Schedule
SF1: #4 Findlay (23-7, 15-4 G-MAC) at #1 Hillsdale (25-6, 16-3 G-MAC) | 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, Michigan
SF2: #6 Tiffin (18-13, 11-8 G-MAC) vs #7 Ohio Dominican (16-13, 11-8 G-MAC) | 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, Michigan
F: SF1 winner vs SF2 winner | 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, Michigan
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Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Findlay Roster | Tiffin Roster | ODU Roster | 2023 Hillsdale Stats | 2023 Findlay Stats | 2023 Tiffin Stats | 2023 ODU Stats | G-MAC Championship Central
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 (2nd G-MAC in D/S, 2nd in SA/S); #8 Maizie Brown, Jr., MH, Portage, MI/Central (1st 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 (5th G-MAC in K/S)
Findlay: #2 Ava Doster, Jr., L/DS, New Haven, IN/New Haven (5th G-MAC in SA/S); #5 Kenzie Hoelscher, MH, So., Ft. Loramie, OH/Ft. Loramie (3rd G-MAC in hitting %, 9th in SA/S); #9 Emma White, So., S, Tiffin, OH/Calvert (1st G-MAC in A/S); #11 Kirsten Bomholt, Fr., OH, Versailles, OH/Versailles (6th G-MAC in K/S)
ODU: #1 Kelsey Shoup, Sr., L, Dalton, OH/Dalton (6th G-MAC in D/S); #9 Ava Horn, MB, Fr., Whitehouse, OH/Anthony Wayne (9th G-MAC in B/S); #12 Gabrielle Kirker, So., S, Tallmadge, OH/Tallmadge (11th G-MAC in A/S); #15 Lauren Lucas, Jr., OH, Grove City, OH/Grove City/Millersville (8th G-MAC in K/S)
Tiffin: #3 Olivia Karhoff, Sr., OH/RS, Columbus, OH/Worthington Kilbourne (8th G-MAC in D/S); #8 Addison Conti, Jr., S/RS, Tiffin, OH/Columbian (7th G-MAC in A/S, 10th in SA/S); #10 Kaylee Freund, So., MH, New Bremen, OH/New Bremen (1st G-MAC in B/S); #14 Kenedi Goon, Jr., OH/MH, Ashland, OH/Crestview (10th G-MAC in B/S, 1st Team in K/S)
Scouting the Opposition
Findlay: Always a top contender in the G-MAC North Division, the Oilers were forced to retool after losing multi-time All-American Journey Blevins to the transfer portal this offseason, but remain a potent force in conference play.
In place of Blevins, Findlay has embraced a youth movement, taking advantage of impressive play offensively by freshmen outside hitters Kirsten Bomholt and Hannah Miller, along with a strong second-year campaign by sophomore middle hitters Alana Pohlman and Kenzie Hoelscher. Sophomore Emma White also is the G-MAC's top setter, currently leading the conference in assists.
Findlay's young players kept the Oilers in the title race all season long and now have the Oilers in contention for their first-ever G-MAC Tournament title. First, however, Findlay will have to get through top-seeded Hillsdale on their home floor for a third time after taking down the Chargers twice in tight five set matches in the regular season.
Ohio Dominican: After a dip in 2022 that saw the Panthers fail to make the G-MAC Tournament, Ohio Dominican is back in the G-MAC Tournament semis for the second time in three years in 2023, thanks to a strong finish to the season and a stunning upset of G-MAC South Division Champion Ashland in the quarterfinal round.
What sets ODU apart this season is its balanced offense – the Panthers have three experienced and credible attackers at the net who are all averaging over two kills a set in junior Lauren Lucas and sophomores Jenna Peters and Ashley Aselage, as well as another credible weapon in middle hitter Grace Zinchuk.
ODU also has a veteran libero in four-year starter Kelsey Shoup, a previous All-G-MAC honoree, and two solid sophomore setters in Gabrielle Kirker and Saige Avery. The Panthers come into the semifinal on a hot streak, with six straight wins under their belt, and while ODU lost twice to semifinal foe Tiffin in the regular season, they also had been defeated twice by Ashland before Tuesday -- and then swept the Eagles.
Tiffin: The Dragons pulled off a stunning upset to open tournament play, going to the co-G-MAC North Division Champion Walsh Cavaliers and likely ending Walsh's season with a thrilling five-set victory to reach the G-MAC Tournament semis for the fifth straight season.
The Dragons had a solid season in G-MAC play and have been consistently competitive against conference opponents, thanks to an imposing front line. Tiffin has three of the top 10 players in blocks per set in the G-MAC entering the final week, led by explosive athlete and middle hitter Kaylee Freund, whose 1.08 blocks per set tops the conference.
Tiffin's extra points from its defense help supplement an offense led by outside hitters Wakaya Wilson and Kenedi Goon. Olivia Karhoff has been a solid backrow presence as well for the Dragons in 2023 after missing two seasons, leading the team in digs per set.
Tiffin won both meetings with semifinal opponent Ohio Dominican this season, and will look to continue their Cinderella campaign all the way to a G-MAC title this weekend.
Scouting the Chargers
After a bunch of ups and downs in a twisty, topsy-turvy season, Hillsdale College enters the final weekend of the 2023 G-MAC Tournament exactly where it hoped it would be – with a G-MAC regular season championship and the top seed in the tourney.
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 10 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
- No team has dominated the G-MAC Tournament like Hillsdale, who is the top seed entering this year's edition. The Chargers have won every G-MAC Tournament title since joining the conference in 2017, six straight in total, and have a perfect 18-0 record in G-MAC tourney matches. While none of the other three programs have a G-MAC Tourney title to their name, all three are no stranger to making it this far. Findlay was runner-up to Hillsdale in both 2017 and 2018, while Tiffin has made five straight G-MAC semifinals and played for the title against the Chargers three straight seasons in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Ohio Dominican made it to the semifinal round in 2021.
- Senior libero Alli Wiese continues to assault the record books at Hillsdale for her position, after breaking the single-season record for service aces at Hillsdale with her 58th against Findlay last Saturday. 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 second place in program history with 2,188 digs, and needs 64 digs to surpass her older sister, Taylor's, program career record of 2,251. With 185 service aces at Hillsdale, Wiese also ranks second all time in that stat behind career record holder Katie Keane's total of 219 set from 1994-97.
- Junior Maizie Brown also broke an impressive record this weekend, surpassing the program's single-season record for solo blocks of 39 set by Lauren Grover in 2022 against Findlay. Brown is now up to 42 solo blocks entering the G-MAC Tourney and is having her best season to date, putting up career highs in both kills per set (2.14) and hitting percentage (.373). 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 360 blocks for her career, seventh-most all-time at Hillsdale.
- Serving in general has been a key part of Hillsdale's success in 2023, as the Chargers have an impressive 232 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, the new single-season record holder at Hillsdale, and senior Audrey Riley, whose 40 also ranks in the top 10 for a single season. The Chargers' 2.13 service aces per set are second in the G-MAC and are tied for 17th 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 2,215 career assists already are tied for seventh all-time in program history. 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.
- 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 an Oct. 21 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 33-20 against Findlay all-time but the Oilers have taken the last two matches after snapping a nine-match Chargers winning streak earlier this season in October.