Schedule
RV Hillsdale (0-0, 0-0 G-MAC) at Northern Michigan (0-0, 0-0 GLIAC) | 11:30 a.m. EDT Friday, Sept. 1 | Vandament Arena | Marquette, MI
RV Hillsdale (0-0, 0-0 G-MAC) vs Winona State (0-0, 0-0 NSIC) | 4:30 p.m. EDT Friday, Sept. 1 | Vandament Arena | Marquette, MI
RV Hillsdale (0-0, 0-0 G-MAC) vs #2 Concordia-St. Paul (0-0, 0-0 NSIC) | 11:30 a.m. EDT Saturday, Sept. 2 | NMU Practice Gym | Marquette, MI
RV Hillsdale (0-0, 0-0 G-MAC) vs Michigan Tech (0-0, 0-0 GLIAC) | 4:30 p.m. EDT Saturday, Sept. 2 | Vandament Arena | Marquette, MI
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Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | NMU Roster | Winona St. Roster | Concordia St. Paul Roster | Michigan Tech Roster | 2022 Hillsdale Stats | 2022 NMU Stats | 2022 Winona St. Stats | 2022 Concordia St. Paul Stats | 2022 Michigan Tech Stats
Players to Watch
Hillsdale: #2 Megan Kolp, Sr., MH/RS, Petoskey, MI/Petoskey (2x All-G-MAC); #4 Alli Wiese, Jr., L/DS, Mattawan, MI/Mattawan (2022 AVCA HM All-American; AVCA All-Region; 3x All-G-MAC); #8 Maizie Brown, Jr., MH, Portage, MI/Central (3x All-G-MAC); #13 Marilyn Popplewell, So., OH, Mason, OH/Mason (2022 1st Team All-G-MAC)
Northern Michigan: #9 Lauren VanRemortel, Sr., S, Carmel, IN/Carmel (2x All-GLIAC); #10 Jacqueline Smith, Jr., OH, Saint Germain, WI/Northland Pines (2022 AVCA HM All-American, D2CCA/AVCA All-Region, 2x All-GLIAC); #22 Meghan Meyer, Jr., MB, Ada, MI/Lowell (3x All-GLIAC); #24 Caylie Barlage, Jr., DS, Moreno Valley, CA/Valley View (5th team in D/S in 2022)
Winona St.: #2 Jaci Winchell, So., S/DS, Cannon Falls, MN/Cannon Falls (1st Team in A/S, 3rd in D/S in 2022); #12 Kylie Welch, Jr., DS/OH, Davenport, IA/Assumption/Des Moines Area CC (4thteam in D/S); #21 Sydney Paulson, Sr., RS, Jackson, WI/West Bend West (2nd team in K/S, 2nd in SA/S, 2nd in D/S, 3rd in B/S in 2022); #22 Taylor Pagel, Sr., MB, Wausau, WI/Wausau East (4th Team in K/S, 2nd in B/S in 2022)
Concordia – St. Paul: #5 Teagan Starkey, Jr., S, Lakeville, MN/South (2022 AVCA 1st Team All-American, 2022 All-Region, 1st Team All NSIC); #8 Jasmine Mulvihill, Sr., OH/RS, Lakeville, MN/South (2022 AVCA 1st Team All-American; D2CCA 3rd Team All-American, 2021 AVCA HM All-American, 2022 All-Region, 3x All-NSIC); #9 Katie Mattson, Sr., OH/RS, St. Croix Falls, WI/Luck (2022 AVCA HM All-American, All-Region, 2022 1st Team All-NSIC); #17 Emma Schmidt, Jr., OH/RS, Maple Grove, MN/Champlin Park (2022 AVCA HM All-American, All-Region, 2022 NSIC 1st Team)
Michigan Tech: #2 Zoe Rhines, Sr., MB, Davison, MI/Davison (1st Team B/S in 2022); #9 Meg Raabe, So., OH, Omaha, NE/Marian (2nd Team K/S, 3rd D/S in 2022); #11 Olivia Heidel, So., S, Roscoe, IL/Hononegah (2nd team in A/S, 2nd in SA/S in 2022); #14 Makena Wesol, So., OH, Algonquin, IL/Dundee-Crown (3rd team in K/S in 2022)
Scouting the Opposition
The Hillsdale College volleyball team will open the 2023 season with a trip to the Upper Peninsula and a challenging slate of opponents in the UP Open hosted by Northern Michigan this weekend. The Chargers play four matches against strong competition, two against teams from the in-region GLIAC and two against squads from one of the premier DII volleyball conferences in America, the Northern Sun.
