Schedule
Hillsdale (7-10, 5-3 G-MAC) at Ursuline (0-21, 0-10 G-MAC) | 6 p.m. ET Thursday, Oct. 30 | Stano Athletic Center | Pepper Pike, OH
Hillsdale (7-10, 5-3 G-MAC) at Ashland (11-10, 6-5 G-MAC) | 6 p.m. ET Friday, Oct. 31 | Kates Gymnasium | Ashland, OH
Hillsdale (7-10, 5-3 G-MAC) at Lake Erie (9-14, 2-8 G-MAC) | 5 p.m. ET Saturday, Nov. 1 | Osborne Center| Painesville, OH
 
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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:  #1 Ella Byrum, rFr., DS/L, Kokomo, IN/Northwestern (7th G-MAC in D/S); #2 Jenna Southland, So., MH, Three Rivers, MI/Three Rivers (6th G-MAC in B/S); #9 Adi Sysum, Sr., MH, Eaton Rapids, MI/Eaton Rapids (1st G-MAC in hitting %, 7th in B/S); #15 Josie TeSlaa, Sr., S/DS, Hudsonville, MI/Unity Christian (7th G-MAC in A/S)

Ursuline: #1 Ari Nusbaum, Fr., DS/L, Marysville, OH/Marysville (1st TM in D/S); #4 Vada Belt, Jr., S, Eastlake, OH/North (10th G-MAC in A/S); #13 Amie McCarthy, Sr., OPP, Parma, OH/Trinity (1^st TM in K/S); #16 Ellie Zoeckler, Fr., OH, Sagamore Hills, OH/Cuyahoga Valley Christian (8th G-MAC in SA/S)

Ashland: #5 Abbey Queen, Jr., DS/L, Powell, OH/Olentangy Liberty/Wheeling U. (1st G-MAC in D/S); #6 Marin Dixon, Jr., S, Wooster, OH/Wooster/Indianapolis U. (3rd G-MAC in A/S); #9 Sara Krizsa, So., OH, Brunswick, OH/Brunswick (8^th G-MAC in K/S); #13 Ravin Morgan, Jr., MH, Wooster, OH/Wooster/Walsh U. (2nd G-MAC in B/S)

Lake Erie: #11 Kennedy Stewart, So., MB, Baton Rouge, LA/The Dunham School/West Virginia St. U. (1st TM in B/S); #22 Cecelia Mullen, So., S, San Antonio, TX/Brennan (9^th G-MAC in D/S); #23 Jenna Sayles, Jr., S, Davison, MI/Davison (1^st TM in A/S); #26 Allison Kirch, So., PH, Cincinnati, OH/Seton (1^st TM in K/S)
 
 
Scouting the Opposition
Ursuline: The Arrows have had a challenging season, going 21 matches without a victory in 2025 to date. That said, Ursuline has had some moments of competitiveness with a young team, taking both Malone and Lake Erie to five sets in matches earlier in the season.

Consistent offense has been a problem for the Arrows, as Ursuline is putting up a G-MAC-worst 9.10 assists per set. Seniors and four-year veterans Amie McCarthy and Karrington Green lead the team in kills per set, and freshman Ellie Zoeckler has been an important part of the offense as well. Junior Vada Belt is the team's top setter, with senior Hannah Laurich also playing the position as well.

Freshman Ari Nusbaum is the team's libero and has been among the G-MAC leaders in digs so far this season, while freshman middle blockers Madison Morris and Aniyah Wise have paired with Hannah Coleman up front defensively.

It's been a one-sided matchup historically between Hillsdale and Ursuline, as the Chargers have won all 14 meetings dating back to 2015, and have only lost one set in those 14 contests.
 
Ashland: The Eagles enter a critical weekend for their conference tourney hopes at a low point, having lost six straight matches, including three conference contests, to lose any hope of a G-MAC East Division title. Ashland has held up relatively well defensively but have struggled at times to put away teams offensively.

Ashland has one of the conference's top liberos in junior Abbey Queen, the G-MAC leader in digs per set, and a solid defensive frontline bolstered by Walsh transfer Ravin Morgan.

Offensively, Sara Krizsa has been impressive in her second season with Ashland, and she's supported by freshman Jenna Shedden and Morgan, but as a whole the Eagles have not shown the same firepower as past 20-plus win teams in recent years at Ashland. Indianapolis transfer Marin Dixon has been solid at setter and a defensive asset at the net as well for the Eagles.

Hillsdale has a 39-22 edge all-time against the Eagles and have controlled the rivalry recently, with a 6-1 mark in the last seven matches, including a home sweep last year. Ashland's lone win came at home in a sweep on Oct. 8, 2022, the last time the Eagles won the regular-season title in the G-MAC.
 
Lake Erie: The Storm have tied their win mark from 2024 with nine so far and are on track for their best record since 2018, but their margin for error to snag a G-MAC Turney berth is low with three weeks to play, meaning securing victories are vital this weekend.

Head coach Calaeb Haire has used the transfer portal to assemble a tall and physically imposing squad from across the nation in Painesville. Dominican (CA) transfer Jasmine Heyward has teamed with homegrown talent Allison Kirch to lead the attack, while freshman Kylie Anderson has reinforced veteran setter Jenna Sayles in Lake Erie's 6-2 system.

