Future Teammates, Rivals, Unsigned, and Favorites in 18s Iowa Regionals
This weekend at the Iowa Regionals, the time is running out for some of the clubs in the 18s division to wrap up a bid to the national tournament. With a National and American bid still out there, it’s all…
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Continue ReadingThis weekend at the Iowa Regionals, the time is running out for some of the clubs in the 18s division to wrap up a bid to the national tournament. With a National and American bid still out there, it’s all up for grabs with a balanced field with many players who will be playing at the next level. Here are some storylines to take a look at for this upcoming weekend.
Flight Takes Top Seed
Flight 18U out of the Janesville/Cedar Valley area has the top seed heading into the weekend. Janesville is definitely a household name in Iowa High School Volleyball with multiple state titles and has handful of players from that program including libero, Lily Liekweg who is heading to Wichita State and setter, Alisa Bengen who will be playing next year at Southwest Minnesota State, part of the top Division 2 conference in the nation in the Northern Sun Conference. Another NSIC recruit from this squad is Madison Larson from Independence who will be heading to Winona State as well as Mikenna Joerger, a 6’2 middle blocker from Wapsie Valley. Amber Rickert, who has spent plenty of time on the courts at the US Cellular Center as a member of Dike-New Hartford has committed to play at Central.
Future Cyclones and Hawkeyes
Kate Shannon of Waterloo Columbus/Six Pack and Kenzie Mantz of Belle Plaine/Eastern Iowa Xtreme will soon be on the same side of the net when they will play at Iowa State, as well as plenty of these players who may be joining the same teams for their collegiate careers. Shannon is a spark of a libero who is incredibly athletic with a lot of range and just a fire she brings to the court. Mantz does the same, but in the front row as a dynamic middle blocker who can get from pin to pin on the block and can do some pretty versatile routes to score points. Grace Tubbs of Clinton/Adrenaline and Jaedynn Evans of Regina/EIX will also compete against other this weekend, but will wearing black and gold this fall for Iowa.
Look at this save by future @CycloneVB @kateshannon_ for @6packvbc pic.twitter.com/ozZuA0xs2U
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) March 1, 2019
Still Uncommitted, High Quality Athletes Available
There are still some athletes who are in the Class of 2019 that are still available. At this stage of the game of someone’s Senior year I’m sure there are conversations going on with programs and there are still college programs that have spots available for student athletes who can make a positive impact. Here are just a few:
Sydney Hearn – Adrenaline – Libero (Title Photo)
Haley Dash – Iowa Select – Libero
Grace Renaud – Six Pack – Middle Blocker
Have a commit to report? Email chris@prepdig or tag @PrepDigIA on social media!
Future NSIC Teammates
As previously mentioned Madison Larson of Independence and Mikenna Joerger of Wapsie Valley will be heading to Winona State. Another Iowa, Kami Knutsen of Davenport Central/Iowa Rockets will be joining them at Winona State. Carlee Dove of Dike-New Hartford, Jaima Tonne of Jesup/Six Pack, and Kylie Willis of Grundy Center will be heading to Upper Iowa. Flight/Janesville setter, Bingen, will be heading North as well to SMSU in Marshall, MN.
Who Is The Favorite?
I’m really excited to see Flight play after seeing Eastern Iowa Xtreme and Six Pack play a couple weeks ago at the Mizuno Showcase in the Dells. However, I’ve seen Adrenaline play in Omaha early in the season and I’m excited to see the progress they have made with a lot of dynamic athletes on their team which include future Drake setter Maddy Baxter, Utah commit Sommer Daniel, and South Dakota State commit Akeela Jefferson on the pin. CIA will also be a very competitive team with the likes of Bree Thompson, a Lipscomb commit and Morgan Weber who is heading to Wichita State. Six Pack already has a bid, pick up theirs over MLK weekend in Kansas City. However, with the ball control of first two contacts from the Janesville athletes in Liekweg and Bengen, it may be too much if they can stay in system for open swings to Larson and Joerger.