Schedule

Northwood (8-1, 2-0 G-MAC) at RV Hillsdale (7-1, 2-0 G-MAC) | 1 p.m. EDT Saturday, Sept. 28 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
 
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Additional Info

Hillsdale Roster | Northwood Roster | Hillsdale Stats | Northwood 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); #8 Maizie Brown, Sr., MH, Portage, MI/Central (8th G-MAC in B/S); #11 Lauren Passaglia, Sr., S/OH, Cary, IL/Cary Grove (5th G-MAC in A/S, 3rd in SA/S, 9th in Hitting %); #13 Marilyn Popplewell, Sr., OH, Mason, OH/Mason (1st G-MAC in K/S, 1st in P/S, 6th in SA/S, 8th in Hitting %)
 
Northwood: #1 Sophia Oakes, Sr., L/DS, Pinckney, MI/Pinckney (6th G-MAC in in D/S); #7 Renee Brines, Jr., S, Cadillac, MI/Cadillac (4th G-MAC in A/S); #18 Sydney Hasenfratz, Jr., MB/OH, Clarkston, MI/Clarkston (2nd G-MAC in B/S, 2nd in P/S, 2nd in Hitting %, 6th in K/S); #19 Kiana Martens, Sr., OP, St. Johns, MI/St. Johns (10th G-MAC in K/S, 9th in P/S)
 
 
Scouting the Opposition

Northwood: After middle-of-the-pack finishes its first two years in the G-MAC, Northwood is off to a start in 2024 that shows the signs of a legitimate title contender.

The Timberwolves have made a leap thanks to a youth movement that's coming of age. Northwood's top players were thrust into starting roles in 2022 as freshmen and sophomore and are now battle-tested veterans, led by repeat first-team All-G-MAC honoree and G-MAC Player of the Year contender Sydney Hasenfratz up front. She's flanked on either side by impressive hitters in talented right side Kiana Martens and outside hitter Olivia Ott, as well as Ashland transfer Sage Kissman.

Hasenfratz has excellent chemistry with junior setter Renee Brines, herself a third-year starter with more than 60 matches of experience. Northwood also has veteran back-row players to lean on in senior liberos Sophia Oakes and Macy Kellstrom.
Northwood is coached by veteran David Shumaker, in his ninth season with the Timberwolves and in his 22nd year as a head coach overall.
 
 
Scouting the Chargers

The Chargers navigated tough battles on the road this past weekend against G-MAC South contenders Ohio Dominican and Cedarville to improve to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in the G-MAC. The Chargers now return home for a showdown with one of their biggest challengers in conference play, Northwood, this Saturday.

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. 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 junior Josie 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

• This meeting between Hillsdale and Northwood will be the first since the return of "The Jack", the traveling all-sports trophy between the Chargers and Timberwolves. Inaugurated in 1996 to honor legendary ADs Jack Finn of Northwood and Jack McAvoy of Hillsdale, the trophy was awarded for 20 years before Hillsdale's departure from the GLIAC in 2017-18 left the two teams in different conferences. With both programs back in the G-MAC, the traveling trophy will return for the 2024-25 season, with results in head-to-head matches and conference finishes factoring into the point total for both teams and the program with the most points at the end of the year receiving the trophy and bragging rights until the subsequent season.
• 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 616 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 is an honorable mention team for the fourth straight week in the AVCA NCAA DII Top 25. The Chargers are one of six Midwest Region teams to be ranked or receiving votes in this week's poll, and one of two G-MAC squads along with Findaly. 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 103-7 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 on Friday, 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. She currently leads the G-MAC in kills per set and points per set through three weeks, and is ranked in the top 20 nationally in both stats.
• 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 ranks seventh all-time in program history with 402 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 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 this past weekend by leading the Chargers to an undefeated record at their home "Net Results" Invite and earning Tournament MVP honors as well. 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 2,535 entering this weekend.
• 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 a long history with Northwood dating back to the founding days of the GLIAC in the 70s, when both programs were charter members. The Timberwolves dominated the first two decades of the series, and lead all-time 42-22, but under Chris Gravel the Chargers are 19-16 against Northwood, and enter Saturday riding a 10-match winning streak against the Timberwolves that dates back a decade.