INDIANAPOLIS – Student-athletes from Hillsdale and Alderson Broaddus received Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Players of the Week awards as announced on Monday afternoon.
A total of five teams have officially locked in their playoff bids to the conference tournament with the most recent Cedarville and Kentucky Wesleyan from the past week of competition.
The regular season is coming to a close and Hillsdale is zeroing in on the regular season conference title for the third consecutive year.
The Chargers, Walsh and Tiffin, have also officially secured first-round quarterfinal hosting rights for the eight-team bracket.
Offensive Player of the Week
Allyssa Van Wienen
Hillsdale
Middle Blocker
Junior
Grand Rapids, MI (Grand Rapids Christian HS)
It was just another ho-hum, dominant week for the ultra-talented middle blocker as the 11th-ranked Chargers defeated Walsh and Malone to remain perfect in the league standings.
Hillsdale is also ranked second in the Midwest Region behind only Lewis University with a 21-3 record.
Van Wienen was simply too good to ignore for another week as she pocketed her sixth offensive player of the week honor for the current year.
The junior extended her current streak of matches with at least a .500 hitting percentage to four straight.
In a battle of teams without a league loss, Hillsdale beat then co-league leading Walsh in straight sets as Van Wienen delivered 12 kills, three blocks and hit .500.
She then upped those numbers in a four-set victory against resilient defense from Malone. Van Wienen produced 16 kills and hit a better .556 on a total of 27 attack attempts. She also came away with five blocks and four digs.
Defensive Player of the Week
Ashlyn McDonald
Alderson Broaddus
Outside Hitter
Junior
Grove City, OH (Grove City HS)
It was a memorable week for the Battlers as they carved out their first two conference victories against Lake Erie and Ursuline.
McDonald was right in the mix of things as a double-double threat, both offensively and defensively, to contribute to both home wins.
McDonald had 16 kills and 2 service aces against Lake Erie on Friday night and contributed 11 digs on the night as well.
McDonald also added two service aces in the match. She had an overall hitting percentage of 0.483 on the night against Lake Erie. On Saturday morning, McDonald contributed to the 3-2 Alderson Broaddus win with 15 kills, one service ace, and nine digs.
The junior is now ranked seventh in the conference in both kills and points per set to help lead the AB offensive attack.