INDIANAPOLIS – En route to its fourth consecutive national tournament appearance, No. 16 nationally ranked Hillsdale concluded Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Players of the Week with both selections.
The Chargers found out they would be the No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 seed Grand Valley State going into the NCAA Championship Midwest Regional on Monday night’s Selection Show. HC is 27-4 overall after claiming its fifth consecutive tournament title in the conference on Saturday over Ashland in four sets.
Offensive Player of the Week
Allyssa Van Wienen
Hillsdale
Middle Blocker
Senior
Grand Rapids, MI (Grand Rapids Christian HS)
In any other two-match stretch, the roles could just as easily be switched for Van Wienen and Shelton, the foundation of a volleyball dynasty while both being former conference players of the year.
Van Wienen got the nod for offensive honors as Hillsdale beat Trevecca Nazarene in the semifinal round and toppled Ashland in the championship bout. She had 26 kills on 51 swings during both matches.
The senior middle hit a combined .412 while averaging 3.79 kills per set and nearly a block per set (0.85). Van Wienen was the league leader in blocks per set to end the regular season and carries a 1.07 per set average into nationals. She was fifth in hitting percentage and top 10 in both points and kills among all players.
Van Wienen is a consensus Division II AVCA All-American and former conference female athlete of the year. She was recently named first team all-conference by the coaches for the fifth consecutive season, a remarkable accomplishment regardless of sport.
Van Wienen has also been a member of all five conference championship winning programs for the Chargers since her career launched in 2017.
Defensive Player of the Week
Karoline Shelton
Hillsdale
Outside Hitter
Junior
Shawnee, KS (Shawnee Mission South HS)
Shelton’s positional versatility and unique skill set can translate to being the high person for both kills or digs and the all-conference standout was the latter during HC’s postseason conference tourney run last week.
Shelton produced a total of 40 digs in both matches for an average of 5.71 per set. She contributed more than her fair share offensively as well with 4.14 kills per set.
Shelton goes into the NCAA Championship as the league’s top non-libero/defensive specialist with 4.46 digs per set.
She also is ranked fifth in kills per set and sixth in points per set, respectively, while gathering first team all-conference honors once again this fall.