Over the weekend Sophomore Alli Wiese reached a career milestone in digs as the Hillsdale Volleyball team secured 3 wins in their season opener. 

The Chargers competed at the Rockhurst Invitational in Kansas City, Missouri splitting two matches on Friday, Aug. 26 before finishing with a pair of wins on Saturday, Aug. 27.

Wiese put her name in the record books alongside 11 other Chargers, becoming the 12th player in program history to surpass 1,000 digs with just under three years of eligibility remaining. 

“Alli is consistently one of the hardest workers in the gym and this milestone really just came as a result of that,” head coach Chris Gravel said. “Her dedication to her team and to this sport are showcased day in and day out and this team is very lucky to have a leader like her. Not only does she consistently come through for the team in her performance, she also provides energy and encouragement to the people around her, causing them to inadvertently get better as she does the same.”

Due to her impressive performance, Wiese was named G-MAC North Division Defensive Player of the Week while another Charger, senior Karoline Shelton, received the award for G-MAC North Division Offensive Player of the Week. Shelton finished the weekend with 56 kills.

Entering the season with a new roster, Gravel worked with several different lineups during the two days of competition. 

“We played a lot of different lineups and we thought the players did well with focusing on their primary responsibilities no matter which position they were playing,” Gravel said.

Sophomore Maizie Brown echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the buy-in and work ethic that has helped the team take difficult situations and find success in the middle of them.

“Although there were players who started that don’t usually start, and players playing positions they weren’t the most comfortable in, everyone bought in and tried their best,” Brown said. “It wasn’t perfect, but it’ll come with time, and as a team we know that.”

According to Gravel, adding variety to the lineup will build a team with an exceptional ability to keep opponents guessing.

“Something we will continue to work on is becoming less predictable; mixing up our offense more and giving it a new look each set,” Gravel said. “That will help keep the other teams on their toes and hopefully allow us to score some points against their defenses.”

After several successful seasons, including last year’s trip to the Elite Eight, the Chargers expected opponents to present their best competition at the invite.

“We knew going into the tournament that we had a target on our backs and that teams were going to play their best against us and that’s what we saw,” Gravel said. “We were able to grind out three wins against some tough opponents, but one match got away from us.”

That one match was against tournament hosts, the Rockhurst Hawks. During the match the Chargers were able to stave off a sweep by recuperating from a 2-0 set deficit, but ultimately lost in the final set giving Rockhurst the 3-1 victory. 

“Our battle against Rockhurst was tough, and we are still working out some kinks,” senior Audrey Riley said. “Although winning three out of four sounds great, we have such a desire as a team to be the best of the best, so we are working even harder this week at practice in order to improve our play.”

Saturday’s match against the Missouri Western State Griffons also tested the team’s grit. Dropping the first two sets against the Griffons, the Chargers were forced into a tough spot but ultimately clinched a hard fought third set 28-26. The team proceeded to win the next two sets 25-13 and 15-8 to win the match 3-2.  

“I thought the team did well working together this weekend,” Gravel said. “There was a lot of communication between players on the court and on the bench, which is really encouraging to see as a coach.”

The Chargers now prepare to face a slate of opponents at home during the 2022 Charger Invitational in matches on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

“Obviously we still have some kinks to work out,” Gravel said, “but with a tough slate of opponents this weekend we will have another opportunity to put the work they did during preseason to the test.”