Championship Bracket
INDIANAPOLIS – In a battle between a pair of regionally ranked programs and respective divisional winners, it was Hillsdale coming out on top in Saturday’s final matchup in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship, 3-1.
The Chargers defeated Ashland in Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena for their fifth consecutive conference tournament title since 2017. It has been nothing short of spectacular for what can be categorized as a dynasty in the sport for Hillsdale.
The Chargers went undefeated in the regular season standings regardless of division opponent and remain ranked third in the Midwest Region and top 20 in the AVCA Coaches Poll. Ashland also cracked the Midwest Region rankings at No. 10 last week and will await the possibility of an at-large selection into the NCAA tournament field.
Ashland was coming off a semifinal victory on Friday night against Ohio Dominican to earn the right to compete for a championship. Hillsdale had taken down Trevecca Nazarene in straight sets to advance to Saturday.
Both Hillsdale and Ashland received first-round byes in the six-team tournament bracket.
The only sports in conference history with five consecutive conference championship wins had been Cedarville in both men’s and women’s cross country and Trevecca Nazarene in both men’s and women’s golf.
Hillsdale joined that company and earned the Great Midwest’s automatic qualifying bid into the NCAA Championship Midwest Regional. The Chargers will find out their opponent on Monday night following the NCAA Selection Show airing at 7:30 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.
The Eagles didn’t make it easy on the Chargers and were able to take the third set by a 25-21 score. The court featured a bevy of all-conference performers for both sides as the stars came out to shine.
AU’s Great Midwest Player of the Year Erin Krupar matched another fellow former conference player of the year Karoline Shelton with 19 kills to lead their teams. After drilling 16 kills in the semis vs. ODU, Heidi Fausze came through with 11 more. Setter Zoey Peck ran off 36 assists to lead the offense and finished with a double-double following 14 digs.
HC first team all-conference setter Lindsey Mertz had 53 assists and Shelton had a monster two-way effort with 28 digs defensively. Standout middle Allyssa Van Wienen posted 14 kills and a pair of blocks.
Hillsdale had an attacking percentage of .209 vs. Ashland’s .129. The Chargers extended their current win streak to seven straight and upped their season record to 27-4. Ashland ended the conference tournament with a record of 18-13 overall while making the championship final in its first attempt as a Great Midwest member.