The 2006 women’s volleyball team and four Charger alumni are among the new class of inductees to the Hillsdale College Athletic Hall of Fame.
Sprinter Ian Redpath ’72, sprinter DeShawn Meadows ’95, football coach Steve Rentschler ’78, and football player Al Huge ’88 will be joining the hall of fame, according to an athletic department press release. Hillsdale will honor the new class in October.
The 2006 women’s volleyball team head coach, Chris Gravel, still coaches today.
Gravel was the first coach to lead an undefeated team to a regular season conference title and a NCAA Tournament, said Director of Athletic Communications James Gensterblum.
“The 2006 team is a history-making team in many ways, as the first team to win a conference title, host an NCAA DII Regional, and record an NCAA Tournament victory in the history of the volleyball program,” Gensterblum said. “They are still the only team in program history to go undefeated in the regular season, finishing a perfect 27-0.”
Megan Molenkamp, the current assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the women’s volleyball team, also played for the hall of fame team and gave credit to the amazing coaching staff for their success.
“Everyone who I have met since graduating from Hillsdale knows that I believe that I played for the best coaches on earth,” Molenkamp said.
While members of the 2006 team won individual accolades, including Taryn Rudland, who won conference player of the year, the team focused on cohesive play, Molenkamp said.
“Our team walked into every match completely confident and completely dependent upon each other,” Molenkamp said. “There were teammates who received individual awards in 2006, and they were well-deserved, but we all followed coach’s instruction that the most success can be found in playing for the best for one’s team.”
Nominations for induction into the hall of fame go before the selection committee once per year, according to Gensterblum.
“The 2006 team was a relatively recent nomination and I think it was expected they would get in quickly based on the historic nature of their accomplishments as a team, and that played out over the course of the committee meeting earlier this month,” Gensterblum said.
The overwhelming success of the team and players in 2006 made it an easy decision for the selection committee, Gensterblum said.
“All these first-time accomplishments helped elevate the volleyball program at Hillsdale to a place it had never been before and set the stage for further success to come in the last decade and a half,” Gensterblum said. “For all these reasons, the committee felt the team was a worthy inductee.”
The hall of fame will celebrate its Silver Anniversary Oct. 11 as it inducts the 25th class.
“We ran hard, we played hard, and we loved every minute of it,” Molenkamp said.
