2023 AVCA NCAA DII All-America Teams
An impressive streak continues for the Hillsdale College volleyball team, as for the fifth time in six full seasons, the Chargers had multiple players earn All-American honors for their performance in 2023.
Hillsdale had two players recognized on the 2023 NCAA Division II All-America teams announced by the American Volleyball Coaches Association on Wednesday afternoon, capping another excellent season for the Chargers that included 27 wins, a sixth G-MAC regular season title in seven years, a seventh-straight G-MAC Tournament title, and a sixth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
In recognition of a standout junior year, Hillsdale outside hitter Marilyn Popplewell earned honorable mention All-American honors from the AVCA. It's Popplewell's first time earning All-American honors and the latest in a long string of awards dating back to her freshman year, including first-team All-G-MAC and first-team AVCA All-Region honors already this season.
Hillsdale's biggest and most consistent offensive threat up front, Popplewell led the Chargers in kills for the second consecutive season and finished fifth in the G-MAC in kills per set with a career-high 3.37. Her 394 kills rank eighth all-time in Hillsdale College history for a single season and her 896 career kills have her on the cusp of become just the 13th player in Hillsdale College history to surpass 1,000 career kills, a mark she'll likely achieve early in her senior season.
But while Popplewell has been a potent offensive weapon throughout her career for Hillsdale, this All-American honor in 2023 is a testament to the growth of her all-around game. After playing almost exclusively in the front row in her first two seasons, Popplewell became a six-rotation player for the Chargers in 2023 and excelled, finishing with a career high 266 digs, 2.27 per set and nine double-doubles. The junior also became a potent force at the service line for Hillsdale. Despite entering the 2023 season with just six service aces to her name, Popplewell surpassed that number in one early-season match with a program record eight aces in a four-set victory over Wayne State on Sept. 8. Popplewell finished with 34 total aces on the season for the Chargers. Those numbers helped her stand out throughout the season for Hillsdale, as the junior was named to the All-Tournament team at the UP Open, the Findlay Classic, the Midwest Regional Crossover and the G-MAC Tournament.
She's joined in earning All-American recognition this season by senior libero Alli Wiese, who caps her stellar career with the Chargers by earning AVCA All-American honorable mention honors for the second-straight season. In doing so, she becomes just the sixth player in Hillsdale College volleyball history to earn All-American honors in multiple seasons, joining former teammates Karoline Shelton and Allyssa Van Wienen, as well as past Hillsdale greats Paige VanderWall, Ashlee Crowder and Clara Leutheuser.
The graduating Wiese has been a history-making libero for the Chargers throughout four seasons, as she became the first libero ever to be named G-MAC Player of the Year this past season while also earning All-Region honors from both the AVCA and D2CCA this season. Wiese stepped in as a libero in the second weekend of the spring 2021 season as a freshman and has been in the role ever since, starting all four seasons of her career while leading Hillsdale to three regular season conference championships, four conference tournament titles, three 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 65 aces this year. She finished her career in the NCAA Tournament with one final record, surpassing Hillsdale's career digs mark of 2,251 set by her older sister, Taylor, from 2016 to 2019. With 38 digs against Ferris State, Wiese finishes with 2,268 for her career, the most in Chargers history. Her 192 service aces also rank second all-time for a career at Hillsdale in the stat. For her performance in the NCAA Tournament, Wiese also was named to the 2023 All-Midwest Regional team.
Photos by Patrick Clark