She received 1,000 jelly beans for 1,000 kills. This is how senior Marilyn Popplewell found out she became the 13th member of the team all-time to record 1,000 kills for Hillsdale College volleyball. 

“After the match, my grandma gave me 1,000 jelly beans that she had counted out, which was really cute,” Popplewell said. “Just my family cheering me on — that’s how I found out.”

At Hillsdale’s volleyball game at Ohio Dominican University Sep. 20, Popplewell’s family was among the audience watching her score her 1,000th kill, waving around cutouts of her face.

“I knew it was going to be this year, so I didn’t have a big reaction,” head coach Chris Gravel said. “Because, you know, after she got 1,000, I wanted 1,001.”

Popplewell is an outside hitter for the volleyball team, but she was a middle hitter in high school. Gravel said she was a junior playing in a spring club tournament when he recruited her for the team.

“I had her play middle for about a week and moved her to the outside, and that’s where she’s been ever since,” Gravel said. 

Popplewell, who is from Mason, Ohio, said she tried out for her middle school volleyball team after attending a volleyball camp in the summer. She said she had grown up playing basketball and softball.

 

“Volleyball was a little bit different for me,” Popplewell said. “There were a lot of skills that I had to work a little bit harder to learn in volleyball, so that kept my attention with it as I was going along — just another way to compete.”

Popplewell said she retains that competitive energy on the Hillsdale court, but there is another level to her love of the game.

“Now for me, it’s also just being a part of that team and being a good leader for everybody on the team,” she said. “I enjoy that a lot and just putting in all of the effort and work that I see all my teammates putting in.”

Popplewell described her first kill for Hillsdale, which occurred against Ferris State University during a preseason tournament in 2021. 

“I was just a little freshman, but I was lucky enough to get to go in and play a little bit, and I don’t think I really even thought about getting a kill,” Popplewell said. “I went in and I hit the ball as hard as I could, because I knew that was my job, and got a kill.”

After four years of volleyball at Hillsdale, Popplewell said she has a bigger toolbox to work with and more options with the shots she can hit, but some things have not changed.

“I still get just as excited about every kill, and I still work just as hard for every one,” Popplewell said. “I could use some of that rookie mentality of ‘I’m gonna go in and hit the ball hard and trust my teammates, and everything else will take care of itself.’”

Despite bringing their A-game on the court, Popplewell said everyone on the team struggles with days of exhaustion where they still have to practice hard for two to three hours. 

“We talk about feeding the ‘good wolf’ in your brain,” Popplewell said. “It can be a challenge to get over mentally. But what I tell myself is that there’s 20 other girls on the team doing the exact same thing, and that I have to show up for them.”

Gravel said Popplewell is someone who leads by example. 

“You can tell that she really wants the ball, especially after an error, she wants it,” Gravel said. “She wants to make it right.”

Senior Lauren Passaglia said Popplewell’s drive and passion for the game are contagious.

“She makes everyone around her want to be the best versions of themselves,” Passaglia said in an email. “She also knows when to let loose and have fun and is the first person I look to when I need a laugh.”

According to Passaglia, Popplewell is often the strongest hitter in the gym, and her defense is especially strong this year. 

“I admire her attitude on the court. She pursues every ball, whether it’s a few feet in front of her or in the back corner of the gym, with 110% effort,” Passaglia said.

Popplewell said a lot of her inspiration comes from the hard work of her teammates, along with her family.

“My grandpa coached me when I was in seventh grade for basketball, and his go-to saying was always just ‘work harder,’” Popplewell said. “Whatever it might be, just always having that mindset of there’s more work to do, and being willing to do the extra work that is needed.”

Along with difficult opposing teams, Popplewell said she has had to face the challenge of growing expectations as her skills improved.

“When I first came in, there really wasn’t a lot expected of me, because no one really knew what I was capable of, or who I was, or anything like that,” Popplewell said. “But as I’ve gotten older and started having really good performances, I felt like it was expected of me every time to have a great game or play my best game ever every time I stepped on the court.”

Popplewell said she works to overcome this mindset by treating each game as a new day and a clean slate. 

“I know my teammates and coaches and everyone else expect a lot of me, but it’s a new game, and it’s a new opportunity for me to just go out there and show everyone all the hard work that we’re doing as a team,” Popplewell said.

Popplewell has earned first-team All-GMAC honors for her sophomore and junior seasons, and last year was twice named G-MAC North Division Offensive Player of the Week. She has also received multiple Academic All-District honors.

Popplewell said her dream is to play volleyball in Spain for a year or two after graduation. According to Gravel, being a volleyball coach is also something that could be in her future.

“She really can do anything. She’s a great student here at Hillsdale, and a great player,” Gravel said. “She’s good at all of it, so it’s just going to be a matter of picking her biggest love.”

To the volleyball players that are new to the sport, Popplewell advises looking at every failure or mistake as an opportunity to learn. 

“Enjoy playing the sport,” Popplewell said. “Yeah, we make it really serious, and it’s our lives during the time that we’re here, but it’s just a game, and games are meant to be fun — find joy in that competition and love the people that you play with the best that you can.”

Popplewell said to get past bad days, she reminds herself why she loves playing for Hillsdale.

“I just think about what a privilege and honor it is to be a part of our team, and how grateful I am to be a part of it, and then I don’t need motivation anymore because I have everything I need.”