Sept. 23, 2009 - No member of the 2009 Hillsdale College volleyball team has ever played a match in the Upper Peninsula. That will change starting Friday.

For the first time since the 2005 season, the Chargers will travel to Michigan's U.P. for a pair of GLIAC matches, taking on Michigan Tech at 7 p.m. Friday and Northern Michigan at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Thanks to a change in the year-to-year scheduling cycle in the conference, the Chargers had hosted Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan three years in a row. The last time Hillsdale crossed the Mackinaw Bridge, current seniors Emily Bennett and Hannah Barrett were still in high school.

On the other side of that coin, Hillsdale will host Ferris State and Grand Valley State for the first time since 2005 on Oct. 2-3.

The Chargers are on a roll, having won eight in a row on their way to a 12-1 overall record this season. Hillsdale is the only team in the GLIAC with a perfect conference record so far, having gone 5-0 against its rivals from the South Division. Thanks to this red-hot start, Hillsdale is now in the AVCA Division II Top 25 rankings, checking in at No. 25 in the latest poll.

This weekend's matches represent the first for the Chargers this season against teams from the North Division. Hillsdale will play all six North Division teams over the next three weekends, with a second trip to the U.P. (at Lake Superior State Oct. 10) on the schedule.

As well as the entire team has been playing lately, no player in the country had a better week last week than sophomore Ashlee Crowder. She led the team with 56 kills in its three 3-0 wins over Findlay, Wayne State and Northwood last week, and for her efforts, was named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division II National Player of the Week. It was the first time a Hillsdale College volleyball player had ever won that award.

Crowder leads the GLIAC and is ranked fifth nationally in kills per set, with a mark of 4.57 through 13 matches this season. She's second on the team with 113 digs and has a team-high 15 service aces this season.

But she's been far from alone in contributing to the program's second-best 13-match start in its history. Sophomore setter Apryl Schmucker is in her first year as a starter at that position, and has immediately taken control of the Hillsdale offense. She's also a strong hitter and one of the team's deadliest servers. She is averaging 10 assists per set this season.

Sophomore Clara Leutheuser, who was named the GLIAC South Division Player of the Week two weeks ago, leads the conference in hitting percentage by a wide margin (.366) for the season. Her 40 total blocks also lead the Chargers.

Junior libero Sydney Dow was named to the All-Tournament Team at the University of Findlay tournament earlier this month, and has given the team flawless play in the back row, from her outstanding court coverage, to her passing, which is essential for the Charger offense to operate as efficiently as it has. She's been a source of stability for the team on and off the court, and her leadership has been evident during the team's current winning streak.

Seniors Emily Bennett and Hannah Barrett, along with freshman Lauren Grover, have beefed up the team's play in the middle. Together, they helped outblock the GLIAC's top blocking team - Wayne State - in a 3-0 win over the Warriors on Sept. 18.

Hillsdale's first opponent, Michigan Tech, has enjoyed some early-season success under first-year coach Orlando Gonzalez. The Huskies defeated defending conference champion Grand Valley State 3-2 last weekend, and completed a surprising 3-0 sweep on the road against the conference runner-up from 2008, Saginaw Valley State. MTU is 5-8 overall and 3-2 in the GLIAC entering play this weekend.

Northern Michigan is always a challenging opponent on its home court, and the Wildcats this year feature the GLIAC's most potent serving attack.

NMU (6-7 overall, 2-3 GLIAC) leads the conference in service aces per set, at 2.12. Three of the top six players in service aces plat at NMU, led by senior Katt Garvick, regarded as one of the best offensive players in the conference.

The Chargers hold a two-game lead on every other team in the conference heading into play this weekend. Hillsdale won back-to-back GLIAC South Division titles in 2006 and 2007 before falling to third place in the South in 2008.