The 2022 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament was chaos.
But that didn't faze the Hillsdale College Chargers one bit.
As fellow contenders fell by the wayside one after the other on Thursday night, the second-seeded Chargers took care of business in straight sets against Northwood, and on Friday night, dispatched a tough Walsh squad in the semifinals.
On Saturday, Hillsdale quelled the chaos once and for all and restored order to the G-MAC volleyball universe -- with the Chargers, for the sixth straight year, sitting on top.
Hillsdale swept past fifth-seeded Trevecca Nazarene 25-18, 25-13, 25-21 to clinch its sixth consecutive tournament title, and guarantee itself a spot in the NCAA Division II tournament for the sixth consecutive year as well.
The Chargers put together a dominant hitting performance, finishing with 38 kills and just 11 attack errors to make quick work of what had been a red-hot and dangerous Trojans squad entering Saturday's championship match. After falling behind 6-4 early in the first set, the Chargers never trailed again, leading wire-to-wire in the two and three quarters sets that followed to win a decisive victory.
Senior Karoline Shelton was a key piece to the Chargers' success, both on Saturday and throughout the tournament, and was rightfully named the G-MAC Tourney MVP for 2022. Shelton finished with an 11 kill, 11 dig double-double, along with three block assists, and hit a scorching .500 for the contest. Two more members of the All-Tournament team had strong offensive matches for the Chargers, as Marilyn Popplewell chipped in 10 kills and sophomore Maizie Brown added seven kills and two blocks as well. Senior Megan Kolp also contributed seven kills for the Chargers.
Sophomore setter Lauren Passaglia also had an excellent match for Hillsdale, dishing out 30 assists and serving up four aces, including the title-clinching point. Defensively, libero Alli Wiese, also an All-Tournament team member along with Shelton, Popplewell and Brown, tied for the Chargers' team lead with 11 digs, while sophomore Sydney Sahr provided strong defense at the net with six block assists.
Hillsdale is now 27-6 on the year, and showed its reslience from start to finish in the G-MAC season. The Chargers saw their 92-match conference winning streak snapped at Cedarville in early October, and for the first time ever, entered the G-MAC Tournament as neither the host nor the favorite after a sweep at the hands of Ashland in October as well. But despite those disappointments, the Chargers kept getting better and building up strength for November, peaking at just the right time as other contenders fell off to once again claim the championship in the end and earning redemption for those mid-season struggles.
The Chargers now await the NCAA Tournament draw at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, and the identity of their first-round opponent. The 2021 NCAA Midwest Regional champions, Hillsdale likely will be a lower seed in this year's bracket thanks to that mid-season swoon, but will be a terrifying opponent for any of the top four seeds to draw after winning 11 straight matches and roaring to the conference tourney crown. Certainly, no one will be overlooking the Chargers next weekend.
Photo by Katie Gilhooly