5 Things We Learned at Bellevue West Invitational

<p>BELLEVUE - Perhaps the best thing about the Bellevue West Invitational on the opening weekend of the volleyball season each year is that it always brings an end to speculation and starts to give you concrete evidence of how things are going to play out for the season.</p> <p>Here are five big takeaways - for me at least - from the 2018 Bellevue West Invite as we dive head first into the season.</p> <p><strong>#1 - Millard North's depth is legit and is what puts Mustangs a half-step higher than most everyone else</strong></p> <p>My mantra all summer was that Millard North and Lincoln Pius X were a half-step ahead of everyone else in Class A because of their depth, with Pius X getting the edge in my book based on its returning experience in the back row. Millard North showed that great depth in winning the title. To me, the difference at the Bellevue West Invite was the steady play of senior <strong>Allie Kerns</strong>, who was playing much more under control and efficiently than last year. Granted, it's a small sample size, but in the three tournament matches on Saturday, Kerns had 19 kills and three errors on 54 swings - a salty .296 hitting percentage. She struggled with consistency and keeping rallies alive last season, hitting .184 on the year. In the 2017 state tournament she had 22 kills to 11 errors on 87 swings - a .126 percentage. If Kerns can stay in that .250 range on the season combined with the likes of <strong>Paige Holdsworth, Emmy Grant, McKenna Ruch, Molly Plahn</strong> and potentially <strong>Emma Grunkemeyer</strong> at some point this year, that would make Millard North supremely balanced and difficult to stop. </p> <p><strong>#2 - Skutt Catholic is, well, human ...... maybe</strong></p> <p>OK, so the Skyhawks aren't going to go undefeated this year after a 25-23, 23-25, 25-22 loss to Western Christian in the quarterfinals. I don't think there is too much to worry about here, although there were certainly some red flags. Granted, potentially the best player in the state - sophomore <strong>Lindsay Krause</strong> - was not with the team while she competed for Team USA, which is obviously a huge blow. And, there is a reason why Western Christian is a traditional power in Iowa. The Wolfpack gave up points like a turnip gives up blood and played as well as anyone in the tournament, finishing in third place. It was also clear that coach Renee Saunders was giving her players a pretty long leash and was experimenting with different lineups and players. But ...... and maybe it was just me ...... I just didn't get the usual Skutt vibe. There didn't seem to be the killer instinct and moxie that usually oozes from the Skyhawks. Millard South taking the Skyhawks three is maybe more or a testament to how improved the Patriots are, but at the same time they only hit .157 in the match, so it wasn't like they were playing out of their minds. To me, the most alarming thing was the 26-24 loss to Lincoln Southeast in the first set of the consolation semifinals. The Knights had just been rolled 25-8, 25-21 by Papillion-LaVista and you kind of figured Skutt would come out on fire after having lost to Western Christian. That wasn't the case, though.</p> <p><strong>#3 - Omaha Marian losing twice in a row is rare, but Crusaders will be just fine</strong></p> <p>No, it's not very often that you see an Omaha Marian team drop consecutive matches, but I'm not sure there should be a whole lot of concern about it. We knew coming into this fall that the Crusaders had a ton of holes to fill and that this would also be one of the most competitive seasons in Class A in a while. All things considered, Marian has to feel pretty good that with all the new faces and lack of experience, the Crusaders were realistically just a couple points away from a top-four finish. Marian lost in three to Papillion-LaVista South (25-23 in the third set) and in three to Millard South in the consolation semifinals (also 25-23 in the third). That's with two setters seeing their first extended varsity time in <strong>Ashley Straub</strong> and <strong>Sarah Montague</strong> and a junior in <strong>Katie Kilzer</strong> who was wearing the libero jersey for the first time in her life in a varsity match. Not only did that trio hold its own, but right sides <strong>Meredith Mueller</strong> and <strong>MC Daubendiek</strong> played extremely well as rookies and middles <strong>Emma Hern</strong> and <strong>Bri Eilderts</strong> were solid. <strong>Emily Bressman</strong> did a lot of Bressman things all weekend and having her and <strong>Hailey Zuroske</strong> on the outside gave the Crusaders a lot of stability. Marian now has just two matches over the next two-plus weeks (Bellevue West and Omaha Northwest) before playing in the Lincoln Public Schools Invitational and I would imagine the Crusaders will build on this weekend and be much more formidable come the LPS tourney. </p> <p><strong>#4 - This could be the best Millard South team in more than 30 years</strong></p> <p>It's already been mentioned that Millard South upset Omaha Marian and that the Patriots' three losses in the tournament came against Skutt Catholic (twice) and Millard North with them taking both the Skyhawks and Mustangs to three sets. Millard South showed that it is going to be a team to reckon with this fall and was one of the most scrappy and defensive-minded squads in the tournament. It has been more than 15 years since a Millard South team beat Omaha Marian and the Patriots look like a team that could win a match or more at the state tournament - something it has not done since 1984. Heck, the Patriots have only been to state twice in the rally-scoring era. Libero <strong>Sam Steele</strong> has really established herself as one of the best in the back row in Class A and freshman setter <strong>Makayla Fleming</strong> has been a huge surprise this fall and really is the key considering the Patriots lost all-stater <strong>Jaisee Stinson</strong> at that position to an injury. Freshman <strong>Maddie Mactaggart</strong> gives Millard South its hardest hitting outside in years, but like most freshmen, flashed some consistency issues. Middles <strong>Kelsey Olson</strong> (37 kills, .333 hitting percentage) and <strong>Paige Fixemer</strong> (45, .252) were a consistent force in the middle while seniors <strong>Claire Larson</strong> and <strong>Lauren Walenz</strong> (48 combined kills, 93 combined digs) provided a great shot-making compliment to Mactaggart's power on the outside. </p> <p><strong>#5 - Nobody simply replaces Taliyah Flores, but Sophie Hendrix stepped in nicely for Papillion-LaVista South</strong></p> <p><strong>Sophie Hendrix</strong> had her sophomore season taken away from her because of an injury just before the start of the year. She clearly spent a good chunk of that time on the bench watching all-stater <strong>Taliyah Flores</strong> and taking notes, because Hendrix stepped into that L1 spot last weekend and owned it like a boss. After having more than 200 kills and 200 digs as a freshman, Hendrix showed those full-rotation chops again at the Bellevue West Invite. She had 13 kills and eight digs in the Titans' win over Omaha Marian in the quarterfinals then had nine kills and 11 digs in the loss against Millard North in the semifinals. For the tournament, Hendrix had 56 kills and 59 digs and mixed in seven ace serves just for good measure. Perhaps the biggest surprise for the Titans on the weekend, though, was the emergence of freshman <strong>Ava LeGrand</strong> on Saturday. In the three tournament matches she hit .259 with 27 kills and added 19 digs. </p>