2022 AVCA DII All-Region Teams
With five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, three straight years with at least one NCAA Tournament victory and a Midwest Regional title in 2021, the Hillsdale College volleyball team is indisputably one of the elite programs in the Midwest Region.
This year's American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Region awards bear that out once again, as the Chargers were one of just four regional teams, along with Quincy, Lewis and Ferris State, to put multiple players on the All-Midwest Region team for 2022.
Senior outside hitter Karoline Shelton and sophomore libero Alli Wiese were each recognized by the AVCA, which names 14 players in each of the eight regions to its All-Region team, as voted on by NCAA DII coaches. It's the second straight season making the squad for Shelton, while Wiese is receiving the honor for the first time.
For Shelton, it's the latest in a long line of honors in a storied five-year career that wrapped up last weekend in her fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The versatile senior graduates having finished with the third-most kills (1,520) and sixth-most digs (1,634) in program history, and is just one of two Chargers players ever to surpass 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career.
The senior from Shawnee, Kansas was especially impressive this season as one of Hillsdale's top offensive weapons, finishing with a career-high 433 kills, the third-most in a single season in program history in the 25-point rally scoring era just behind the two best seasons from legend and Hillsdale College Athletic Hall of Famer Ashlee Crowder. She also chipped in 423 digs, the second-most by any Charger in 2022.
Shelton was a 2021 AVCA third-team All-American and the Spring 2021 G-MAC Player of the Year, and helped lead the Chargers to five straight G-MAC Tournament titles, five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, back-to-back Midwest Regional finals and the 2021 NCAA DII Elite Eight.
Wiese, meanwhile, earns All-Region honors for the first time after taking her game to a new level in 2022. She's not only one of the 14 All-Region players but the only libero to make the team, meaning Midwest Region coaches have tabbed her as the best at her position from a strong field in the region.
The sophomore from Mattawan, Michigan was sensational in 2022, breaking her own program record for most digs in a single season with 721, in the process becoming the first Charger in program history to surpass the 700 dig mark. During the season she had three matches with 38 or more digs, including a 40-dig match in a four-set win over Walsh on Nov. 4 that tied the program record for digs in a single match, held by her older sister, Taylor.
Wiese also was lethal from the service line, serving up 55 aces, just three shy of the program's record for aces in a single season as well. Her back-row heroics played a pivotal role in several Charger victories, including Hillsdale's five-set upset of second-seeded Lewis in the NCAA Tournament.
In just three seasons for the Chargers, one a partial season due to Covid-19, Wiese has totaled 1,655 digs, good for fifth all-time in program history, and is on pace to break the career record of 2,251 digs held by her older sister next season. With two more seasons of eligibility remaining, Wiese has a shot to become the first Charger to break 3,000 digs in her career.
By earning All-Region honors, both players are now under consideration for AVCA All-American status, which will be voted on by coaches from across the country over the next week. The final list of AVCA All-Americans for 2022 will be released on Nov. 30.
Photos by Isabella Sheehan