5 Takeaways From A 5 Set Showdown

There are always some lessons you can learn from each match you play and/or observe. Tuesday, September 6th, there was a Wisconsin Valley Conference (WVC) Showdown between Stevens Point (SPASH) (20-1) and Wausau West (14-2). Fans got their money’s worth at this match-up. West took the first 2 sets before SPASH battled back to take the final 3. (23-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-17, 15-4). Here are some takeaways from this WVC battle. SPASH HAS SOME SERIOUS MUSCLE SPASH had a bit of a slow start in this match, but it wasn’t because they weren’t getting opportunities. They were flexing their muscles, but their serves and hits weren’t quite landing. Once they found their groove though, they were scary. SPASH has a pretty lethal crew. They have fast and heavy swings from [player_tooltip player_id="32739" first="Kayla" last="Lass"] (2019 – Outside Hitter – Committed to UW – Green Bay), Hannah Meyer (2019 – 5’10 – Right Side), and Lexi Iwasaki(2019 – 5’9 – Outside Hitter). THEY GOT YOUR BACK Wausau West and SPASH both covered their hitters really well. Outsides were swinging high and giving their coverage time to pick up balls that got rejected. West’s [player_tooltip player_id="80733" first="Robyn" last="Kirsch"](2021 – 5’6 – Outside Hitter) and [player_tooltip player_id="33071" first="Paige" last="Brandenburg"](2019 – 5’9 – Outside Hitter) covered their hitters extremely well while SPASH’s [player_tooltip player_id="80235" first="Olivia" last="Stroik"](2020 – Defensive Specialist) and [player_tooltip player_id="80226" first="Maggie" last="Lawrynk"](2020 – Defensive Specialist) had the Panthers’ backs. WEST WILL PUSH YOU Wausau West puts a good deal of pressure on opponents and had SPASH out of system quite a bit in the first 2 sets. West had strong and crafty servers with both of their setters, Grace Michalske(2021 – 5’7) and Kirsten Bachand(2019 – 5’5), putting on the pressure. They also have a stellar libero, [player_tooltip player_id="33084" first="Skylar" last="Rickstad"] (2019 – 5’0), who makes hitters really work to get their points. You won’t get any easy points on Rickstad. ATHLETIC MIDDLES ARE A HUGE PLUS SPASH is lucky enough to have 2 very athletic middles with [player_tooltip player_id="33082" first="Gabby" last="Johnson"](2019 – 5’7) and [player_tooltip player_id="80182" first="Maddy" last="Dokken"](2020 – 5’10). Johnson and Dokken would both be playing defense on most teams, but with [player_tooltip player_id="33115" first="Megan" last="Miklesh"](2019 – Libero), SPASH can really beef up their defense, and everyone has a job and a way to contribute. Wausau West is anchored by Tess Hauer(2019 – 5’11) in the middle. All 3 of these middles move really well laterally and do a great job closing the block. TANDEMS WORK Both teams were getting creative with taking balls over on the 2nd contact and running plays. SPASH’s Ashley Shrank (2019 – Setter) loves running the off-shoulder 2/3 ball to [player_tooltip player_id="32739" first="Kayla" last="Lass"](2019 – Outside Hitter – Committed to UW – Green Bay) out of serve receive, and it works every time. West will run an occasional tandem play as well, but they aren’t as reliant on it, although it is very effective. Sometimes player creativity will give coaches a near heart attack. But when it works coaches love it.