G-MAC Championship Website | 2017 Tournament Bracket

The Malone University volleyball team will make its second straight appearance in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship Tournament this Thursday, November 16th, in a quarterfinal matchup against the University of Findlay. The two teams will open the eight-team tournament, which will be held at Hillsdale College, at 12:00 pm.
 
The Pioneers earned the #3 seed in the G-MAC East Division with an 18-12 overall record and a 12-6 mark in conference. They will meet an Oilers squad that went 25-5 overall and earned the #2 seed in the West Division with a 15-2 mark in conference. The winner of Thursday's match will meet the winner of Kentucky Wesleyan and Lake Erie on Friday, November 17th at 5:00 pm. The G-MAC Championship match will be played on Saturday, November 18th at 4:00 pm. A full bracket can be found by clicking the link at the top of the page.
 
What's at Stake?
The winner of the G-MAC Championship will receive an automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA Division II Tournament as one of eight teams in the Midwest Region. Cedarville University, the 2016 G-MAC Champions, advanced to the round of 32 with a win over Findlay last season.
 
Match Information
11/16 Malone vs. Findlay – 12:00 pm at Hillsdale
All seven tournament matches will be streamed via the Great Midwest Digital Network at portal.stretchinternet.com/greatmidwest
 
Malone vs. Findlay History
Since joining NCAA Division II in 2012, the Pioneers are 1-6 against the Oilers, with the lone win coming during that 2012 season. In their most recent meeting less than a month ago, Malone lost to Findlay in four sets (27-29, 28-26, 17-25, 23-25). Malone collected 12 blocks in the match and managed out-hit the Oilers .183 to .179, but could not overcome a 68-48 disadvantage in kills.
 
Tournament History
Thursday's meeting won't be the first time the two teams have met in the postseason. Findlay swept Malone in the opening round of the 2014 GLIAC Championship, the Pioneers' only-ever appearance in the Tournament. Malone returned to the postseason last fall in its first season in the G-MAC and defeated Kentucky Wesleyan in the opening round before falling to Cedarville in the semifinal. The Pioneers last Tournament Championship came in 2010 when they were named the victors of the American Mideast Conference.

Malone Notes 

• The Pioneers' 18 wins this fall are tied for the most in a regular season since 2012. The Pioneers' loss to Lake Erie last Saturday stopped a four-game winning streak.
• Malone's balanced offensive attack features three hitters, Veronica Gehring, Mallory Adams, and Faith Lau, hovering around 2.5 kills per set. Hannah Eliason, who averages 1.83 kills per set, leads the team with a .238 attacking percentage.
• On the season, Gehring is averaging 2.65 kills a set while hitting .206. She has reached double-digit kills in 15 of Malone's 30 matches this season and is just six shy of 300 this season.
• Adams, who averages 2.59 kills a set, is just two kills shy of reaching 300 for the second time in her career. Adams ranks 2nd in the G-MAC with 116 blocks (1.01 b/s). She also leads the team with 32 service aces and is 2nd with 267 digs (2.32/s).
• Faith Lau (2.46 k/s) has 16 matches with at least nine kills and 11 matches with at least eight digs. Over the past six matches, she is averaging 3.14 digs per set.
• Over the same six matches, Hannah Eliason is hitting a team-best .337 and is tied with Adams for the team-high with 19 blocks. She had a career-high 12 kills against Findlay last month.
• The Pioneers have three setters capable of running the offensive attack. Cathryn Miller leads the team with 632 assists (6.72 a/s) this season. Freshmen Elizabeth Selleny (4.31 a/s) and Abbie Swaino (3.96 a/s) have come on strong as of late and have each reached double-digit assists in five of their last six matches.
• Freshmen hitters Rachel Santos, who had nine kills on a season-high .471 attacking percentage in a win over Ursuline last Friday, and Brooklyn Sullivan, who is second on the team with 71 blocks (0.73/s), have provided depth for the Pioneers on both sides of the net.
• Libero Maggie Hamrock, one of two Pioneers to play all 115 sets this season, leads a Malone defense that ranks 4th in the G-MAC in both opponents' hitting percentage (.169) and digs per set (16.22). Hamrock has reached double-digit digs in 26 matches and ranks 9th in the G-MAC with 3.78 per set.
• Defensive specialist Sydney Black has played in 113 sets this season and is averaging 2.01 digs a set. Black is second on the team with 30 service aces.
• Malone enters this week 8-8 in road and neutral site matches.
   

Findlay Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Oilers earned a share of the G-MAC West Division title, but dropped to the #2 seed after losing tiebreakers to #1 Hillsdale. Findlay had won nine consecutive matches prior to being swept by Hillsdale last Saturday.
• Outside hitter Amanda Winner was the only Oiler to reach double-digit kills against Hillsdale, finishing with 10. Winner had a season-high 27 kills against Malone in October. She leads the G-MAC with 3.98 kills per set.
• Setter Hailee Olson, a two-time All-American, leads the conference in assists (11.09/s) and aces (0.43/s). She had a season-high 57 assists against Malone last month.
• Libero Kara Scherger finished with 30 digs, the second-most of the season, vs. the Pioneers. She ranks second in the G-MAC with 5.02 digs per set.
• As a team, Findlay ranks second in the G-MAC in hitting percentage (.255), opponents' hitting percentage (.156), and aces (1.85/s). The Oilers are third in kills (13.19/s) and assists (12.57/s).
• Findlay enters the weekend ranked 7th in the Midwest.
• The Oilers are 6-2 in neutral site games this year, including a 4-0 mark at Hillsdale on the opening week of the season