Schedule
Hillsdale (18-5, 10-2 G-MAC) at Kentucky Wesleyan (6-18, 4-9 G-MAC) | 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27 Woodward Center | Owensboro, KY
Hillsdale (18-5, 10-2 G-MAC) at Trevecca Nazarene (12-13, 8-5 G-MAC) | 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28 | Trojan Fieldhouse | Nashville, TN
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Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | KWC Roster | Trevecca Roster | 2023 Hillsdale Stats | 2023 KWC Stats | 2023 Trevecca Stats | G-MAC Standings
Players to Watch
Hillsdale: #1 Audrey Riley, Sr., DS, Stillwater, OK/Stillwater (7th G-MAC in SA/S); #4 Alli Wiese, Jr., L/DS, Mattawan, MI/Mattawan (1st G-MAC in D/S, 4th in SA/S); #8 Maizie Brown, Jr., MH, Portage, MI/Central (3rd G-MAC in hitting %, 3rd in B/S); #11 Lauren Passaglia, Jr., S, Cary, IL/Cary Grove (4th G-MAC in A/S); #13 Marilyn Popplewell, So., OH, Mason, OH/Mason (6th G-MAC in K/S, 10th in hitting %)
Kentucky Wesleyan: #3 Ava Rebarchik, Sr., MH, Sussex, WI/Hamilton (5th G-MAC in B/S), #4 Julia Kupper, Jr., S, Louisville, KY/Sacred Heart (5th G-MAC in A/S, 3rd in SA/S); #7 Hallie McGuire, Sr., OH, La Salle, IL/St. Bede/Wisconsin-Parkside (10th G-MAC in K/S); #15 Embry Burgess, Jr., DS, Bowling Green, KY/Logan County/Lindsey Wilson (1st Team in D/S)
Trevecca: #9 Emilee McDonald, Sr., S, Lebanon, TN/Wilson Central (7th G-MAC in A/S); #12 Emma Titus, RS/MB, Jr., Hendersonville, TN/Station Camp (1st G-MAC in K/S); #13 Reese Payne, So., MB, Springfield, TN/Jo Byrns (1st Team in B/S); #30 Katie Crutchfield, Jr., OH, Grove City, OH/Grove City/Millersville (9th G-MAC in D/S)
Scouting the Opposition
Kentucky Wesleyan: After an extremely difficult year in 2022, Kentucky Wesleyan has shown signs of growth in 2023 under first-year head coach Alejandra Jimenez by already doubling their G-MAC win total with three weeks left in conference play.
The Panthers have a very experienced squad, led by seniors and multi-year starters Ava Rebarchik and Hallie McGuire, as well as veteran setter Julia Kupper. Those players have helped KWC record some notable victories on the season, including a stunning 3-2 victory over likely G-MAC Tourney qualifier Ohio Dominican on Sept. 15 to open conference play.
Kentucky Wesleyan has a solid team defense that ranks in the middle of the pack of the G-MAC, and it has been a true team effort, with no players in the top 10 in the G-MAC in digs per set but five players averaging 1.95 digs or more.
Jimenez took over as the interim head coach for the Panthers late in the 2022 season, before being elevated to the full position at the conclusion of the season. An assistant at Kentucky Wesleyan prior to taking the head coaching job, Jimenez spent four years playing for NCAA DI Louisiana Tech before getting into coaching.
Trevecca Nazarene: The 2022 G-MAC Tournament finalist is currently in second place in the South Division in 2023 and moving quickly towards locking up a spot in this year's G-MAC Tourney as well.
The Trojans suffered some significant graduation losses from last year's runner-up squad, but have reloaded incredibly well around breakout star Emma Titus, who's stepped into the top attacking role vacated by graduated Ellie Buffler and currently leads the G-MAC in kills per set.
Trevecca also can rely on an experienced libero in Katie Crutchfield and setter in Emilee McDonald, both of whom are returning starters, as well as veteran outside hitter Maddie Wilds and emerging middle hitter Reese Payne.
