Schedule
SF1: #4 Findlay (21-8, 11-4 G-MAC) at #1 Hillsdale (21-3, 14-1 G-MAC) | 5 p.m. ET Friday, Nov. 22 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
SF2: #7 Ohio Dominican (14-15, 8-7 G-MAC) vs #6 Walsh (18-12, 10-6 G-MAC) | 7:30 p.m. ET Friday, Nov. 22 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
Final: SF1 Winner vs SF2 Winner | 2 p.m. ET Saturday, Nov. 23 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
 
Follow/Watch
Live Stats & Video | Tickets | Tournament Central
 
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Findlay Roster | Walsh Roster | ODU Roster | Hillsdale Stats | Findlay Stats | Walsh Stats | ODU Stats |  G-MAC Stats | G-MAC Standings
 
Players to Watch
Hillsdale: #6 Amanda Hilliker, Sr., L/DS, Byron Center, MI/Byron Center (5th G-MAC in D/S); #8 Maizie Brown, Sr., MH, Portage, MI/Central (9th G-MAC in hitting %, 5th in B/S); #11 Lauren Passaglia, Sr., S/OH, Cary, IL/Cary Grove (6th G-MAC in A/S, 7th in Hitting %, 10th in SA/S); #13 Marilyn Popplewell, Sr., OH, Mason, OH/Mason (4th G-MAC in K/S, 2nd in P/S, 4th in SA/S)
 
Findlay: #5 Kenzie Hoelscher, Jr., MH, Ft. Loramie, OH/Ft. Loramie (1st G-MAC in SA/S, 2nd in hitting %, 10th in P/S); #7 Alana Pohlman, Jr., MH, Maria Stein, OH/Marion Local (9th G-MAC in P/S, 4th in hitting %); #9 Emma White, Jr., S, Tiffin, OH/Calvert (1st G-MAC in A/S, 3rd in SA/S); #15 Hannah Miller, So., OH, Tiffin,  OH/Calvert (3rd G-MAC in K/S, 5th in P/S)
 
Walsh: #2 Jayme Zoeckler, Sr., S, Northfield, OH/Trinity/Notre Dame College (5th G-MAC in A/S); #7 Arora Levengood, Sr., DS/L, Bolivar, OH/Tusky Valley (3rd G-MAC in D/S); #11 Sydney Dixon, Sr., OH, Valparaiso, IN/Boone Grove (6th G-MAC in K/S, 8th in P/S); #13 Sammie DiBease, Jr., OH, Perry, OH/Perry (2nd G-MAC in K/S, 1st in P/S)
 
ODU: #3 Lauren Dinuzzi, So., L, Louisville, KY/Mercy Academy (10th G-MAC in D/S); #10 Saige Avery, Jr., S/RS, Yorkville, IL/Yorkville (7th G-MAC in A/S, 5th in SA/S);  #15 Lauren Lucas, Sr., OH, Grove City, OH/Grove City/Millersville (1st TM in K/S); #22 Grace Zinchuk, Jr., MB, Schaumburg, IL/Schaumburg (10th G-MAC in B/S)
 
Scouting the Opposition
Findlay: It's high stakes for Findlay this weekend, as the Oilers look to capture their first G-MAC Tournament title since becoming a member in 2017. Beyond that, Findlay's hopes of making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017 may rest on upsetting top-seeded Hillsdale in the semifinal on Friday.

Findlay pins its hopes on the G-MAC's most efficient (a league-leading .262 hitting percentage) and explosive (G-MAC best 14.15 kills per set) offense. Sophomore Hannah Miller is one of the G-MAC's top hitters, and she has plenty of help up front in talented middles Alana Pohlman and Kenzie Hoelscher and freshmen Grace Auer and Stephanie Smith, all of whom contribute in a big way.
Veteran setter Emma White, a third-year starter, directs the attack and leads the G-MAC in assists per set, while Ava Doster returns for a second season as the team's libero. The Oilers are not a big blocking team, and have low dig totals overall, in large part due to how consistently Findlay ends points early.

The Oilers won two five-set thrillers over Hillsdale in the 2023 regular season but were swept by the Chargers in last year's G-MAC Tournament, and lost both meetings to the Chargers in the regular season on the way to a third-place finish in the G-MAC North Division. As a loss Friday could be season-ending, expect the Oilers to be motivated for the semifinal.
 
