Showcase Observations: Class A Parity and Youthful Impact
What a great event. With several teams on hand with legitimate postseason projections, this tournament offered volleyball fans a great opportunity to see how some of their favorites stack up against other teams from the same classification. That element, that…
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Continue ReadingWhat a great event. With several teams on hand with legitimate postseason projections, this tournament offered volleyball fans a great opportunity to see how some of their favorites stack up against other teams from the same classification. That element, that teams compete against others at the same level, is critical in the evaluation and measurement of any given team as the season approaches its midpoint. Here are some observations and insights from the weekend’s Showcase in class A, which includes great emphasis upon the rise of key undersclassman at this level. Additionally, parity is alive and well in class A. With the two top-ranked teams in class A falling to the silver bracket early on, this left the door open for some other teams to power through to the finals. There were several key efforts and results that will serve to shake up the projections in class A over the next few weeks.
Mayer Lutheran
It was the #3 ranked Mayer Lutheran Crusaders that earned the tournament title in this division, defeating #5 ranked Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 2-1. As usual, the Crusaders are asserting themselves as a big contender in 2019 and have great veteran leadership that was on full display both offensively and defensively. As the hype around the Crusaders’ attack is focused primarily upon the big middle presence they have in Olivia Tjernagel Olivia Tjernagel 6'2" | OH Mayer Lutheran | 2020 State MN and Claudia Stahlke Claudia Stahlke 6'2" | OH Mayer Lutheran | 2020 State MN , the balance in their offense comes at the pins in sophomore Lily Wachholz (2022 | RS/OH) and senior outside Reagan Sauter (2020 | OH). Wachholz is solidifying herself as one of the premiere pin attackers in the 2022 class. She has great size and length at 6’2 and can terminate in a number of ways with the combination of a high contact point and really good power and range. Sauter is an effective outside with good range in her shot selection as well, which included multiple deft kills down the line. Her emergence as a great role player for this team is elevating their level of play on both sides of the ball. The threat that Wachholz and Sauter provide in the Crusaders’ offense reduces pressure upon their middle tandem and increases the attacking reliability and productivity across more arms. With a great match up this week on the road against a very good class AAA Hutchinson team, Mayer Lutheran has another chance to prove to themselves and others that the class A crown is well within reach.
West Central Area Teams
As both BOLD and MACCRAY were highlighted after play on day 1, both finished the event earning a lot of respect for their gritty play and competitiveness. As both teams are currently unranked in class A, they are deserving of recognition for coming into this environment and just flat out getting after it. BOLD wrapped up their Showcase effort with a fourth place finish, dropping a tough three-set match to a good Carlton team, which is currently ranked #8 in class A. MACCRAY finished in 7th place overall, concluding their play with a convincing two-set win over #4 ranked Medford. The steady contributions of the youngsters for both BOLD and MACCRAY are paying dividends mid-season and will be important factors going forward towards sectional playoffs. Keep an eye on Leslie Snow Leslie Snow 5'9" | OH BOLD | 2022 State MN (2022 | OH) from BOLD and do-everything Sydney Thein (2023 | OH/S) from MACCRAY, both highlighted in a previous post. BOLD’s youth was highlighted in the timely contributions from sophomores Caylee Weber (2022 | RH) and Abby Meyers (2022 | MH) as well has freshman Mari Ryberg Mari Ryberg 5'10" | OH BOLD | 2023 MN (2023 | OH). All three had key moments where they came up big with a kill or defensive play that helped the Warriors cause.
#1 vs. #2
In expected fashion, volleyball fans got the matchup they were hoping for in #1 ranked Minneota versus #2 ranked Kenyon-Wanamingo. In unexpected fashion is the fact that it was in the silver bracket championship. Minneota’s day 1 loss may have been a fluke and that seemingly was the message they wanted to send in playing some revenge volleyball on day two. They had a relatively easy time advancing to the silver bracket finals with consecutive 2-0 wins over Rusell-Tyler-Ruthton and Fosston. Kenyon-Wanamingo had a more challenging road to the match for ninth place overall with consecutive 2-1 wins over #9 ranked Henning and unranked Canby. In the silver bracket final it was all Minneota with another 2-0 win. The youth present on these two teams is contributing in many ways and will also be a factor towards their postseason objectives. Minneota’s sophomore core includes the veteran play of Natalee Rolbiecki Natalee Rolbiecki 5'10" | OH Minneota | 2022 State MN (2022 | OH/MH) with her multiple years as a varsity starter, in addition to Abby Frie Abby Frie 6'0" | MB Minneota | 2022 State MN (2022 | MH) who continues to develop in her skills and confidence as a terminator that can score with good power. The improvement in her range is also making it more challenging to defend her, which complements well the depth that Minneota has in their offensive attack overall. For Kenyon-Wanamingo and their veteran heavy squad, it is sophomore Leah Berg Leah Berg 5'11" | OH Kenyon Wanamingo | 2022 State MN (2022 | OH) that continues to make more of an impression as the season progresses. At 5’10, she is earning more and more opportunities to attack the ball, primarily on the right side, and is increasingly improving in her productivity that will serve to balance out well the other go-to attackers in the Knights’ arsenal.