The Trojans are off to a strong 8-5 start in conference play, but have yet to get a win against any of the teams ahead of them in the G-MAC standings – something they'll have to change this weekend with two tough contests on tap.
Scouting the Chargers
At 18-5 overall and 10-2 in G-MAC play, Hillsdale is tied for second place in the G-MAC standings with Ashland, two games behind leader Walsh, and are looking for a strong finish with three weeks left in the regular season.
The Chargers return a deep and talented roster full of meaningful postseason experience in 2023 as it looks to 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. Wiese recently became just the third Charger to surpass 2,000 digs for her career and is on track to set the career record at Hillsdale as well.
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
- Junior libero Alli Wiese continues to assault the record books at Hillsdale for her position. A returning All-American from 2022, Wiese is 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). She is in third place in program history with 2,072 digs, and needs 180 digs to surpass her older sister, Taylor's, program career record of 2,251. With 168 service aces at Hillsdale, Wiese also ranks second all time in that stat and 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.
- Serving in general has been a key part of Hillsdale's success in 2023, as the Chargers have an impressive 179 service aces already this season, and set a program record for the 25-point rally scoring era with 18 aces in a sweep of Lake Erie earlier this season. The Chargers have seven players with double-digit service aces so far, including Wiese, who's on pace to break the single-season record with 41 service aces in 23 matches, and senior Audrey Riley, whose 31 is on pace to get in the top 10 for a single season. The Chargers' 2.16 service aces per set are second in the G-MAC and are tied for 21st nationally at the NCAA DII level.
- Marilyn Popplewell already held one single-match record for the Chargers in her career after totaling 28 kills in Hillsdale's five set victory over second-seeded Lewis in last season's NCAA DII Tournament. She added a second record on Sept. 8, serving up eight aces in a four-set win over Wayne State at the Findlay Classic to surpass the previous record of six. A first-team All-G-MAC player in 2022, Popplewell has been even better so far in 2023, leading the Chargers in kills, earning back-to-back All-Tournament team honors at Hillsdale's two season-opening tournaments, and following that up by making the All-Midwest Region Crossover team last weekend.
- Setter Lauren Passaglia had a strong season in 2022 in her first time in the starting role, finishing with 1,175 assists, the fifth most by a Charger in a single season in the history of the rally-score, side out era. Her 1,974 career assists already rank 8th all-time in program history and she has a shot to move up the list considerably over the rest of this season. Passaglia is off to a hot start, earning All-Tournament team honors for her performances at both the UP Open and the Findlay Classic to start the season.
- Junior Maizie Brown is having her best season to date, currently sitting in second in the G-MAC with 23 solo blocks at the net while also putting up career highs in both kills per set (1.86) and hitting percentage (.356). The three-time All-G-MAC honoree is a force at the net. Last season, in 2022, Brown put up 130 blocks, the sixth-most by a Charger in the 25-point, rally-scoring era, and her 106 block assists were seventh most in a season. Entering this weekend, she has 332 blocks for her career, tied for seventh-most all-time at Hillsdale.
- 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 Wise, on the squad as well.
- Already the winningest coach in Hillsdale College history across all sports, Chris Gravel surpassed another milestone in Saturday's win over Ohio Dominican, becoming just the 12th active NCAA Division II head coach to reach 600 match wins for his career with a sweep of the Panthers. The legendary head coach is also moving closer to cracking the top 30 all-time wins list for the division as well.
- Hillsdale has been successful against both teams it plays this weekend, with a perfect 9-0 mark against Kentucky Wesleyan all-time in a series that began in 2017, and a 10-0 record against Trevecca Nazarene that includes a sweep of the Trojans in last year's G-MAC Championship game. This could be Hillsdale's final matchup with Trevecca as a conference opponent in volleyball, as the Trojans depart the G-MAC for the Gulf South in 2024-25.
Photo by Reva Ludwig