Walsh: The Cavaliers are making their second semifinal trip in three years after upsetting Ashland in the quarterfinal, and are looking for their first trip to the G-MAC Tournament Final since becoming a member in 2017.

Walsh has two potent weapons offensively in outside hitters Sammie DiBease and Sydney Dixon, with both DiBease  and Dixon currently in the top 10 in the G-MAC in kills per set. The Cavaliers are a little bit top-heavy offensively, but senior Anna West is another solid offensive contributor up front as well. West and Elizabeth Bauer make up the team's middle rotation.

Senior Arora Levengood, the team's libero, is a key holdover from the Cavaliers squad that won a share of the program's first G-MAC title last season and one of the top liberos in the G-MAC in digs per set, while Notre Dame College transfer Jayme Zoeckler has seized the setter job for Walsh as well.

The Cavaliers have shown throughout the season that they can play with anybody in the Midwest Region, but have struggled to finish matches against teams with winning records, with some painful late losses to top teams. Walsh's win over Ashland on Tuesday bucks that trend and could be the start of a real Cinderella run for the Cavaliers if they can keep their momentum.
 
Ohio Dominican: Last year's shock G-MAC Tournament runner-up is back again in 2024, as Ohio Dominican pulled another big upset with a five-set victory over second-seeded Northwood in a quarterfinal to reach the final four for a second-straight season. ODU is hoping to take a similar path to the final again this year and claim the title they fell just short of grabbing in 2023.

ODU returns essentially every attacking player of note from its 2023 squad, led by senior outside hitter Lauren Lucas, an All-G-MAC player last year who keyed the Panthers' tourney run. A trio of experienced juniors, Jenna Peters, Ashley Aselage and Ashley Chmielewski, all add depth to a balanced ODU attack, while middles Grace Zinchuk and Bailey Christiansen also return and have been key players this season for the Panthers.

Along with their front row, ODU also returns its two setters from 2023 in its 6-2 system, Gabrielle Kirker and Saige Avery, as well as top backup Macie Bowden. A spirited competition for the libero spot to replace multi-year starter Kelsey Shoup has been won by sophomore Lauren Dinunzi over the last six weeks, with freshman Liv Fenstermaker playing an important role as a backrow player as well.
 
Scouting the Chargers
After winning the G-MAC regular season title for the seventh time in eight seasons, Hillsdale now looks to take home an eighth straight G-MAC Tourney crown. The Chargers are two wins away from the title and will have home court advantage throughout the G-MAC Tourney.

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

• 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, seven straight in total, and have a perfect 21-0 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 and a semifinalist in 2023, while Ohio Dominican was the runner-up to Hillsdale in 2023 in a five-set thriller. Walsh is looking for its first-ever G-MAC final appearance, but has made four semifinals appearances since joining the league in 2017, most recently 2022.
• 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 631 AVCA-recognized victories rank him tied for 11^th among all active coaches. Gravel has had 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 twelve AVCA NCAA DII Top 25 polls this season, including eleven 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 entered the 2024 season looking to extend their dominance of the G-MAC for another campaign. Hillsdale has now won seven of the last eight regular season titles and seven G-MAC tournament titles in a row since joining the conference in 2017, and are 115-8 all-time in G-MAC regular season matches, as well as a perfect 21-0 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 second in the G-MAC in points per set, fourth in service aces per set, and fourth in kills per set entering the postseason.  She also ranks in the top 50 in the nation in points per set and kills 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 fifth all-time in program history with 452 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. Brown also was named the G-MAC North Division Player of the Week for a strong performance in sweeps of Tiffin and Findlay on Oct. 11.
• Senior Lauren Passaglia is on a tear, having been named G-MAC North Division Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks in October. 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 has twice been named the G-MAC's North Division Athlete of the Week this season. 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 2,902 entering this weekend.
• Hillsdale has been excellent at the net this season, ranking 26^th nationally and second in the G-MAC in hitting percentage with .252.The Chargers also rank in the top 50 in the nation in kills per set (13.46) and assists per set (12.26).
• 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.