Schedule
Ursuline (2-20, 2-7 G-MAC) at RV Hillsdale (14-3, 7-1 G-MAC) | 7 p.m. ET Thursday, Oct. 31 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
Ashland (15-7, 8-1 G-MAC) at RV Hillsdale (14-3, 7-1 G-MAC) | 7 p.m. ET Friday, Nov. 1 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
Lake Erie (7-16, 4-7 G-MAC) at RV Hillsdale (14-3, 7-1 G-MAC) | 5 p.m. ET Saturday, Nov. 2 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
 
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Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Ursuline Roster | Ashland Roster | Lake Erie Roster | Hillsdale Stats | Ursuline Stats | Ashland Stats | Lake Erie Stats |  G-MAC Stats | G-MAC Standings
 
Players to Watch
Hillsdale:  : #6 Amanda Hilliker, Sr., L/DS, Byron Center, MI/Byron Center (7th G-MAC in D/S); #9 Adi Sysum, Jr., MH, Eaton Rapids, MI/Eaton Rapids (1st Team in B/S); #11 Lauren Passaglia, Sr., S/OH, Cary, IL/Cary Grove (6th G-MAC in A/S, 8th in Hitting %); #13 Marilyn Popplewell, Sr., OH, Mason, OH/Mason (4th G-MAC in K/S, 1st in P/S, 1st in SA/S)
 
Ursuline: #2 Abigail Aguilera-Ayala, Sr., OH, Chino, CA/Aquinas (1st Tm in K/S); #4 Vada Belt, So., S, Eastlake, OH/North (1st Tm in A/S); #6 Mya Jackson, So., DS, Pataskala, OH / Watkins Memorial (1st Tm in D/S); #16 Maleah Gibbons, Sr., MB, Akron, OH/CVCA (1st Tm in B/S, SA/S)
 
Ashland: #1 Kylee Urban, So., S, Olmsted Twp., OH/ Olmsted Falls (3rd G-MAC in in A/S, 2nd in SA/S); #5 Abbey Queen, So., DS, Powell, OH/Olentangy Liberty/Wheeling (2nd G-MAC in D/S); #7 GraceAnn Hartman, Sr., RS, Indianapoils, IN/Perry Meridian (6th G-MAC in K/S, 6th in P/S); #13 Ravin Morgan, So., MH, Wooster,  OH/Wooster (5th G-MAC in B/S, 7th in hitting %)
 
Lake Erie: #2 Brooklyn Broadway, Sr., DS/L, Edwardsburg, MI/Edwardsburg (8th G-MAC in D/S); #8 Simone Schurr, Sr., S, Plainfield, IL/Oswego East (10th G-MAC in A/S); #21 Kennady Wiley, So., MH, Lewis Center, OH/Olentangy (1st Tm in B/S); #26 Allison Kirch, Fr., PH, Cincinnati, OH/Seton (1st Tm in K/S)
 
 
Scouting the Opposition
Ursuline: Ursuline has had a rough go of things so far in head coach Rachel Tolbert's first season, with a 2-20 overall mark, but the Arrows enter a challenging week on a high note with a five set win over Malone on Saturday.

Offensively, the Arrows lean on two veteran options with a ton of valuable match experience for Ursuline. Graduate student Abigail Aguilera-Ayala leads the Arrows in kills and is in her fifth season as a major contributor at Ursuline, while the Arrows' second-best in terms of kills per set, junior Karrington Green, is in her third year as a starter. Veterans Amie McCarthy and Maleah Gibbons also play important roles up front.

Sophomore Vada Belt and junior Hannah Laurich both split setting duties for the Arrows in a 6-2 system, while Mya Jackson serves as Ursuline's libero with Aguilera-Ayala and Green both playing important defensive roles as well.

To build off the win over Malone and have a strong finish, Ursuline will need to play better at the net. The Arrows rank last or next to last in the G-MAC as a team in kills per set, blocks per set, and opponent kills per set, numbers that need to improve for Ursuline to get hot down the stretch.
 
Ashland: The Eagles have been one of the top programs in the G-MAC since arriving in 2021, currently have a two-match lead in the East Division and could put themselves in the driver's seat to host the G-MAC Tournament in November with a win over the Chargers on Friday night.

