Section 2AA Preview

<p><em>*Photo Credit: Kyle Stevens/Red Wing Republican Eagle*</em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Postseason play is right around the corner. With sections set to start in less than two weeks, PrepDig is breaking down each section with teams and players to watch. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Section 2AA might not have the same kind of juice it has in recent years when it had legitimate title contenders in Kenyon-Wanamingo and Belle Plaine but there are a number of very good teams that have the talent to fight for a spot in the state tournament and potentially win a match or two. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Favorite:</strong> <em>Kenyon-Wanamingo</em></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This section is really tough to predict and picking a favorite isn’t easy to do. K-W isn’t the team it was a year ago when it had a couple of Division II players and terrific senior back-row players but the Knights have a healthy program with good players in the pipeline and they’ve proven it with another great season. K-W won the Hiawatha Valley League, played a challenging out-of-conference schedule and picked up a lot of quality wins throughout the season. Corryne Dahl, Ally Peterson, Sydney Way and Maddie McCauley were all key players on last year’s team and capable of making big plays at key moments. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Next Up</strong>: <em>Norwood-Young America, Southwest Christian, Jordan</em></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">NYA put together a fantastic regular season, losing just twice (to K-W and Mayer Lutheran) and earned a spot in the Coaches Poll rankings towards the end of the season. With wins over teams like Caledonia, K-W and Waterville-Elysian-Morristown, the Raiders have the experience to emerge from the north subsection. Bren Fox is one of the top middle hitters in the state. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Southwest Christian’s been a tough team to figure out this season. The Stars have a number of very good wins including a run to the finals in the Class AA Showcase, but also some puzzling losses. Anna Sperbeck is a talented outside hitter and Brenna Krommendyk provides a terrific front-net presence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jordan earned the No. 2 seed in the north subsection with a 21-8 regular season record. The Jaguars played a tough schedule throughout the season and picked up wins over the likes of WEM, Southwest Christian and Kasson-Mantorville. Meg Schmidt is one of the best players in the state and Carsen Mizsak is a top outside hitter in the 2019 class. So the Jaguars have more than enough talent to make a deep run. </span></p>