The Hillsdale College volleyball team looks to add another chapter to its storied legacy of success on the court this fall, as the Chargers officially announced their 2024 volleyball schedule on Friday morning.
Hillsdale is the seven-time defending G-MAC Tournament champions, has made six straight NCAA Tournament appearances, and enter the 2024 season as the likely favorite in the G-MAC once again and aiming for an eighth consecutive season of 20 or more wins.
The Chargers will play 11 matches at home in Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena in 2024, including the return of the program's home "Net Results" Invite on September 13 and 14, with 2023 NCAA Tournament qualifiers Clarion and Florida Southern slated to attend as well as regional foe Purdue Northwest.
That tournament is part of a tough non-conference schedule that should have the Chargers battle-tested for the conference slate. Hillsdale also travels to Tampa for a season-opening invitational on Sept. 6 and 7 that includes a match against the host Spartans, a 2024 NCAA DII semifinalist and a four-time national championship-winning program.
Hillsdale opens G-MAC play on the road on Friday, Sept. 20, with its first home match scheduled against in-state rival Northwood on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. Hillsdale will host the two southern-most schools in the G-MAC, Kentucky Wesleyan and Thomas More, the following weekend, before embarking on a three-week road trip that includes the always-critical Midwest Regional Crossover, scheduled to take place in Hammond, Indiana on Oct. 18 and 19.
The Chargers will close out the 2024 home calendar with five straight matches in Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena, beginning on Halloween night with a match against Ursuline. This stretch includes important home matches against some of the other top teams in the G-MAC historically, including 2022 G-MAC regular season champion Ashland on Friday, Nov. 1, and 2023 G-MAC Tournament semifinalists Tiffin and Findlay on Nov. 8 and Nov. 9, respectively.
You can find the full schedule with all regular season matches listed for the Chargers here.
Hillsdale graduates three seniors from its 2023 squad, including G-MAC Player of the Year and All-American Alli Wiese, but returns several excellent players to build around, including honorable mention All-American outside hitter Marilyn Popplewell, G-MAC Tournament MVP and middle hitter Maizie Brown, and third-year starting setter and All-G-MAC honoree Lauren Passaglia, among a large group of talented returners that should keep them in contention for both the G-MAC title and the Midwest Regional crown. A strong five-player incoming freshman class will bolster the Chargers' depth and should give legendary head coach Chris Gravel plenty of options to build his lineup for the battles to come in 2024.
Photo by Patrick Clark