Prep Players Compete in the Waupaca Boatride Tournament

This is not your average backyard type of summer tournament.  The Waupaca Boatride/US Open Grass Volleyball Tournament started as a men’s and women’s grass triples tournament followed by a boat ride held in Waupaca, Wisconsin. The 35 year old tournament grew and grew every year and now it is held in Oshkosh, WI after a brief stint in Wisconsin Dells.  While there are no longer any boat rides, this grass triples tournament has grown into a 4-day volleyball event, with a juniors clinic (run by Lloy Ball) and other adult and juniors tournaments on the days before and after the main attraction – the triples tournament held on Saturday. 

As someone who has participated in this tournament since 2003 (only missing for my best friend’s wedding, pregnancy, and ACL surgery), this is the best weekend of the whole year!  It is like a BIG family reunion and the perfect example that volleyball is a lifelong sport and there is so much more than just indoor hard court 6’s.  Each variation is a whole new game.  You can change surface from hard court to grass or sand (beach), change the number of participants anywhere from 2-6 on each team, and you can stick with your own gender or play co-Ed. 

Now if THAT wasn’t enough, they added a twist to co-Ed quads where you can play reverse co-Ed quads and the male players cannot attack above the height of the net, so the ladies get to take the swings! This tournament hosts over 1600 teams registered to play over 4 days, and players, including pros such as Casey Jennings and Lloy Ball,  come from Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. So, WHY are we talking about this tournament, besides the fact that it is AWESOME?  Well, because we had prep athletes playing!

Friday, July 13^th, Juniors Quads-

18U

While the 18U only had 6 registered teams, there was still plenty of talent there.  Pool play consisted with round robin style, playing 2 sets to 21.  After that, the top 4 went on to a playoff bracket.  I had Team Haugen pegged as a favorite, having previous success at Boatride, and they didn’t disappoint.

1^st place was taken in a pretty dominant fashion by Team Haugen from Minnesota who had two members,  Halle Wolfe Halle Wolfe 5'7" | DS/L Lakeville North | 2020 State MN  and Alena Molden, that were a part of a team that won the 16U Quads in 2017.

Ella Haugen Ella Haugen 5'10" | S Edina | 2019 State MN  – 2019 – 5’10” – Setter – Edina HS – Mizuno M1 17-1s

Halle Wolfe Halle Wolfe 5'7" | DS/L Lakeville North | 2020 State MN  – 2020 – 5’7” – Libero – Lakeville North HS – Mizuno Northern Lights 16-1

Alena Molden – 2019 –  5’6” – Libero – Lakeville, MN – Mizuno M1 18-1s – Committed to University of New Mexico

Kennedy Brady Kennedy Brady 6'0" | MB Lakeville North | 2018 State MN  – 2018 – 6’1” – Middle Blocker/Right Side – Lakeville, MN – Signed to Concordia-St. Paul

2^nd place was taken by a solid Wisconsin crew.

Teegan Nichols – 2018 – 5’11” – Middle Blocker – Oshkosh, WI

Cora Strand – 2018 – 5’6” – Setter – Oshkosh, WI

Jacey Morgan – 2018 – 5’9” – Outside Hitter – Oshkosh, WI

Leah Welch – 2018 – 5’6” – Libero – Oshkosh, WI

16U

This division was open for the taking, with most of the top teams from last year moving up to 18U or not returning.  As soon as I saw who was on Team Leach, I knew they would be a favorite, so I wasn’t surprised to see them win in a pretty dominant way.

1^st place:

Mackenzie Leach Mackenzie Leach 5'7" | DS/L Burlington | 2021 State WI  – 2021 – 5’7” – Outside Hitter – Burlington – Milwaukee Sting 15 Black

Samantha Naber Samantha Naber 5'7" | DS/L Burlington | 2021 State WI  -2021 – Libero – Burlington – Milwaukee Sting 15 Gold – Committed to Marquette

Amanda Veil – 2021 – Defensive Specialist/Outside Hitter – Burlington – Milwaukee Sting 15 Black

