Ms. Baden 2019 Crowned – Maddie Whittington
One of the highest honors in high school volleyball is to be one of the finalists for Ms. Baden. All of the finalists (and more) have made MN volleyball one of the best states for high school volleyball. The Minnesota…
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Continue ReadingOne of the highest honors in high school volleyball is to be one of the finalists for Ms. Baden. All of the finalists (and more) have made MN volleyball one of the best states for high school volleyball.
The Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association announced the winner from the 5 finalists at the state tournament banquet yesterday, Wednesday, November 6th. Three nominees and their teams will be playing in the state tournament.
Cianna Selbitschka – North Branch is the third seed in AA after they beat a talented Proctor team. They start of the weekend against a solid Pequot Lake. They are on the opposite end of the bracket from Stewartville (#1) and Watertown Mayer (#4). If they make it past the first round, they will likely take on Marshall (#2). Expect the senior to play a big role in her team’s fight to the top this weekend. The University of Duluth is lucky to have this talented outside hitter.
Minnetonka was represented at the banquet by Skyler Germann. She is not stranger to the spotlight. In the section matches, leading to state, she had 58 kills. That’s an average of 20 kills/match. If she continues this way, it will be hard to stop her team. Following in her footsteps is sophomore oustide, Abby Stanwood and Kali Engeman. The trio along with their supportive team will have to battle to beat Moorhead in the first round.
Elizabeth Helmich – Wayzata is a stacked team; Helmich is a standout on a team of all-stars. She does lead her team in kills. We expect her to be one of the toughest servers at the state tournament this weekend, often having 3 or more aces in a match. At 6’2” her dominating stature and her left-handed attack have helped her ensure her future at James Madison next year.
Two great athletes who you won’t be able to watch this weekend include:
Olivia Tjernagel – A Mayer Lutheran senior who narrowly missed the state tournament. In fact, it couldn’t have been closer; the third set score was 15-13. It was only their third loss of the season and Olivia had a stellar game. But it wasn’t enough to edge out WEM. She finished her high school career with 19 kills and will be a force next year at UNI.
The newly-named Ms. Baden 2019 is Maddie Whittington from Stillwater. Her list of accomplishments is as long as any in the country. And even though we aren’t lucky enough to watch her this weekend, 6’4”, the Illinois commit, can look back at last year’s tournament fondly: finishing with 38 kills and a handful of blocks. Incredible to think that in 2017 she tore her ACL, yet still managed to grow and improve.
Maddie shared this in a featured piece Words of Wisdom from MN’s Great
“The one piece of advice that I would share would be to remember why you love the sport. There are a lot of times that the workouts and practices and tournaments get to be long!!! But to remember why you love the sport and began playing it in the first place, to me, makes it all worth it!”
Congratulations to all of the athletes and Maddie. They are some of the most well known athletes in our state and continue to earn the recognition. Good luck to those playing this weekend and beyond.