Demons Defend Home Court: 4 Other Teams to Follow
Your defending Divison 1 State Champion started 2019 right where they left off. The Demons cruised through their tournament without dropping a set. Coaches Teri Little and Dan Lynch continue to produce talent year after year. Burlington graduated 5 seniors including…
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Continue ReadingYour defending Divison 1 State Champion started 2019 right where they left off. The Demons cruised through their tournament without dropping a set. Coaches Teri Little and Dan Lynch continue to produce talent year after year. Burlington graduated 5 seniors including 2 of their top 3 kill leaders. Yet the culture this staff has established keeps the next girls in line ready and waiting for their opportunities to shine. Emily Alan (IUPUI) was a force allowing Kaley Blake (UW-Milwaukee) to run the offense through the middle. The outside position was affected most by graduation. But two ds/liberos for their respective club teams stepped in to impress on the pin in Mackenzie Leach (Prep Dig #46 )and Amanda Viel (Prep Dig #45). Having those two play outside with Samantha Naber (Marquette) as libero produced a top tier serve receive line up in every rotation.
While Burlington walked away with the hardware, 4 other teams caught my eye. Verona, Whitefish Bay, Sussex Hamilton, and Mukwonago rounded out the top 5 of this event. The season has just begun but every match plays a pivotal part of a teams run at State.
Wildcats were ready to pounce
A year ago Verona was knocked out of the playoffs by Waunakee in the Sectional Semi-Finals. It is safe to say that these Wildcats are ready to make sure that doesn’t happen again. One of the things you’ll notice first about this varsity squad is not their play or talent, but rather their energy and cohesiveness. As I walked into the gym the girls were in the hall way dancing and singing preparing for the competition. Then on the court, bench players along with starters were leading cheers for every point they scored.
Rachel Karnosky, Jordan Armstrong, Maddy Kelley, Megan Touchett, Amelia HustSenior outside Megan Touchett (Prep Dig # 78) was among their kill leaders. Touchett was also one of the loudest on the bench when she wasn’t in. Sophomore Claudia Bobb (Prep Dig #69) made her presence known. She is not the tallest but she sure plays with the confidence of a girl 4 inches taller. Her defense was smooth, covering corner to corner while ensuring setter Jordan Armstrong (Penn) knew she was available to swing out of the back row. The back row was led by senior libero Amelia Hust (UW-Osh Kosh). The Wildcats will rely on the height and block of Maddy Kelley (Prep Dig #39) in the middle and sophomore Delaney McIntosh (Prep Dig #54). Delaney has transitioned from left to right and proved to be dynamic from both sides out of serve receive. The Wildcats are poised to make a run this season and are in a great position to potentially win the Crusader Challenge on Saturday to earn a spot in the 2020 Joust.
Small in size, Blue Dukes play with heart
When you walk into a gym there is always a quick eye test to make (way too quick) assumptions. Whitefish Bay is going to be a team in 2019 that has you second guessing your original thoughts. While they may not run away with the North Shore title with the likes of Cedarburg, Slinger, and West Bend West in front of them, they won’t be going down without a fight. Bay will be led by senior outside Kelly Morello (Prep Dig #78) who is the last of the talented Morello sisters to compete in the North Shore conference. Kelly will rely on family to ensure a successful senior season as Coach Kelly (Morello) Mulcahy is actually one of her older sisters. Kelly had a decorated high school career at Nicolet before playing at the College of Charleston.
Junior setter Lily Behrendt (Prep Dig #42) will look to continue running the Blue Duke offense after racking up 67 assists in 4 matches. Freshman outside Zoe Behrendt finished just 3 kills behind their senior leader. Zoe had some big time swings to win the Silver Championship. She will be one to keep an eye on for the next 4 years. Whitefish Bay is next up tomorrow at the Crusader Challenge with Wisconsin Lutheran and Racine St. Catherines in their pool.
Chargers are like a box of chocolates
A line from Forrest Gump seemed fitting to describe Sussex to start the year. So far “you never know what you’re gonna get” is pretty accurate. To clarify, I am talking about their line up. All Conference outside Sarah Schrader (UW-Milwaukee) is focused on healing her back and Riley Dahlquist (Prep Dig #15), who was in line to be a featured replacement, is also dealing with some back issues. On top of that, Katelyn Lefler (Illinois State) was used sparingly offensively due to shoulder tightness. Early season tournaments give coaches the best opportunity to play with line ups and see who is ready for varsity level volleyball. However, you never like to be forced to move bodies around to look out for the long term health of the roster.
