INDIANAPOLIS – Lake Erie and Hillsdale both secured Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Players of the Week recognition for the East and West divisions as announced on Monday.
The Great Midwest is coming off a busy weekend with nine teams competing at the Midwest Regional Volleyball Crossover in Aurora, Ill., at the Great Lakes Center.
Hillsdale, the G-MAC’s No. 2 seed in the tourney, was the only league team to emerge with a 3-0 record as the Great Midwest finished with a 10-17 overall record.
Lake Erie went 2-1 against all Great Lakes Valley Conference opponents, improving to 15-7 on the year with wins against UIndy and Drury. Cedarville also went 2-1 with sweeps against Wayne State and Parkside; the Yellow Jackets very easily could have finished 3-0 minus a five-set setback against McKendree.
Findlay (vs. Michigan Tech), Walsh (vs. Davenport) and Ohio Valley (vs. Maryville), also contributed wins for the league at the 10th annual event.
Fifty-four matches were completed in just two days on 10 courts between the Great Midwest, GLVC and Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The Great Midwest was allocated four of the 15 selections on the Crossover All-Tournament Team including Hillsdale’s Lindsey Mertz and Taylor Wiese, Cedarville’s Gabby Olson and Findlay’s Amanda Winner.
East Division Player of the Week
Bethany Fisher
Lake Erie
Right Side
Senior
Orrville, OH (Dalton HS)
Fisher is now a two-time East Division Player of the Week award winner for the preseason favorite Storm, who continue to impress with a 15-7 record going into the second half of the league schedule.
Fisher’s numbers were right on par with just about any of the attackers at the Midwest Region Crossover on the all-tournament team. She averaged 4.42 kills per set as LEC claimed two regional victories vs. UIndy and Drury.
Her first match of the tournament produced 23 kills vs. UIndy as the Storm won in four sets. She followed in the second contest of the day with 16 kills and six digs in a four-set effort vs. Illinois Springfield.
LEC then beat Drury in another four-set final as Fisher hit .238 with 14 kills and five blocks. In the tournament, she averaged one dig and almost one block per set.
West Division Player of the Week
Lindsey Mertz
Hillsdale
Setter
Freshman
Frankenmuth, MI (Frankenmuth HS)
Mertz was one of two Chargers on the Midwest Region Crossover All-Tournament as Hillsdale extended what has turned into an impressive 11-match win streak.
Hillsdale improved to 18-3 overall with a 3-0 showing at the weekend tournament in Aurora, posting wins against No. 13 Ferris State, future Great Midwest member Tiffin and Bellarmine.
HC beat all three opponents, some of the higher seeds in both the GLIAC and GLVC, in four sets.
Mertz set the tone for a Chargers offense that hit .260 in 12 sets played. She averaged 11.25 assists per set and contributed 27 digs, seven kills, four blocks and three service aces.
Mertz set her teammates up for 55 assists on just 63 attempts in the efficient win vs. Ferris State. She added 33 vs. Tiffin and finished with 47 against Bellarmine.
Mertz is now averaging 10.08 assists per set this season as the Chargers gear up for the second half of the Great Midwest schedule.