2023 G-MAC Volleyball All-Conference Teams
Hillsdale College has a long and storied volleyball history under head coach Chris Gravel.
Even with that legacy, however, senior libero Alli Wiese is still accomplishing things no Charger has ever done before.
Wiese will cap her career at Hillsdale by earning the 2023 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Year award, the conference office announced on Friday afternoon. The Mattawan, Michigan native is the fourth Charger to win the award, joining Paige Vanderwall, Allyssa Van Wienen and Karoline Shelton, but also the first back-row player from any team to win the award in the conference's more-than-decade-long existence.
It's a fitting end to an impressive career at Hillsdale for Wiese, who stepped in as libero in the second weekend as a freshman in the spring 2021 season and never came back out, starting at the critical back-row position for all four seasons and helping lead the Chargers to three regular season conference championships, three conference tournament titles, two NCAA DII Tournament appearances and the 2021 Midwest Regional title.
Along the way she's etched herself into the record book at Hillsdale in several spots, tying the single-match record for digs with 40 against Walsh in 2022, breaking the single-season record for both Hillsdale and the G-MAC with 731 digs last season, and setting a new single-season service aces record at Hillsdale with 59 aces this year.
For her career, she enters Friday's G-MAC Tourney semifinal with 2,200 digs, just 52 off the record held by her older sister Taylor despite playing only 19 official matches in the Covid-19 shortened spring season as a freshman, and 95 digs off the G-MAC record. Her 186 service aces also rank second all-time at Hillsdale in the stat.
Wiese is joined by several teammates in receiving honors from the G-MAC for the 2023 season, which saw Hillsdale tie for the G-MAC North Division title and the best overall record in the conference.
Redshirt junior middle hitter Maizie Brown was one of three Hillsdale players to earn first team honors along with Wiese, her second first-team All-G-MAC honor and the fourth All-G-MAC honor of her career with the Chargers. Brown is a record-setter in her own right, breaking Hillsdale's record for solo blocks in a single season with 42, and is closing in on the G-MAC's record of 46 in the stat.
Always a defensive force at the net for Hillsdale throughout her career, it's Brown's development as an offensive player that helped her take home first-team honors. She leads the G-MAC in hitting percentage with .373 and has significantly increased her kills per set this season from 1.66 to 2.14, becoming a feared offensive attacker for the Chargers as well.
Hillsdale's third first-team All-G-MAC honoree is junior Marilyn Popplewell, who received the honor for the second straight year. Popplewell is Hillsdale's biggest offensive weapon up front, leading the Chargers and ranking fifth in the G-MAC in kills per set with a career high 3.37. She's also added new dimensions to her game, including a lethal serve that saw her break the Hillsdale single-match record for aces with eight in a victory over Wayne State in September, and improved back-row play that has seen her put up career highs in digs per set as well.
Earning second-team honors for Hillsdale is junior setter Lauren Passaglia, who built on a third-team honor as a sophomore last season. Despite playing in a 6-2 system that sees her sometimes deployed as an outside hitter or defensive specialist rather than a setter, Passaglia put up numbers not far off some of the top solo setters in the conference, averaging 9.03 assists per set and approaching 1,000 for the season entering this weekend.
As a left-handed player capable of hitting passes directly over instead of using them for assists or tips, Passaglia is also a unique offensive weapon for the Chargers front line, borne out in solid hitting stats that include career highs in hitting percentage. She's also a solid server and strong defensive player for her position, with 28 aces and 179 digs on the season.
Hillsdale was the only program with three players on the All-G-MAC first team in 2023, and will host this weekend's G-MAC Semifinals and Finals looking for its seventh straight G-MAC Tournament title. The Chargers play fourth-seeded Findlay in the first semifinal tonight at 5 p.m. ET.
Photo by Anthony Lupi