Ashland has a dynamic offensive attack headlined by fourth-year starter GraceAnn Hartman, one of the top players in the G-MAC in kills per set. The Eagles have plenty of attacking options to pair with Hartman, as Walsh transfer Ravin Morgan has been an efficient hitter, and impact freshmen Sara Krizsa and Samantha Young also have been contributing more than two kills a set.

Sophomore Kylee Urban directs the attack solo for Ashland after sharing setting duties as a freshman last season, and the Eagles have one of the top liberos in the league in Wheeling transfer Abbey Queen, who's second in the G-MAC in digs per set. Macy McNamara is also an important contributor for Ashland in the back row.

The Eagles are a G-MAC title contender but, outside of a sweep of East Division rival Walsh, have yet to collect a truly season-defining victory. Ashland will get a golden opportunity for one that could give a big boost to their tourney resume against the Chargers.
 
Lake Erie: Lake Erie is in the first stages of a turnaround under first-year coach Calaeb Haire, and already have posted their best win total since 2019 with three weeks left in the season.

The Storm have made improvements offensively, led by strong play from freshman Allison Kirch and redshirt freshman Rori Hanken in their first seasons on the floor for Lake Erie. The pair are both averaging over 2.5 kills per set, and are backed by solid play from fifth-year seniors Katelyn McMoore and Alexandra Matthews up front.

Lake Erie runs a 6-2 system at setter, splitting duties between Simone Schurr and Sarah Leyden, both of whom have multiple years of starting experience for the Storm.

Defensively, Brooklyn Broadway returns at libero for Lake Erie and is having a solid season defensiely, with Kirch also making important contributions in the back row. Anna Lewis and Hanken are among the team's leaders in blocks defensively, with several players contributing to a solid performance at the net.

The Storm are playing their best ball in a while, but will need to reach a new level to take down the Chargers for the first time in 23 tries.
 
 
Scouting the Chargers
Hillsdale got a big road victory at Northwood on Saturday to take a substantial lead in the G-MAC North Division. Another big week awaits with three conference matches, including a showdown with East Division leader Ashland that could determine who hosts the G-MAC Tournament in November.

The Chargers return a deep and talented roster full of meaningful postseason experience in 2024 as they look to capture their eighth-straight G-MAC Tournament title, win their seventh regular season title in eight seasons, and earn what would be their seventh straight NCAA DII Midwest Regional appearance, and eighth in nine seasons.

Hillsdale has a ton of experienced attacking talent up from to work with, led by returning honorable mention All-American Marilyn Popplewell, who holds the program's single-match records for both kills and digs and is entering her fourth season as a significant contributor. Hillsdale has another strong veteran in the middle in senior Maizie Brown, the 2023 G-MAC Tournament MVP and a four-time All-G-MAC player who's back for a fifth season. Along with those two veteran stalwarts, outside hitters Marcelina Gorny and Greta Wise and middles Sydney Sahr and Adi Sysum give Hillsdale plenty of talented options up front.

Directing the attack for the third straight season is senior setter and two-time All-G-MAC honoree Lauren Passaglia. The talented left-hander's hitting chops and versatility allow Hillsdale to flow freely into a variety of offensive sets and make the Chargers difficult to defend. Junior Josie TeSlaa also plays setter for Hillsdale and can play at the same time as Passaglia, giving the Chargers an impressive array of options when the ball is on their side of the court. A group of talented freshmen that includes four gifted attacking players improve Hillsdale's depth even further.

While Hillsdale's front row is loaded, the Chargers do have a big hole to fill with the graduation of libero Alli Wiese, who rewrote the Hillsdale record book for her position and became the first libero to earn conference Player of the Year honors in 2023. While that level of production will be tough to replace, Hillsdale has talented and experienced options to fill in the gap, including senior Amanda Hilliker, who played significant time in 2023, as well as sophomore Chloe Pierce and TeSlaa.

