looked like a contender early but faded down the stretch, finishing in fourth in the G-MAC North Division after a loss to Walsh on the final day of the regular season.
Despite that, Northwood remains dangerous as one of the conference's strongest offensive teams, and have the pieces to go on a run this weekend if the stars align.
A youth movement is paying major dividends for the Timberwolves, as the connection between freshman setter Renee Brines and redshirt freshman outside hitter Sydney Hasenfratz has been special so far. Other underclassmen – outside hitters Caitlin Warnshuis and Kiana Martens – have also made major contributions offensively.
Hillsdale especially must account for Hasenfratz, who put up 34 kills in a five-set loss to the Chargers at Northwood on Oct. 18, and who is second in the conference in both kills and blocks per set.
Defensively, senior libero Megan Acs has been one of the top backrow players in the G-MAC so far, while middle blockers Sydney Sweet and Maya Ferland have made a big impact at the net as well.
Scouting the Chargers
Hillsdale enters the weekend in a new position – as the five-time defending champions of the G-MAC Tournament, but hitting the road for a conference tournament for the first time during its G-MAC tenure. Ashland, the G-MAC South Division Champion, earned the right to host, while Hillsdale, the North Division Champion, finished as the two seed.
Despite finishing behind the Eagles in the standings, at 24-6, Hillsdale will be one of the top contenders to bring home the tournament crown and earn an automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
In 2022, the Chargers have had to overcome significant graduation losses from its 2021 NCAA DII Elite Eight squad, 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
- While Hillsdale is not the top seed and host for this weekend's G-MAC Tournament, they still enter on an impressive run and will be one of the teams to beat. The Chargers have won every G-MAC Tournament title since joining the conference in 2017, five straight in total, and have a perfect 14-0 record in G-MAC tourney matches.
- Hillsdale currently sits in seventh in the NCAA Midwest Region rankings, with the top eight teams earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Chargers are relatively secure in that spot, with head-to-head wins over the teams in eighth, ninth and 10th place, but will look to solidify their spot in what would be a fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament with a strong showing in the G-MAC Tournament this weekend.
- Northwood has historically dominated a long series with the Chargers going back to their shared time in the GLIAC, with a 42-18 series edge, but the two programs are 15-15 against each other since 1998, Hillsdale head coach Chris Gravel's third season, and the Chargers are on a seven-match winning streak against the Timberwolves dating back to 2014, including two Hillsdale victories earlier this season.
- Hillsdale reached the 20-win mark for the sixth consecutive season three weekends ago, and added two more wins last weekend. This stretch of 20-win seasons is the longest in program history – prior to this stretch, Hillsdale had won 20 or more games in just 10 seasons in the entire NCAA DII era dating back to 1990.
- Sophomore libero Alli Wiese has been named the G-MAC North Division Defensive Player of the Week four times this season, and has tied or broken multiple school records. This past weekend, Wiese tied the single-match school record for digs with 40 against Walsh, and broke her own single-season school record for digs with 628 through Saturday's win over Malone. Wiese, who leads the G-MAC in digs per set and is fourth in service aces per set, also needs 6 aces to break Apryl Schmucker's single-season ace record of 57 set in 2011. The sophomore has 1,562 digs for her career, good for sixth all-time at Hillsdale, and is on pace to break Hillsdale's career digs record of 2,251 held by her older sister, Taylor.
- 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 1,447 kills and 1,571 digs through this past weekend, Shelton is now in the top five all-time at Hillsdale in both stats, and could move as high as third in kills before her career ends. She's been named G-MAC North Division Offensive Player of the Week four times this season and is currently third in kills per set in the G-MAC (3.43)
- The Chargers are elite defensively once again this year as Hillsdale leads the G-MAC and is ninth in the nation at the NCAA DII level in digs per set at 18.35. Wiese, mentioned above, plays a leading role with 5.46 digs per set, but Hillsdale is also getting important contributions from defensive specialists Amy Buffini (2.27 D/S), Audrey Riley (2.06) and Amanda Hilliker (2.03), as well as impressive support from outside hitter Karoline Shelton (3.43) and setter Lauren Passaglia (2.37).
- Hillsdale currently leads the G-MAC in blocks per set with 2.40 in 2022 – a testament to the Chargers' strength up front. Leading the way is sophomore Maizie Brown, who has 114 total blocks this season, and whose 1.14 blocks per set leads the G-MAC. Sydney Sahr (0.77) and Megan Kolp (0.82) also rate highly among G-MAC players, as does Linnea Larson, who has 1.18 blocks per set, though in not enough sets to qualify for the conference standings.
- 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.