13+ High Risers at The Wisconsin State Tournament

Going into the Wisconsin State Volleyball Tournament, there was definitely some things everyone knew was going to happen. Tayler Alden of Oconomowoc was probably going to get a double-double with assists and kills with her stellar setting and sneaky quick left handed swing, Kaley Blake of Burlington was going to dish to every spot on the court to get the open swing for her hitters, Ari Miller of Kettle Moraine Lutheran was definitely going to get her kills off one foot, and Selena Levendoski of Clayton was going to pain the deep corners out of the middle and even the backrow. Here are some names and stories that definitely stood out this past weekend at the Wisconsin State Tournament. Skylar White - River Ridge - Junior Taylor Langmeier - River Ridge - Senior River Ridge was 24-0 coming into the state tournament and had only dropped one set which was in the sectional final. Skylar White and Taylor Langmeier came into the tournament averaging 3.9 kills per set and 5 kills per set. River Ridge was right with the 2017 state champions the whole way, behind the performance of White and Langmeier. These two hit out of the middle and play all the way around. There are so many hidden gems at the small school levels. You may not see them play for big club teams because chances are they do everything at their school from being on the volleyball team to playing other sports, student council, and music as well. The leaping ability of White and the shots by Langmeier were tough to defend for the Bears. River Ridge came in with an amazing following and support for their team. Keri Walker- Living Word Lutheran - Senior Committed To Northern State - (NCAA D2 - Aberdeen, South Dakota) I had yet to see Walker play live and Thursday afternoon she sure put on a show for Living Word Lutheran in an intense battle against Stratford. Walker came into the tournament with over 500 kills, 224 assists, and 182 digs. She does everything! Thursday afternoon against Stratford she had 37 kills and 11 digs. So versatile, she can score on a slide a high two ball to the middle or spotting it to the corner from the backrow. Northern State maybe doesn’t have the big name recognition as other Division 2 schools, but FYI - they just won the Northern Sun Conference, one of the best D2 volleyball conferences in the nation and have been ranked in the top 5 in the country all year. The Nagel Sisters Mazie Nagel - Senior - Outside Hitter Lauryn Nagel - Sophomore - Middle Hitter Mazie Nagel came into the tournament with over 400 kills and the go to outside hitter for Stratford, but had a little help from her sister Lauryn Nagel in Thursday’s semifinals against Living Word Lutheran. Mazie stepped up with 23 kills, and Lauryn added 11 for the Tigers who packed the Resch with one of the largest crowds all weekend. Stratford would finish runner-up and an overall record of 44-1, one for the history books. Rylee Vaughn - Lake Country Lutheran - Junior - Libero Lake Country Lutheran plays such gritty defense all the way around. However Saturday, Vaughn just might have been the MVP of the championship match. It was no secret that Stratford was going to be setting standout Mazie Nagel the whole afternoon, but Vaughn was right there for the dig. Not only was her dig keeping the ball in play, but keeping the Lightning in system. With 35 digs overall and plenty of serving receptions that were on point, she was getting everything started for the Lightning enroute to defending their state title. Alayna Ritter, Jennifer O’Keefe, Gabby Garcia, and Breanna Pape - Lake Country Lutheran Ritter had 61 assists in the championship match with Pape and Garcia snagging 15 kills each out of the middle in the championship match. Jennifer O’Keefe had 22 kills for the Lightning as well. Lake Country Lutheran was coming off a state title and the questions was how would they replace 2017 Gatorade Player of the Year in Brooke Anderson who is now at Iowa State. By committee. Ritter not only was able to distribute, but she saved so many passes and made smart plays to keep it alive to give LCL another possession. The play of Garcia and Pape was huge. Coming up with big blocks at the right time as well as swings and tip outs to the open spot. Brooke Voigt - Kettle Moraine Lutheran - Senior - Outside Hitter For most of the season Voigt was the third option behind Milwaukee commit, Ari Miller and upstart Sophomore Elle Truckenbrod, but Voigt was on fires for KML in the semifinals Friday afternoon. Voigt was averaging 1.7 kills per set, but tallied 15 kills on a .333 hitting percentage in the four set win over Little Chute. Voigt also earned All Tournament team as well as KML went on to earning the silver ball. Emily Wendt - East Troy - Junior - Setter Brianna Scuric and Katie Winkler are the two big hitters for East Troy that everyone keys on, but Emily Wendt is the 5’9 Junior setter for the Trojans who really gets everything going. Wendt runs a 5-1 and at times will block out of the middle. Her athleticism is what sets her apart, along with her ability to dish to either pin, and attack at the right time. She makes things happen, but she also is just so consistent with everything that she does that it's not flashy, but just get it done. East Troy was clicking on all cylinders enroute to their state title win against KML. Courtney Pearson - Kimberly - Junior - Outside Hitter Pearson and Maggie Cartwright were the go to pin hitters for the Papermakers and ended up with 20 kills each against Burlington in the quarterfinals. However, along with her 20 kills, Pearson had 28 digs and a .340 hitting percentage. Emily Alan - Burlington - Junior - Middle Blocker The connection between Alan and setter Kaley Blake doesn’t get much better. Blake is able to shoot a tempo set to Alan from the ten foot line and Alan does so well with being able to hit to the corner that makes it incredibly tough to defend. Alan hit .447 on the season and was the same throughout the state tournament. In the championship match Alan also had 10 blocks as the Demons went on to repeat as state champions. Grace Peyron - Burlington - Junior - Right Side What a way for the Seniors at Burlington to end their careers with three state championship game appearances and back to back state titles. Peyron came up big in the title match with 13 kills and was a huge force at the net with her blocking. Fellow Senior, Coley Haggard came up big as well with double digit kills in each state tournament match. Elle Shult - Oconomowoc - Senior - Middle Blocker Shult and setter Tayler Alden were on fire as they came back against River Falls after being down 2-0. On Friday night, Shult had 17 kills on 25 swings which was a .680 hitting percentage. That is almost unheard of. Whether it was a slide, a quick, or a shoot she was able to score with any type of set. She is still uncommitted as to where she will be playing college volleyball. At 6’3 and the ability to hit a variety of tempos and a strong block she will be a great pick up at the next level.