A huge weekend for the Hillsdale College volleyball team's force in the middle has brought junior Maizie Brown additional honors from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
The six-foot tall junior was named the North Division Defensive Player of the Week in volleyball, the G-MAC office announced on Monday afternoon, after helping lead the Chargers to an undefeated start to G-MAC play with wins over Ursuline and Lake Erie. It's Brown's first weekly conference honor of her career, and the third honor won by the Chargers so far in 2023.
Brown recorded five blocks apiece in Hillsdale's sweeps over Ursuline and Lake Erie, finishing the weekend with an impressive 1.67 blocks per set. Her dominance at the net played a big role in the Chargers holding Ursuline to a -0.019 hitting percentage and Lake Erie to a 0.018 hitting percentage on the way to sweeping both squads. While her defense stood out the most this weekend, she also had an impressive showing offensively, hitting a stellar .560 at the net and tying for the team lead on the weekend with 17 total kills.
While this is the first time Brown has received G-MAC Player of the Week honors, she's been a force throughout her career for the Chargers, and has gone well-recognized for it. In each of her first three seasons at Hillsdale she's earned All-G-MAC honors, and she's very likely to join an exclusive club at Hillsdale of four-time All-Conference honorees at the conclusion of this season. Her 281 total blocks rank 10th all time in Hillsdale College history, and at the rate she's going, she's got a good chance to move well up that list by the time her career is over.
Brown and the Chargers have a busy week of play as Hillsdale celebrates Homecoming this Saturday, with three matches on tap in the next six days. Hillsdale starts with a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday against in-state rival Northwood in a showdown of undefeated squads in the G-MAC North Division early in the season.
Photo by Anthony Lupi