Coaching the Chargers for the 29^th 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, 10 conference tournament titles, made 15 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

• Chris Gravel reached an important milestone last season with his 600^th career coaching victory, all at Hillsdale, and is one of just 12 active coaches at the NCAA DII level to surpass that milestone. His 623 AVCA-recognized victories rank him tied for 11^th among all active coaches. Gravel has multiple showdowns this season with other coaches in the 600-win club, as Tampa's Chris Catanach and old friend and rival Wick Colchagoff of Findlay both put their teams up against Hillsdale this season.
• Hillsdale remains one of the top teams receiving votes outside of the top 25 in the AVCA poll. The Chargers have been mentioned in all nine AVCA NCAA DII Top 25 polls this season, including eight weeks as an honorable mention. The Chargers are one of six Midwest Region teams to be ranked or receiving votes in this week's poll, and the only squad from the G-MAC. The Chargers also were one of the top vote-getters in the 2024 G-MAC Preseason Coaches poll, and named the favorite to win the North Division.
• The Chargers enter the 2024 season looking to extend their dominance of the G-MAC for another campaign. Hillsdale has won six of the last seven regular season titles and seven G-MAC tournament titles in a row since joining the conference in 2017, and are 108-8 all-time in G-MAC regular season matches, as well as a perfect 20-0 in G-MAC Tournament matches.
• Returning All-American Marilyn Popplewell became the 13^th member of an exclusive club at Hillsdale in a sweep of Ohio Dominican earlier this season, surpassing 1,000 kills for her career. Popplewell is the first Hillsdale player to reach this milestone since former teammate Karoline Shelton in 2021. The outside hitter broke out early in her career, leading the Chargers with 18 kills in Hillsdale's Midwest Regional championship victory over Ferris State as a freshman in 2021. In the last two years she's built off that initial success with back-to-back first-team All-G-MAC honors, putting up the eighth and ninth-best single season kills totals as a junior and sophomore, and setting single-match records for kills (28) in Hillsdale's five-set NCAA Tournament upset of Lewis in 2022 and aces with eight in a four-set win over Wayne State last season. A star in every facet of the game, she is currently first in the G-MAC in points per set, first in service aces per set, and fourth in kills per set through eight weeks.  She also ranks in the top 50 in the nation in points per set, kills per set and aces per set at the NCAA DII level.
• Maizie Brown returns to Hillsdale for a rare fifth season thanks to a waiver created by the Covid-19 pandemic, and is already in the history books for the Chargers as one of the finest middle hitters in the program's duration. A four-time All-G-MAC honoree and the 2023 G-MAC Tournament MVP, Brown is tied for fifth all-time in program history with 420 blocks entering this weekend. She set a single-season program record in 2023 with 44 solo blocks, surpassing 2012 All-American Lauren Grover's 39, and her 123 total blocks in 2023 rank eighth all-time.
• Senior Lauren Passaglia is on a tear, having been named G-MAC North Division Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks entering this weekend. A unique weapon for Hillsdale, as both an elite setter with two All-G-MAC honors, and a dangerous attacking player as a hitter as well. Passaglia proved her versatility again in mid-September by leading the Chargers to an undefeated record at their home "Net Results" Invite and earning Tournament MVP honors as well. She also was named to the 2024 All-Midwest Crossover team, and was the G-MAC's North Division Athlete of the Week for her play in that event. Her flexibility enables a variety of lineups and tactics for head coach Chris Gravel to deploy. A third-year starter, Passaglia ranks seventh all-time in program history in assists with 2,7149 entering this weekend.
• Hillsdale has been an efficient team offensively this season, ranking 24^th nationally and second in the G-MAC in hitting percentage with .253, and is the top serve-receive team in the G-MAC with just 1.28 aces conceded per set.
• 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. four 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. There's also a pair of siblings who are both currently on the roster for the Chargers, as sophomore Greta Wise joins her older sister, Jaclyn, on the squad as well.
• Hillsdale has never lost a match to Ursuline or Lake Erie, with a 13-0 record all-time against the Arrows dating back to 2015, and a 22-0 record against the Storm dating back to 2008. The Chargers also have a strong record all-time against Ashland, 37-20 in a series that dates back to 1989. Hillsdale has won five of the last six against the Eagles, including a 3-0 sweep last season, but Ashland's most recent win in 2022 helped lock up the top seed in the G-MAC Tournament that year.