INDIANAPOLIS – Between the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA), the Great Midwest Athletic Conference had 12 total selections for All-Midwest Region Team honors.
 
Hillsdale and Findlay are preparing to meet for the fourth time in the 2017 season at the NCAA Championship Midwest Regional at Lewis University. With both institutions as NCAA qualifiers, the Chargers and Oilers both received plenty of postseason recognition.
 
The AVCA placed four G-MAC student-athletes on the All-Midwest Region Team while two more garnered honorable mention status.
 
Hillsdale also received the AVCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year (Lindsey Mertz) and AVCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year (Chris Gravel).
 
Mertz, on the AVCA Honorable Mention Team, gathered top first-year honors across the Midwest Region. The Great Midwest Freshman of the Year and Great Midwest All-Conference First Team member received this award after ranking second in the conference in assists per set and eighth in service aces per set.
 
Her coach, Chris Gravel, also received recognition by the AVCA. Chris Gravel was named AVCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year after leading Hillsdale to a conference tournament championship, co-West Division title and a 28-3 record that resulted in the Chargers receiving the number two seed in the NCAA Midwest Regional.
 
Gravel was also named Great Midwest Coach of the year in his 22nd season at the helm for the Chargers.
 
The D2CCA released its annual All-Midwest Region Team and the Great Midwest was represented by players from three different institutions, Cedarville, Findlay and Hillsdale.
 
In total, there were six athletes across the first and second teams from the league with two appearing on the first team.
 
Hillsdale junior right side Paige VanderWall. 2017 Great Midwest Player of the Year joined the D2CCA First Team as well as the AVCA All-Midwest Region Team after an outstanding season for the Chargers ranking third in the conference in hitting percentage and sixth in both kills per set and points per set.
 
Joining her on the first-team ballot was fellow junior outside hitter Amanda Winner of Findlay. The conference leader in kills and points per set helped guide the Oilers to a runner-up finish in the conference tournament en route to an at-large Berth to the DII NCAA Tournament. Winner was also a member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference All-Conference First Team alongside VanderWall.
 
For the second consecutive year, one of these players is Cedarville’s Gabby Olson. The senior middle blocker from the Yellow Jackets led the conference in blocks while also being named to the Great Midwest All-Conference First Team. Olson was also a member of the Second Team All-Midwest Region unit last season. The senior was also named a Midwest Region Team Honorable Mention by the AVCA.
 
Two-time Great Midwest West Division Player of the Week and freshman middle Allyssa Van Wienen finished second in the conference in hitting percentage in her first year in the Great Midwest. She made the D2CCA All-Midwest Region Second Team.
 
The final Hillsdale D2CCA All-Midwest Region Team member is sophomore libero Taylor Wiese. Wiese was the Great Midwest leader in digs per set. Like the previous players, Wiese was a Great Midwest All-Conference First Team selection on Hillsdale’s conference championship team.
 
The final player to be selected by the D2CCA comes in Findlay’s Hailee Olson. The junior setter led the conference in assists and ranked third in service aces per set. This selection comes after she was also named to the Great Midwest All-Conference First Team.
 
Hillsdale’s Kara Vyletel was selected by the AVCA to be part of the All-Midwest Region Team. The junior outside hitter ranked ninth in hitting percentage, fourth in points per set, and tied for second in kills per set out of the entire conference and was named to the Great Midwest All-Conference First Team.