Schedule
Malone (5-21, 3-11 G-MAC) at Hillsdale (20-5, 12-2 G-MAC) | 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
RV Walsh (23-2, 14-0 G-MAC) at Hillsdale (20-5, 12-2 G-MAC) | 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
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Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Malone Roster | Walsh Roster | 2023 Hillsdale Stats | 2023 Malone Stats | 2023 Walsh Stats | G-MAC Standings
Players to Watch
Hillsdale: #1 Audrey Riley, Sr., DS, Stillwater, OK/Stillwater (9th G-MAC in SA/S); #4 Alli Wiese, Jr., L/DS, Mattawan, MI/Mattawan (1st G-MAC in D/S, 3rd in SA/S); #8 Maizie Brown, Jr., MH, Portage, MI/Central (3rd G-MAC in hitting %, 5th 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 %)
Malone: #3 Macy McCauley, Jr., DS/L, North Canton, OH/Hoover (3rd G-MAC in D/S), #11 Gabby Rodriguez, Fr., OH, Alvordton, OH/Hilltop (1st Team in K/S); #13 Jaymes Gilbert, Fr., MH, Wooster, OH/Triway (1st Team in B/S); #15 Mallory Meinen, Fr., S, Akron, OH/Coventry (1st Team in A/S)
Walsh: #6 Aaliyah Couch, Fr., S, Thrall, TX/Thrall (3rd G-MAC in A/S); #7 Arora Levengood, Jr., DS/L, Bolivar, OH/Tuscarawas (5th G-MAC in D/S, 10th in SA/S); #10 Keanna Avery, Sr., OH, Dennison, OH/Claymont/Cleveland State (10th G-MAC in K/S); #16 Grace Lindquist, Sr., MB, Norton, OH/Chippewa (3rd G-MAC in B/S, 8th in hitting %)
Scouting the Opposition
Malone: After just missing the postseason in 2022 and graduating several key players, the Pioneers are playing with an extremely young team in 2023.
Malone's leaders in kills, blocks and assists are all true freshmen, as well as four of its top six in sets played. Among key contributors from last year's squad, All-G-MAC libero Macy McCauley and middle hitter Grace Rosko return but much of the rest of the Pioneers' rotation is made up of new faces.
That youth has led to some growing pains for the Pioneers, who are 5-21 overall and have struggled to generate consistent offense against the better teams on their schedule. Despite that record, there are signs of progress for the Pioneers, who took down both Lake Erie and Ursuline last weekend to nearly double their win total. This weekend is another big test for the Pioneers as they face off with two of the G-MAC North Division's top teams on the road.
Malone is coached by Rafael Gonzalez, who is in his third season as the head coach of the Pioneers and took over in 2021 after 19 years as an assistant at Malone.
Walsh: There's still challenging matches remaining, but as of right now the Cavaliers are the odds-on favorite to claim their first-ever G-MAC regular season title with two weeks left in the season.
At 14-0 in G-MAC play and 22-2 overall, the Cavaliers are off to their best start in program history, leaning heavily on a balanced and deep lineup to roll through the competition so far. Walsh currently has a top three offense in almost all relevant categories in the G-MAC, as well as the top defense. That's bolstered by significant experience, led by graduate student and star middle blocker Grace Lindquist, now in her fifth year with the Cavaliers.
At the net, hitters Sammie DiBease, Sydney Dixon and Keanna Avery along with Lindquist give Walsh a variety of weapons, while freshman setter Aaliyah Couch has been a standout so far running Walsh's offense. Defensively, junior libero Arora Levengood is a returning starter and a solid performer throughout her career at Walsh.
Leading this stellar campaign is first year coach Brett Holt, who has fully harnessed the potential of a talented lineup that didn't always live up to expectations in past years. Holt was a successful coach at NAIA Missouri Valley College and NCAA DIII Otterbein college prior to arriving at Walsh, with an impressive win-loss record and several accolades.
Scouting the Chargers
It's a big weekend for Hillsdale, which still has a mathematical chance to catch Walsh for the G-MAC North Division crown but needs a victory over the Cavaliers on Saturday to maintain any hope heading into the final weekend of play.
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 2,100 digs, and needs 152 digs to surpass her older sister, Taylor's, program career record of 2,251. With 173 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 188 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 46 service aces in 25 matches, and senior Audrey Riley, whose 31 is on pace to get in the top 10 for a single season. The Chargers' 2.11 service aces per set lead the G-MAC and are tied for 23rd 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 in October.
- 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 2,025 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 27 solo blocks at the net while also putting up career highs in both kills per set (1.88) and hitting percentage (.360). 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 337 blocks for her career, 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 is 14-0 all time against Malone, dating back to their shared days in the GLIAC, and this is the first of two meetings with the Pioneers in two weeks for the Chargers. Walsh is 1-15 all-time against Hillsdale, but their lone victory was the two teams' most recent meeting in North Canton on Oct. 1, a win that has given the Cavaliers a leg up in the title race and has added significant intrigue to this Saturday's matchup.