Cecelia Mullen, a Texas native and sophomore, holds down the team's libero spot with solid numbers, while East Tennessee St. transfer Rori Hanken and Gabrielle Jones man the middle for the Storm.

Lake Erie is winless in 24 tries against the Chargers since the two teams first met in 2008, including a sweep in Hillsdale last season. The Chargers have won in three sets in eight straight matches against the Storm.

 
Scouting the Chargers
Another five set win over rival Northwood last weekend has Hillsdale sitting in solid position to make the G-MAC Tourney, and still very much in contention to host a home quarterfinal contest. This weekend is critical, with three challenging but winnable road matches that could all but lock up Hillsdale's spot in the tournament if it can get three victories.

On an otherwise inexperienced team, Hillsdale does return three key contributors who played major roles in seasons past: senior Adi Sysum, who was part of the team's middle hitter rotation and finished fourth on the Chargers in points and second in blocks in 2024, senior Josie TeSlaa, who was one of the team's two setters in Hillsdale's 6-2 lineup and played in every match last year, and junior Chloe Pierce, who played an important role in the back row for the Chargers last season.

Retooling the front row will be a priority for Hillsdale as the Chargers lose several key contributors on the attack. Along with Sysum, Hillsdale also is giving more opportunities to sophomores Caroline Lanicek, Hannah Baker and Jenna Southland, while junior Molly Kennedy has had a bigger role in recent weeks as well. In recent weeks, the Chargers also got Ellie Fles back in the lineup after she missed several matches with an injury, and the sophomore has been a game-changer as well for the Hillsdale attack with several double-doubles. Marcelina Gorny also made her season debut after recovering from an injury to add to Hillsdale's front row as well.

Two players who missed the 2024 season with injuries are already making big contributions. Junior Emory Braswell was second on the team in kills in 2023 before missing all of 2024, and is getting ample playing time on the outside. Freshmen Madison Peal and Grace Drake have been coming on strong in recent weeks for Hillsdale, with Drake's versatility playing a big part in Hillsdale's lineups in recent weeks, and Taylor Cook also has contributed.

Coaching the Chargers for the 30^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 11 conference regular season titles, 10 conference tournament titles, made 16 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

• Hillsdale posted its best-ever year in the classroom in 2024-25, with the highest cumulative GPA in program history and the top cumulative GPA among all Hillsdale College athletics teams. Two returning starters for Hillsdale played a big role in that accomplishment, as senior Josie TeSlaa and junior Chloe Pierce each earned CSC Academic All-District honors for their performance in the classroom last season.
• Entering his 30^th season at Hillsdale, Chris Gravel has proved himself as one of the elite college volleyball coaches in the country. His 638 AVCA-recognized victories rank 10^th among all active coaches at the NCAA DII level, and his .690 winning percentage ranks 25^th, and 11^th among active coaches with 20 or more campaigns. He is one of just 10 active NCAA DII coaches with 600 or more wins in his career.
• Freshman Grace Drake has been part of Hillsdale's setter rotation for much of the season and has seen her role grow as she's steadily improved in recent weeks. She was instrumental in Hillsdale's five set victory over Northwood at home on Oct. 24, with a 16-kill, 29-assist, 14-dig triple-double. Drake's versatility, allowing her to seamlessly transition from a setter on one point to an outside hitter the next, creates serious problems for opposing defenses and is a chess piece for Coach Chris Gravel to make good use of going forward.
• The healthy return of sophomore outside hitter Ellie Fles has been huge for the Chargers offensively. Fles came up big in Hillsdale's sweep of previous G-MAC unbeaten Thomas More on Oct. 4, leading the Chargers with 11 kills and adding 10 digs for her first career double-double. The sophomore then exploded for a career high 21 kills and 13 digs for another double-double in a win over Tiffin on Oct. 11. Her 2.86 kills per set currently leads the Chargers. The threat of Fles as an attacker also is creating more opportunities for players like Caroline Lanicek and Emory Braswell to impact the match on the outside.
• Senior Adi Sysum has been an important weapon upfront for the Chargers so far and earned G-MAC North Division Player of the Week on Oct. 6 for helping Hillsdale sweep both matches of its Kentucky trip. A middle hitter, Sysum has been efficient on offense, hitting a G-MAC leading .387, with 2.46 kills per set, and has been a key player defensively, with 0.89 blocks per set, the seventh best mark in conference play and second for the Chargers.
• Sysum's counterpart in the middle hitter rotation, Jenna Southland, is emerging as an impact player in her own right. Southland is developing into a strong front row defensive player in the conference, currently ranking sixth in the G-MAC with 0.93 blocks per set and leading the Chargers in that stat.
• Hillsdale has played well defensively at times this season. The Chargers rank second in the G-MAC in digs per set (16.15), third in service aces allowed (1.39) and third in blocks per set (2.09), all strong numbers in the conference. Hillsdale will aim for more stingy defensive play as it looks for a strong stretch run to improve its seeding in the upcoming G-MAC Tournament in November.
• 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. Two 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 and current Detroit Lion Isaac TeSlaa.