FVA vs. FRCC Challenge: Match Ups and Players To Watch

In basketball, the Big Ten vs. ACC Challenge has become a traditional battle the first week of December putting teams from these respective conference against each other for bragging rights over who has the better conference, but also secure key wins when it comes to tournament seeding. The Big 12 and SEC have done the same in recent years and now that is even spreading to other sports. The opening weekend of NCAA Volleyball will feature Wisconsin and Minnesota (August 24 and 25)taking on Florida State and North Carolina, a prelude to the Final Four which will take place at the Target Center in Minneapolis December 13-15. Why not do this for the high school volleyball season? Plenty of conferences border each other and will often compete at weekend tournaments and for sure come postseason. Early season five set matches against a quality opponent is perfect for building the battle scars heading into the postseason, not to mention a feather in the cap come seeding time. A natural rivalry between two conferences would be the Fox River Classic Conference featuring teams from the Green Bay area and the shore of Lake Michigan and the Fox Valley Association consisting of the Appleton area schools down to Oshkosh and Fond du Lac. FRCC - Ashwaubenon, Bay Port, De Pere, Green Bay Preble, Green Bay Southwest, Manitowoc Lincoln, Green Bay Notre Dame, Pulaski, Sheboygan North, Sheboygan South FVA - Appleton East, Appleton North, Appleton West, Fond du Lac, Hortonville, Kaukauna, Kimberly, Neenah, Oshkosh North, Oshkosh West Here are some solid matchups with that would be fun entertaining to see between the FRCC and the FVA. Appleton North at Ashwaubenon Appleton North is very familiar playing at the Ashwaubenon High School gym with two sectional semifinal wins and a sectional championship in the past five years, however this was a neutral site and Ashwaubenon was not the opponent. Ashwaubenon definitely has lofty expectations and rightfully so with Purdue recruit, Maddie Koch and her counterpart Maddie Crowley, a Senior outside hitter who is bound for a breakout. Setter Maria Scherer keeps the offense rolling for the Jags with over 700 assists last season. North has always prided themselves on ball control and solid setting and with a new crew of young athletes coming in that will be the same heading into this season. With a balanced group of hitters they will be lead by two solid setters who are completely opposite of each other. Taylor Vanden Berg is a 6’1 physical and attacking style setter and Sophomore, Brooke Bolwerk, a 5’8 gritty defender with on point setting location. This very well could be a matchup come tournament time in late October. Sheboygan North at Neenah This match will be a solid glimpse at the future of Loyola volleyball with recruits Addison Barnes and Kayla Kraus from Neenah and Kasey Bell from Sheboygan North. This match will feature two of the top liberos in the state in Kraus and Wisconsin Badger recruit, Dru Kuck. These two teams have plenty of similarities with Senior dominated teams, but also some young talent coming up with top 2021 recruits Lizzie Binder for North and Kiersten Kraus, the Sophomore from Neenah who can play any position. Much like the Appleton North vs. Ashwaubenon matchup, these two teams are in the same sectional and could very well match up against each other late in October. The ideal setting for this match (besides the Resch Center) would be a packed fieldhouse at Neenah High School where the state tournament was held in the 90s. There is a certain mystique about this gym that provides an electric atmosphere. At St. Norbert Kimberly vs. Notre Dame While St. Norbert was doing a renovation on their athletic facilities they had to play their home matches at Notre Dame, this match would only be fitting to have Notre Dame play a home match on the campus of St. Norbert in De Pere against a traditionally strong program in Kimberly. Notre Dame has always been at the top of FRCC the past few years while making two state tournament appearances and one in the state finals. This year they will have Junior, Katherine Walch leading the way at libero who is gamechanger in the backrow. Kimberly will have a solid squad of upperclassmen led by Maggie Cartwright, an Arkansas recruit as well as Juniors, Courtney Pearson and Kalli Mau who were part of Kimberly’s state tournament team from a season ago. De Pere vs. Hortonville De Pere and Hortonville have had some key post season matches, most recently in 2016 when De Pere knocked off Hortonville in five sets to reach the sectional final. Both programs traditionally have solid athletes that play multiple sports. Hortonville will have a solid core returning with Adrianne Hagen and Aliza Van Den Elzen in the middle as well as recruit Creighton commit, Makenna Krause as libero. De Pere will have Sophomore Brianna Geurts who had a solid off season with FC Elite and can play any position in the front row with a blend of power and finesse along with Mikayla Pietrek, Kaitlyn Coisman, Avery Butrym, and Molly Hoyman. At UW-Oshkosh UW-Oshkosh vs. Manitowoc Lutheran Oshkosh West has a young, but extremely talented and athletic team. With most of these athletes playing their Freshman year on varsity, their Sophomore campaign should be one with a little bit higher expectations. Morgan Yenter, Natalie Johanknecht, and Eva Beeth will be the main keys to the success of the Wildcats after all of the played for Wisconsin Volleyball Academy 15 Black this past club season. Yenter, a 5’11 left handed setter and Johanknecht, a 6 foot middle will be a deadly combination this year. Lincoln has All Conference outside in Katie DiRaimondo who will be taking plenty of swings for the Ships this year. DiRaimondo will also be a threat out of the backrow as she is climbing up the ranks in the Class of 2020. Bay Port vs. Fond du Lac Two programs definitely on the rise. Bay Port made it to the sectional semifinals last year, taking a set from Kimberly before the Papermakers would go onto win the match and eventually a state tournament appearance. Bay Port has outside hitter Brooke Clement back as well as Sophomore Alyssa Koska. Fond du Lac had a solid Senior crew last year, but will have some very talent incomers which include Freshman to be Gionna Trotter who is an athletic, high flyer outside who will for sure bring an impact to the FVA the next couple of years!