Hillsdale battles host Northern Michigan on Friday. The Wildcats are coming off a 23-9 season where NMU finished runner-up in the GLIAC and reached the NCAA DII Tournament for the first time since 2010. NMU returns one of the top offensive attacks in the Midwest, led by an experienced and decorated setter in fifth-year Lauren VanRemortel, as well as All-American hitter Jacqueline Smith and All-GLIAC middle blocker Meghan Meyer.
While the Wildcats will be a stiff test offensively, NMU does have to replace its top two back-row players and will have questions to answer defensively. Hillsdale swept NMU in the Midwest Region Crossover in their only meeting in 2022.
Hillsdale closes out play on Friday with a match against Winona State. The Warriors have a long history of competitive play in the rugged NSIC, but are seeking a bounce-back year in 2023 after stumbling to their worst record in nearly a decade in 2022. Winona State has talent up front, led by returning outside hitter Sidney Paulson and middle blocker Taylor Pagel, both of whom played a role for the Warriors in their last meeting with Hillsdale in 2021. The Warriors also have an experienced setter to lean on in sophomore Jaci Winchell, who started in 25 of 26 matches for Winona State in 2022.
The marquee match in a tough slate for the Chargers comes on Saturday, when Hillsdale goes head-to-head with national power and the preseason no. 2 team in the nation, Concordia-St. Paul. The Golden Bears lead all NCAA DII programs with nine national championships and are on the hunt for their 10th after finishing runner-up in the nation in 2022.
CSP returns six of seven starters from 2022, including a staggering four starters who earned All-American honors last season. The group is led by junior setter Teagan Starkey, the NCAA DII leader in assists per set in 2022. She has three 2022 All-American honorees to pass to up front, led by AVCA 1st team All-American outside hitter Jasmine Mulvihill. The Golden Bears present a huge challenge for the Chargers, but also a big opportunity for Hillsdale to make a name for itself early if it can pull the upset.
The Chargers finish off the weekend with a Saturday afternoon match against Michigan Tech. The Huskies are always a tough out and enter 2023 on a streak of five full seasons with 20-plus wins. Michigan Tech had made four straight NCAA DII Tournaments before just missing the cut last season.
The Huskies have holes to fill up front due to graduation but return two young talents in sophomores Meg Raabe and Makena Wesol who will pace the offense in 2023, as well as experienced outside hitter Lindy Oujiri. Michigan Tech also must find a new setter and new libero after graduating two strong ones from 2023. Sophomore Olivia Heidel was solid for the Huskies in limited action last season and should get the first crack at the setter position, while several players will compete for spots in the back row for Michigan Tech.
Scouting the Chargers
Hillsdale enters the 2023 season in the midst of the longest run of sustained success in program history. As a new campaign gets under way, there's no indication that that run is going to end any time soon.
The Chargers return a deep and talented roster full of meaningful postseason experience in 2023 as it looks to reclaim the G-MAC regular season title, defend its G-MAC Tournament title, and earn what would be its sixth straight NCAA DII Midwest Regional appearance, and seventh in eight seasons.
Five All-G-MAC players return for Hillsdale in 2023, led by junior libero Alli Wiese, who earned AVCA honorable mention All-American honors in 2022 while also setting single-season and single-match program records for digs.
The Chargers also return a bevy of attacking talent up front, including multi-time G-MAC honorees Maizie Brown and Megan Kolp in the middle, and junior Marilyn Popplewell, a first-team All-G-MAC honoree in 2022 who set a new program record for kills in a single match in Hillsdale's NCAA Tournament upset of second-seeded Lewis last November.
