Week 8 Preview – Big Conference Showdowns!

<p>This is the final week of the regular season.  Seeding meetings will be held throughout the week and we will get to see the match-ups for the first round of playoffs.  Here are 3 events to keep an eye on for the week of October 8^th -12^th.  A weekend preview will come out later this week.</p> <p><strong><u>MENOMONEE FALLS AT GERMANTOWN – Tuesday, October 9^th</u></strong></p> <p>Both teams have struggled in conference play this season, but this should be an interesting match.  These two recently played one another in a tournament, and Menomonee Falls (16-19) came out on top (2-1).  This time they will be on the Warhawk’s (24-18) turf, and Germantown has done really well at home.</p> <p>The Indians are led by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="32732" first="Ashley" last="Guenveur"] </strong>(2019 – Committed to Troy), <strong>Maddie McGraw </strong>(2019 – 5’10 – Middle Blocker/Right Side), and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="80841" first="Brielle" last="Lynde"] </strong>(2021 – 5’7 – Setter).  Guenveur has a ton of tools ranging from a great thumb-down cut to a wicked line shot.  It really isn’t a surprise she has passed to 1,000-kill milestone and leads her team with 412 kills so far this season. </p> <p>Guenveur also has a strong cross court serve and plays some killer defense.  McGraw can run a strong 1 ball attack, is a very smart tipper, and puts up a nice block.  Lynde is currently the younger part of their 6-2 offense and she also brings strong serving to the table for the Indians.</p> <p>Germantown is led by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="33038" first="Hannah" last="Brown"] </strong>(2019 – 6’0 – Middle Blocker/Outside Hitter), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81278" first="Maddie" last="Connor"] </strong>(2022 – Setter), and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="33262" first="Amber" last="Bischel"] </strong>(2020 – 5’5 – Libero/Defensive Specialist).  Brown has impressive blocking numbers.  She could potentially reach 400 career blocks this season if Germantown can get 4 more solid matches. </p> <p>Connor is stepping up in big ways as a freshman.  She is leading her team with 50 aces and the lead distributor with 378 assists.  While Connor runs the offense, Bischel runs the defense, and she consistently tallies 500+ digs per season.  She has already reached the 1,000-dig milestone, and maybe in her senior season, she will follow Kuck’s steps in getting to 2,000.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>GRANTSBURG AT ST. CROIX FALLS – Tuesday, October 9^th</u></strong></p> <p>These two will be battling it out for the top spot of the Lakeland – West Conference.  Their last meeting was a barn-burner in mid-September going to 5, and St. Croix coming out on top.    St. Croix (15-7) is led by <strong>Sidney Hoverman </strong>(2020 – 6’0), <strong>Olivia Miron </strong>(2021), <strong>Caitlin Carsley </strong>(2019 – 5’7 – Setter), and <strong>Riley Henk </strong>(2019 – Libero). </p> <p>Hoverman leads the charge with over 400 kills, and Miron is learning from every step.  Miron is the leading force on the blocking side though. Carsley leads from the service line with 58 aces, and Hoverman follows up with 37 aces.  Henk runs the defense and has over 400 digs on this season so far.</p> <p>Grantsburg (20-4) is running a 6-2 with a pair of seniors.  <strong>Charlie Siebenthal </strong>(2019 – 5’5 – Setter) and <strong>McKenzie Rombach </strong>(2019 – 5’7 – Setter/Right Side) run the show and have over 500 assists this season combined.  These two run a well balanced attack that keeps a block guessing.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>LAKESIDE LUTHERAN AT LAKE MILLS  – Thursday, October 11^th</u></strong></p> <p>This is a battle of #1 Lakeside Lutheran (25-10) and #2 Lake Mills (21-5) of the Capitol – North Conference.  In mid-September these teams matched up, and Lakeside came out on top.  Lakeside is led by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56024" first="Ella" last="Collins"] </strong>(2020 – 5’10 – Outside Hitter), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56496" first="Payton" last="Kuepers"] </strong>(2021 – 6’1), and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="80837" first="Kylee" last="Gnabasik"] </strong>(2021 – 5’3 – Defensive Specialist/Setter). </p> <p>The Warriors run a pretty balanced attack, but Collins leads the pack with 222 kills.  Kuepers is not far behind with 171 kills but leads with 98 blocks.  If the ball gets past Kuepers, Gnabasik will get to it as she leads the team with 503 digs this season.</p> <p>Lake Mills is led by a pair of youngins, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81275" first="Olivia" last="Karlen"] </strong>(2022) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81257" first="Sydney" last="Lewellin"] </strong>(2022).  Karlen and Lewellin provide a 1-2 punch from the service line. Between the 2 of them, they have over 100 aces in their freshmen campaign.  Llewellyn also has the daunting task of running a 5-1.  This program has a lot to look forward to with this kind of talented youth.</p>