2022 D2CCA All-Midwest Region Team
Senior outside hitter Karoline Shelton is putting the finishing touches on one of the best all-around careers in Hillsdale College history as the Chargers enter the NCAA Tournament today, and the larger volleyball community is taking notice.
Shelton made the cut for the 2022 D2CCA All-Midwest Region team, announced this morning, earning second-team honors for the third consecutive season. Fourteen players are selected from among the three conferences that make up the Midwest Region to earn D2CCA All-Region honors, divided into first and second teams of seven players each. Players are nominated and voted on by sports information directors in the Midwest Region.
The senior from Shawnee, Kansas was one of six outside hitters from the Midwest Region to earn recognition after another stellar 2022 campaign that's already seen her earn first-team All-G-MAC honors, as well as being named the 2022 G-MAC Tournament MVP. Her 400 kills this season are the seventh-most by a Hillsdale player in the 25-point, rally-scoring era that began in 2008, and she needs just 17 kills this weekend to move into third place all-time behind only three-time All-American Ashlee Crowder on the list.
Shelton, a true all-around player, also has an impressive 391 digs in 2022, and is the only non-libero in the top 11 in the G-MAC in both kills per set and digs per set this season. Her versatility has been a consistent theme in an excellent five-season career at Hillsdale -- with 1,487 kills, Shelton ranks third all-time at Hillsdale in career kills, and her 1,602 digs rank fifth all-time in career digs as well. She's one of only two players with over 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career at Hillsdale, joining Cassandra Cole, who played from 1995 to 1999.
During her time at Hillsdale, Shelton has won numerous honors. She's one of just three players in Chargers volleyball history to win first-team All-Conference honors four consecutive seasons, and she's also been named the G-MAC Player of the Year for the 2021 spring season and a third-team AVCA All-American last fall while helping lead the Chargers to the NCAA DII Elite Eight round for just the second time in program history.
With AVCA awards still to be announced for the 2022 season, Shelton is sure to bring in more honors before her time at Hillsdale is done, and she's laser focused on adding to Hillsdale's trophy case for team accomplishments, as well. The Chargers are the seventh-seed in the Midwest Region for the 2022 NCAA Tournament and play second-seeded Lewis at 3:30 pm. ET in a quarterfinal match this Thursday afternoon. Hillsdale is the defending Midwest Regional Champions, and, while the Chargers are an underdog this season, still have a shot to capture that title once again with a strong team that's peaking at the right time entering the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Photos by Anthony Lupi and Isabella Sheehan