Sting, Royal, CVA, and WVA Shine at NJC

<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Wisconsin clubs were able to shine throughout the whole weekend at all divisions and ages at the National Junior Classic in the Rosemont/Schaumburg area this past weekend, building up momentum heading into Nationals which is only a matter of weeks away.  </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Milwaukee Sting was highlighted by their 16 Gold and 17 Gold teams who made deep runs into Monday in the Gold brackets with the possibilities of coming home with some hardware. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400"><strong>Sting 16 Gold</strong> was going into the tournament with a little bit of adversity to begin, with Notre Dame commit <strong>Aubrey Hamilton</strong> (Arrowhead HS) out with an injury, her ability to play outside and six rotations would not be easy to replace.  </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">One person cannot take the load of replacing a player of that caliber, but the depth of Sting and the ability of different athletes being able to play multiple positions, stepping up in crucial situations was the key to Sting 16 Gold’s 3rd place success.  </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400"><strong>Elise Schneider</strong> (Arrowhead), <strong>Sarah Schrader</strong> (Hamilton), and <strong>Sidney Paulson</strong> (West Bend West) stepped up when it counted.  Schneider, who is a high school teammate of Hamilton can play on either pin and is extremely athletic and physical who can block and terminate from any position.  Schrader is a six rotation outside that just doesn’t make mistakes, very consistent, and dependable no matter where she is on the court. Paulson was an X factor, the lefty from West Bend West puts up a huge block and is deceptive with her swing with the ability to score with any shot.   </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Sting 16 Gold avenged an early pool loss to Sports Performance 16 Elite after dropping a match to 1st Alliance in the semifinals on Monday morning.  <strong>Kiara Reinhardt (Cedarburg/Creighton)</strong> was named to the All Tournament Team, but overall for the weekend every point was earned with each player coming up big at certain points during the match.  <strong>Erin Powers (Mukwonago)</strong> can play a variety of positions and came up with some big digs and at one point ending up having to block the middle, <strong>Elise Goetzinger (Mount Horeb/Kentucky)</strong> gets better each time she steps on the court, and the one who conducts the orchestra is <strong>Kaley Blake (Burlington)</strong>.  Blake is so smooth, consistent, and puts the ball in position for her team to score. </span></p> <p><strong>Milwaukee Sting 17s </strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">I have yet to see a team match the intensity that Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold and 17 Black play with.  They play fast, from their skill set, to how they communicate, and conduct themselves with body language.  </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Sting 17 Gold was on an absolute roll with big wins over Michigan Volleyball Academy, Dead Frog (MI), and went to three sets with one of the top teams in the country with Northern Lights 17-1 who is full of Power 5 conference Division 1 athletes.  </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400"><strong>Laura Shoopman</strong> (Westosha Central/Oral Roberts) was huge difference maker on Day 1 with finding a variety of ways to score on the right side as well as with her block.  This Sting 17 Gold team finished tied for third at AAU Nationals last year, they know what it takes to compete against the top teams in the nation at the right time. <strong>Ashley Guenver (Menonmonee Falls/Troy)</strong> had a strong showing and was named to the All Tournament Team for 17 Open. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Wisconsin Volleyball Academy 17 Black had a strong showing and was a matter of a few points away from advancing in Gold.  On Saturday they were a matter of points from defeating FaR Out 17’s who finished with a 3-0 pool record and lost to Northern Lights 17-2 in a playoff after finishing in a three way tie for second in their pool.  On Sunday, WVA lost to Milwaukee Sting 17 Black in a five set thriller. With <strong>Maddie Koch</strong> (Ashwaubenon/Purdue) and <strong>Cece Huhn</strong> (Plymouth/Northern Colorado) together blocking on the right side they are sure to be an oversized mismatched for the opposing outside. </span></p> [caption id="attachment_16130" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/NJC7.jpg"></a> Royal 16 finished 2nd in Club[/caption] <p><strong>Royal Strong Showing In Club</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Royal Volleyball Club which is out of the Brookfield and Waukesha area had solid showings in the Club level with the 15s finishing 7th overall with a 6-2 record and the 16s finished 2nd overall.  <strong>Kaitlyn Straa</strong> and <strong>Sydney Straa</strong> were named to the All Tournament Team. </span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Capital Navy Places 2nd in 17 Club</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Capital had a strong showing with their 17s teams competing this weekend with 17 Navy finishing second in </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">17 Club and Capital 17 Adidas finishing 7th in 18 Club.  Lydia Kneubuehl and Erin Flanagan were named to the All Tournament Team for 17 Adidas who </span><span style="font-size: 16px;font-weight: 400">had t</span><span style="font-weight: 400">wo losses to eventual champion Kokoro 17-2.</span></p> [caption id="attachment_16131" align="alignleft" width="300"] Capital 17 Navy finished 2nd in 17 Club[/caption] <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Up and Coming</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Wisconsin Volleyball Academy competed in the 15 Club Division against some older teams and came in as the tournament runner up.  Besides a day one loss to Royal 15, WVA came back to win the next four matches before losing to Fusion 15 Silver in the championship.  In Gold Bracket play, WVA defeated FaR Out 14 Black and Kokoro 14-1 which they lost to twice at the Med City cup two weeks ago. <strong>Brianna Cantrell</strong> and <strong>Emily LaChapelle</strong> were named to the All Tournament team.</span></p> [caption id="attachment_16132" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a href="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/NJC6.jpg"></a> WVA 14 Black played up a division and finished 2nd in 14 Club[/caption] <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: left"> </p>