Directing the attack is junior setter Lauren Passaglia, who earned All-G-MAC honors in her first full season as a starter and could make a big leap in 2023 with a season's worth of action under her belt.
The Chargers do have a big hole to fill with the graduation of two-time All-American Karoline Shelton, who was an all-around force for Hillsdale, but a deep bench means the Chargers have the luxury of replacing her production with multiple players. Up front, sophomores Emory Braswell and Adi Sysum are among several attackers who could shine in bigger roles, while in the back row, returning defensive specialists Audrey Riley and Amanda Hilliker, as well as redshirt freshman Chloe Pierce, all look ready to handle a larger workload.
Coaching the Chargers for the 28th 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, nine conference tournament titles, made 14 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
- Hillsdale opens the season as an honorable mention team in the AVCA DII Preseason top 25, after entering last season ranked 16th in the nation. The Chargers are one of six Midwest Region teams to be ranked or receiving votes in the preseason poll, and the only G-MAC squad. The Chargers also were the top vote-getter in the 2023 G-MAC Preseason Coaches poll, and named the favorite to win the North Division.
- The Chargers enter the 2023 season looking to extend their dominance of the G-MAC for another campaign. Hillsdale has won five of the last six regular season titles and six G-MAC tournament titles in a row since joining the conference in 2017, and are 87-4 all-time in G-MAC regular season matches, as well as a perfect 17-0 in G-MAC Tournament matches.
- Already an All-American and a record-setting player for the Chargers, junior libero Alli Wiese is on the cusp of rewriting Hillsdale's record books at her position. Already the program's single-season record-holder in digs (721 in 2022) and tied for the single match record (40 against Walsh on Nov. 4, 2022), Wiese needs 597 digs in 2023 to surpass her older sister, Taylor's, program career record of 2,251. That's a mark she's exceeded in each of her past two seasons with the Chargers. With 127 aces in three seasons at Hillsdale, Wiese also has a shot at breaking the Chargers' career record of 219 set by Katie Keane from 1994-97 as well before her career is done.
- Marilyn Popplewell was a breakout player in Hillsdale's run to the Elite Eight as a freshman in 2021, leading the Chargers with 18 kills in Hillsdale's Midwest Regional championship victory over Ferris State. She built off that performance in a big way as a sophomore, earning first-team All-G-MAC honors, putting up the eighth-most kills in a single season (393) in Chargers history and breaking Hillsdale's single-match record with 28 kills in Hillsdale's five-set upset win over second-seeded Lewis in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Popplewell should be a big part of Hillsdale's offensive plans in 2023.
- Seniors Audrey Riley and Megan Kolp originally planned to graduate after the 2022 season, but both decided in the spring to use the extra year of eligibility they received from the Covid-19 pandemic to return for a fifth season. Both players are multi-year contributors for the Chargers and will be an important part of Hillsdale's squad in 2023.
- 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. Five Hillsdale players have older siblings who are or were Chargers – libero Chloe Pierce's older sister, Sophia, is a former Hillsdale women's basketball player, front row player Adi Sysum is the younger sister of former women's basketball player Arianna Sysum, and setter Josie TeSlaa is the younger sister of former Charger football player Isaac TeSlaa. Wiese is following in the footsteps of her older sister, Taylor, who was Hillsdale's starting libero for four years from 2016-2019. There's also a pair of siblings who are both currently on the roster for the Chargers, as freshman Greta Wise joins her older sister, Jaclyn, on the squad as well.
- Hillsdale has history with all four opponents in this weekend's invitational. The Chargers were long-time conference foes with Northern Michigan before joining the G-MAC and are 6-5 against the Wildcats since 2008, including a 3-0 sweep in last season's Midwest Regional crossover. Hillsdale also has a competitive series with Michigan Tech dating back to the start of both programs in the 70s, with Hillsdale taking the most recent meeting 3-2 in the 2021 Midwest Regional semifinal. Winona State has split two meetings with the Chargers, with the Warriors taking the most recent 3-1 in September, 2021, while Concordia-St. Paul is 3-1 all-time against Hillsdale, though the Chargers took the most recent meeting 3-2 in a tournament in Florida in September of 2019.