2019 Volleyball All-Conference Team (PDF)
HILLSDALE, Mich. – The 2019 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball All-Conference Team was announced on Thursday night at the championship banquet with the final four teams left in the tournament bracket attending.
It was a memorable evening in the Dow Conference Center on Hillsdale’s campus, the host site for the conference tournament semifinals and championship for the third consecutive season.
As voted by the coaches, student-athletes on the first and second team as well as individual award winners were recognized in front of their peers.
A total of 24 student-athletes comprised this year’s all-conference team. Hillsdale led all teams with six total selections while Walsh had five names on the list.
The Chargers received their regular season conference championship trophy, representing an undefeated run in the Great Midwest standings at 12-0 under head coach Chris Gravel. The Chargers have been ranked No. 11 in the AVCA Poll for the previous three weeks and are slotted at No. 2 in the Midwest Region rankings for NCAA Championship qualification.
Gravel, who earned career win No. 500 in the conference tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday vs. Malone was named the Great Midwest Coach of the Year for the third straight season. The Chargers will put their 24-3 overall record on the line tomorrow in the semifinals.
One of Gravel’s five first team all-conference selections was Great Midwest Player of the Year Allyssa Van Wienen, a star middle blocker who has taken her game to the next level as a junior. Van Wienen has been a six-time conference offensive player of the week pick and has also received AVCA / Sports Imports National Player of the Week honors.
Van Wienen had full arms as she was recognized with three different forms of hardware, including the Midwest Region Volleyball Crossover All-Tournament Team plaque that was presented to her, Walsh’s Amber King and Kentucky Wesleyan’s Jaylen McEwen.
Van Wienen had many matches where her hitting percentage exceeded .500 and was a big reason the HC program paced the league in hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, kills and blocks. Individually, her hitting percentage of .442 is destined to be a new single-season conference record.
She is also tied for the league lead in blocks (1.01 per set) and is ranked third among players in points (4.19 per set).
Helping guide Trevecca Nazarene into the postseason was Great Midwest Freshman of the Year Ellie Buffler, a talented rookie outside hitter who made her mark among the league’s leaders. A local product from Nashville, Buffler helped the Trojans battle Walsh to a five-set finish in the conference tourney quarterfinals.
Buffler was sixth in the conference in points (3.91) while also ranking top 10 in service aces and kills (3.32 per set). Buffler was named to the second team and teammate Austyn Baldwin was named to the first team, giving a rising TNU program a strong foundation to keep building on.
The Great Midwest Championship semifinals start at 5 p.m. ET on Friday inside Hillsdale’s Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena. The top-seeded Chargers will take the floor first against No. 4 Kentucky Wesleyan, which defeated No. 5 Cedarville on Tuesday to advance.
The nightcap features No. 2 Tiffin taking on No. 3 Walsh at 7:30 p.m. ET. The winners from each respective matchup will play for the conference tournament trophy and the NCAA Championship AQ for the Midwest Regional.