Club Feature: Wisconsin Select 18 Black

A Tale As Old As Time Wisconsin Select is a club that was established in 1985, which is the same year CDs were introduced and the first .com was registered! This club has not only been around longer than Lady Gaga has been alive, but it has also turned out players and coaches at every level, including Jeff Nygard, who played for UCLA, the USA National team, and professional beach volleyball for USA competing in at least 3 Olympics. The Wisconsin Select 18s is a group of young women that have embraced how a team should function. This group has put on an impressive streak of 19 straight match wins to take 1st in the Mizuno Spikefest, Badger Region Championships in the Club Division, and the Diggin’ In The Dells tournaments. Their head coach, Tom Shay, says they can be quite the cliché when it comes to talking about why they have been on such a tear lately. Now, before I go any further, when Coach Shay talks about this team, you can tell he is just bursting with pride and enthusiasm. If you let him, he might just yell it from a rooftop that his players are “AMAZING, STRONG YOUNG WOMEN”, and if they will run our world one day, then we are in good hands!   Love Is All You Need This group loves to practice! When most players are more focused on the playing time during tournaments, these are young woman who know where the magic REALLY happens… PRACTICE! With this particular group, they are all about the team. And when you love your team, you don’t give up on one another and are in it together, win or lose. And of course, with the ones you love, you pick one another up when team members are down. This group embodies these concepts with stepping up when needed and working together to get the job done. Sometimes when injuries take a player out, that player no longer feels needed to contribute and fades away from her team. [player_tooltip player_id="9307" first="Ashley" last="Bruehlman"] (5’10” OH from Argyle and committed to play at Minnesota-Mankato) has been out a majority of the season after a knee surgery but has been made her presence known supporting from the bench and in practices. At times the team had to play with only 6, but they found a way to go 5-1 on both occasions. When the team was in need, they called on Mia Radix (Sauk Prairie) and she helped out in a huge way as a hard working utility, playing wherever needed. Ellie Westrate (Lakeside Lutheran/Calvin College) and [player_tooltip player_id="9325" first="Grace" last="Shay"] (Mount Horeb) are both All State Honorable Mention setters, but when things weren’t quite clicking, they made numerous position changes. The beauty of these changes is the fact that there was not a mentality among players that they only had 1 position they could play. It was a “do what’s best for the team” attitude. Grace, a setter, took her ball control and defensive skills to play as a DS/L. Gaby Shay, a Mount Horeb outside hitter, made a move to the right side, which allowed her to not only increase her game, but then allowed Molly Pistano, a Sauk Prairie pin hitter, to make huge gains on the outside, along with Sarah Pfeifer, a Fort Atkinson outside with plans to play for Edgewood College. Claire Joutras (Lodi) is normally a setter for her HS team but she made the move into being their main libero and owns it. The high flying 5’9” McKenna Nigl (Richland Center/Concordia University-Wisconsin) takes on the challenge when needed to play middle, even though she is used to playing mainly on the right side. Paige Milne (Lodi) holds down the middle most of the time and runs a stealthy attack that isn’t flashy, but watch out! New Kid On The Block While this particular group lost 2 players from their team last year, they did gain a great addition in Sarah Pfeifer, an outside hitter from Fort Atkinson. Aside from her insane defensive plays, she can make smart and powerful plays in both the back and front rows. Even with Sarah being the new kid, she has fit right in to this blended family.   A Family Affair Most of these players have been playing together since they were 14. But 2 of them have been inseparable since the day they were born. Gaby and [player_tooltip player_id="9325" first="Grace" last="Shay"] are identical twin sisters. And to give this team even more of a family feel, their dad, Tom Shay, is the head coach. Gaby and Grace got hooked on volleyball at a young age, and the rest is history. Dad would end up coaching them in club and being their number one fan during the HS season. Brains AND Brawn This team ranks in the top 10 in 18s teams in the Badger Region and has 4 individuals committed to play at the next level while among the remaining 6, 5 are going to UW-Madison and 1 to Pepperdine for academics. All members of this team are in the top 20% of their graduating classes. Eight are in the top 10% and 4 of them will be crossing the stage this spring as either Valedictorian or Salutatorian. These are some well-rounded ladies, as many participate in Solo & Ensemble, mission trips, volunteer work, and winter and spring sports which ultimately is the reason for their inability to field a team in the Badger Region Qualifier. End Of An Era Select may have started out slow in the GLPL, losing their first three matches, but then really heated up and went on a 12-match winning streak to end up 21st out of 84 teams. Now after a little bit of a slow start and 3 tournament wins they are coming up on the final tournament. April 21st, Wisconsin Select 18s will play their final tournament at the UW-Whitewater Open and inevitably their final match together. This volleyball journey may be coming an end, but the volleyball family is always held close to the heart.