BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – All first-round contests in the field of 64 for the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship take place on a busy Thursday including the Midwest Regional for Great Midwest Athletic Conference representative Hillsdale.
The Chargers are the No. 3 seed in one of the toughest brackets as they face No. 6 seed Grand Valley State from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) on the campus of Ferris State for a 2:30 p.m. ET matchup.
The winner would advance to face either No. 2 seed Michigan Tech or No. 7 seed Wayne State on Friday at 5 p.m. ET from Jim Wink Arena.
Hillsdale is looking to replicate its success from 2019 and take that a step further after reaching the Midwest Region title game against Rockhurst. Chargers’ head coach Chris Gravel will still focus on one match at a time with the understanding of his program certainly being national championship caliber with a loaded roster.
Hillsdale has won seven straight going into regional play and in the Week 12 AVCA Poll, moved up to spots to No. 16 nationally. All-region standouts MB Allyssa Van Wienen, OH Karoline Shelton and S Lindsey Mertz, are in the hunt for All-American honors from several organizations while statistically ranking among the best at their positions.
The Chargers (27-4 overall) wrapped up their fifth consecutive conference tournament title on their home court, making it a perfect 5-for-5 since entering the Great Midwest and running the tables in the regular season and postseason.
Coming off the Thanksgiving layover can be tough and nearly two weeks have elapsed since Hillsdale defeated Ashland in the conference tournament final. It has been even longer for Grand Valley State (17-9 overall) in a game situation when the Lakers were ousted from their conference tournament in the first round against Davenport.
The Chargers last faced the Lakers in 2016, their last series as GLIAC members. Hillsdale won that matchup in four sets as former two-time conference player of the year Paige VanderWall led the way with 16 kills.