Natalie Tesch Natalie Tesch 5'10" | S Wisconsin Lutheran | 2021 State WI  – 2021 – 5’11” – Right Side – Wisconsin Lutheran – Milwaukee Sting 15 Black

With some solid talent like Madison Neuman (Green Bay Preble), Kendall Ahern (St. Mary’s Springs), Gianna Trotter (Fond du Lac),  Hattie Bray Hattie Bray 6'1" | MB Wautoma | 2021 State WI (Wautoma), Randi Welhoefer, and  Morgan Yenter Morgan Yenter 5'11" | S Oshkosh West | 2021 State WI  (Oshkosh West), I was surprised to see a different team made it into the finals.  With this kind of talent, to compete with Team Nichols had to be one solid and competitive group to take 2^nd!

Tayja Nichols – 2020 – 5’10” – Middle Blocker – Oshkosh North – Impact 16 Blue

Madigan Carlson – 2020 – 5’4” – Setter – Oshkosh West – Impact 16 Blue

Amber Ryan – 2020 – 5’7” – Outside Hitter – Winneconne – Impact 16 Blue

Lili DeJong – 2020 – 5’9” – Middle Blocker/Right Side – Appleton West – Impact 16 Blue

14U

Now the 14’s division was wide open, and it was some tough competition.  There were some youngin’s out for this one, and they were holding their own. Consolation and Championship matches were played out in the pouring rain.  In the consolation championship, there was an impressive group from Marathon, WI.  Sisters, Vanessa (2022) and Ava (2024) Krueger paired with Julianna Thurs (2022) and Alyssa Hall (2022).  The Krueger girls are the daughters of Lynn (Olsen) Krueger, who is a UW-Whitewater Hall of Famer from her college playing days in the 90’s. 

The championship was played by 2 teams that were actually pretty familiar with one another, even though they are from different states.  In June, Capital 14 Navy knocked off Vital 14-1 Gold in the Challenge match to get into the Gold Bracket.  Well, the results weren’t different this time around, with the team of Capital players (Team Raley) taking out the Vital players (Team Meyer), but what a fun match to watch (21-18, 23-21)!

1^st place:

Taylor Raley Taylor Raley OH Columbus | 2022 State WI  – 2022 – Outside Hitter – Columbus – Capital 14 Navy

Olivia Karlen Olivia Karlen DS/L Lake Mills | 2022 State WI  – 2022 – Defensive Specialist – Lake Mills – Capital 14 Navy

Jordan Karlen Jordan Karlen 5'9" | S Milton | 2022 State WI  – 2022 – Setter – St. Paul’s Janesville – Capital 14 Navy

Claudia Bobb Claudia Bobb 5'10" | OH Verona | 2022 State WI  – 2022 – Outside Hitter – Savanna Oaks – Capital 14 Adidas

Olivia Karlen Olivia Karlen DS/L Lake Mills | 2022 State WI held down the defense in middle back while Jordan Karlen Jordan Karlen 5'9" | S Milton | 2022 State WI ran the offense.  Jordan did a great job of getting the ball out to her hitters, giving them plenty of options and making the block work on the other side.  Raley and Bobb made smart choices, knowing when to hit the line and when to make a hard cut. Bobb was still swinging hard in the championship, which is impressive considering the long day.

2^nd place:

Melanie Meyer – 2022 – Outside Hitter – Vital 14-1 Gold

Cassie Sieling Cassie Sieling 5'10" | DS/L Bloomington Jefferson | 2022 State MN  – 2022 – 5’6” – Right Side – Vital 14-1 Gold

Ellie Sieling Ellie Sieling 5'10" | OH Bloomington Jefferson | 2022 State MN  – 2022 – 5’7” – Outside Hitter – Vital 14-1 Gold

Cameron Berger – 2023 – 5’8” – Setter – Vital 14-1 Gold

This group was a blast to watch!  Cassie and Ellie are twin sisters; Cassie is a lefty and Ellie is a rightie.  Better yet, they play doubles (more on that to come)!  Melanie Meyer’s aunt, Larissa Cattanach, was a dominant force in the middle for UW- Milwaukee from 1999 up until 2003.  Cameron is the young one of the group, but you wouldn’t be able to tell!