Coach Buhr continued where she left off in Watertown and used a different lineup almost every set of this tournament. If you didn’t know the backstory of the injuries you’d be left scratching your head. Regardless of the lineup, wins keep coming in. You never wish the injury bug upon anyone, but these girls fight through the pain (literally) and keep having success. The Chargers finished 4th in Watertown and 3rd in Burlington. Their win over Verona to end the day was probably their most impressive. Lakyn Graves (Prep Dig #32), Jess Bagley (Prep Dig #144), and Kayla Lewinski (Prep Dig #31) will be asked to step up and shoulder the load offensively as they move forward. Sussex will wrap up an intense week of competition at the Joust today and tomorrow.
Opportunities to shine for Mukwonago
Coaches Alli Robins and Stephanie Hardwick find themselves having to replace their top offensive producer from a season ago. Erin Powers (UAB) and Nicole Pozorski (Upper Iowa) immediately stepped in and led the team in kills while both also had over 30 digs.
Erin PowersUnfortunately the Classic 8 conference is loaded with talent and Powers and Pozorski are not going to be able to make a run on their own. Junior libero Abby Gardner (Prep Dig #24) did a great job patrolling the backcourt allowing the offense to stay in system.
With Erin now as the top outside, the Indians need someone else to step up offensively. Marissa Reynolds might be that girl for this team. She got opportunities at both pins throughout the day. Her length is a major plus helping her hit with a heavy hand. Reynolds didn’t see much of the court a year ago behind Alayna Jansky who just started her collegiate career at Eastern Michigan. But if she can develop her off speed shots she will solidify herself as Powers’ running mate on the outside.
I expect coaches Robins and Hardwick to keep rotating their 4 middles until someone asserts themselves as a clear number one option. Sophomore Abby Savatski showed she knew how to use her length to her advantage. With Pozorski setting her this year and only being a sophomore, she has an opportunity to be the a featured swing for Mukwonago. Left right side and fellow sophomore Aoife Treacy (Prep Dig #43) will be another player to watch as the season progresses.
**Below you will find the full results from the event**
**Bold teams denote winners**
Pool A |
Pool B |
Hamilton vs. Whitefish Bay 25-21, 25-15 | Burlington vs. Kenosha Tremper 25-18, 25-14 |
Whitefish Bay vs. Fort Atkinson 25-18, 25-21 | Tremper vs. Greenfield 25-21, 14-25, 15-5 |
Hamilton vs. Fort Atkinson 25-9, 20-25, 15-5 | Burlington vs. Greenfield 25-14, 25-3 |
Pool C |
Pool D |
Verona vs. Racine Case 25-16, 25-17 | Mukwonago vs. Franklin 25-23, 25-14 |
Racine Case vs. Jefferson 20-25, 25-17, 15-12 | Franklin vs. Pius XI 25-18, 25-23 |
Verona vs. Jefferson 25-20, 25-21 | Mukwonago vs. Pius XI 25-19, 25-22 |
Bronze |
|
Semi-finals | Franklin vs. Fort Atkinson 25-21, 25-17 |
Tremper vs. Jefferson 25-20, 25-16 | |
3rd Place | Fort Atkinson vs. Tremper 25-19, 25-20 |
Bronze Finals | Franklin vs. Jefferson 25-17, 15-25, 15-12 |
Silver |
|
Semi-finals | Racine Case vs. Greenfield 22-25, 25-16, 17-15 |
Whitefish Bay vs. Pius XI 26-24, 26-24 | |
3rd Place | Pius XI vs. Greenfield 26-24, 25-14 |
Silver Finals | Case vs. Whitefish Bay 25-11, 22-25, 15-8 |
Gold |
|
Semi-finals | Burlington vs. Verona 25-23, 25-23 |
Hamilton vs. Mukwonago 25-22, 25-23 | |
3rd Place | Hamilton vs. Verona 25-13, 25-12 |
Gold Finals | Burlington vs. Mukwonago 25-9, 25-23 |