Oilers to Face Hillsdale in Semis
The University of Findlay Oilers volleyball team will be back in action in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) tournament as they will take on Hillsdale College on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 5:30pm and, with a win, would play on Sunday, Nov. 22 at 3:00pm against the winner of Ferris State and Grand Valley State. All matches will be played in Big Rapids, Mich.
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Findlay (Stats)
The Oilers are 24-7 on the year and finished the year with a 15-3 mark in GLIAC contests.
In round one of the tournament, the Oilers defeated the Northern Michigan Wildcats by a 3-1 final.
Junior Hannah Tong, who was recently named GLIAC Player of the Week for the fifth time in her career, is leading the Oilers attack as she has collected 449 kills at 3.97 kills per set, both marks are second best in the GLIAC. In last week's match against Ashland, Tong became just the ninth player in Findlay history to record 1,000 kills in a career. She now sits at 1,023.
Senior Julie Lyons has contributed 241 kills while hitting a GLIAC leading .408. That percentage is good for ninth best in the country. She has also recorded 86 blocks. Her 234 career block assists are good for eighth all-time at UF.
Freshman Amanda Winner has racked up 369 kills, including 73 in her last four matches, and 184 digs while sophomore Nickyla Garverick has produced 278 kills with a hitting percentage of .390 (second in the GLIAC) and a team-high 92 blocks. Senior Andrea Roach has 167 kills while hitting .332.
Freshman Hailee Olson leads the GLIAC, by more than 200, with 1,370 assists and 12.02 assists per set. She also has 141 digs, 51 kills and 45 blocks. Her assists per set are good for fifth best in the country while her total assists place her in third. She now sits in seventh at UF for assists in a season behind Kelly Byrnes' 2005 season where she totaled 1,420 assists. Olson also has 36 service aces.
Senior Becca Shoemaker has led the defense with 429 digs. She has 1,356 career digs good for second all-time at UF. Shoemaker has played in 457 sets in her career, good for eighth all-time.
Freshman Kara Scherger and sophomore Madelyn McCabe have 241 and 173 digs, respectively. McCabe leads the team with 38 service aces.
The Oilers, as a team, lead the GLIAC in kills (1,609), kills per set (14.11), hitting percentage (.286), assists (1,518), assists per set (13.32), service aces (193), service aces per set (1.68), points (2,006), and points per set (17.6). Their hitting percentage is good for sixth best in the country.
Ferris State (Stats)
Champions of the GLIAC North, the Bulldogs enter the semiarter-finals with a record of 29-2 overall paired with a 17-1 record in GLIAC play. They are currently ranked third in the country in Division II.
The Bulldogs offense is led by senior Megan Vander Meer who has 333 kills this season at 3.11 kills per set. She is hitting .284 this season, has 332 digs, and has totaled 45 blocks. Senior Alexis Huntey is second on the team with 300 kills while senior Caroline Heitzman has 272. Heitzman is hitting .300 on the year, which leads her team.
Hillsdale (Stats)
The Chargers enter the tournament semifinal round with a 23-6 record overall accompanied by a 14-4 record in conference action. They currently have a winning streak of eight matches.
Hillsdale's offense is led by the play of senior Emily Wolfert who has amassed 283 kills this season while hitting .336, the fourth best mark in the GLIAC. She also has 119 blocks, good for number four in the conference, and has picked up 24 service aces, third best on her team.
There are four other Chargers' players with at least 200 kills and they are freshman Paige Vanderwall (247), freshman Kara Vyletel (239), junior Erin Holsinger (225), and senior Haylee Booms (208). Holsinger is the team and conference leader with 136 blocks.
Hillsdale and Findlay met twice in the regular season and split those meetings, each team winning on their home court.
Grand Valley State (Stats)
GVSU moves into the final four after a season where they posted a 20-10 record with a conference record of 13-5. One of those losses came on Oct. 24 when Findlay traveled to Allendale and won a tight match, 3-2.
The Lakers are led by freshman Staci Brower who has smashed 304 kills so far this season to go along with a 122 blocks. Her blocks and blocks per set (1.10) are good for second in the GLIAC.
Setter Katie Olson has collected 664 assists this year, which is the tenth best in the conference while her teammate, freshman Taylor Stewart has been splitting time and holds the 12th spot with her 571 assists.
Senior Taylor Showman leads the Lakers with 34 service aces and also hold the squad's top spot in digs having collected 520 heading into the semifinal round.