18s “Live Eye” Rankings and Matchups I’d Love To See
The club season is still young, but I have seen my fair share of volleyball with the Molten Series (the power league in the Twin Cities Metro), Northern Lights Qualifier in Omaha, Big City Luau, and the JVA Jamboree in…
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Continue ReadingThe club season is still young, but I have seen my fair share of volleyball with the Molten Series (the power league in the Twin Cities Metro), Northern Lights Qualifier in Omaha, Big City Luau, and the JVA Jamboree in Milwaukee. If athletes are playing club volleyball at the 18s level, they more than likely have aspirations of playing at the college level and are committed. If athletes are playing in the 18 Open level then they are probably going to play at a high level collegiately.
There are two things that are really stand out to me when it comes to watching the 18s level, the speed of the game and the margin of error. The best 18s team I’ve seen play live this year is Arizona Storm at the Northern Lights Qualifier. Clean passing, leading to a quick tempo, and no errors. They are so tough to score points against and they do not give the opposing team any easy points.
As for the margin of error, it doesn’t take much for team to go on a run if there are a few errors here or there. For example, the opening weekend of the season had One Wisconsin 18-1 defeating Milwaukee Sting 18 Black and Milwaukee Sting 18 Gold, but then got beat this past weekend by Milwaukee Sting 18 Silver, while Silver went on to beat Milwaukee Sting 18 Black. You play clean, don’t make errors, and all of a sudden odds are tilted in your favor. Its all a simple game right? If only it were that easy.
Here are some matchups that would be great to see:
DRob of @iowapowerplex everyone! Plex forces a time out in set 2 up 15-14. pic.twitter.com/nDX48dRd6E
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) January 11, 2019
Mizuno M1 (MN) vs. Iowa PowerPlex 18 Black Elite
Both of these teams have qualified to play in the Open division of USAV Nationals with PowerPlex getting their bid in Omaha and M1 getting their bid in Chicago. Two totally different styles of play with the PowerPlex literally bringing a ton of power behind Kenna Sauer (Missouri), Devyn Robinson (Wisconsin), and the whole show being run by Purdue commit Megan Renner. M1 is smart, well trained, fundamentally sound, and extremely clean with how they play. They upset some big time powers enroute to their open bid. Elizabeth Juhnke of M1 would be playing against future teammate Aimee Adams where they will go on to win many games at South Dakota. Juhnke is a lethal point scorer from all rotations and was one of the top players in the state of Minnesota.
Another in state battle in a crucial match for pool standings between @stingvb1988 and @CapitalVbAll pic.twitter.com/MBb8zJg5o0
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) January 12, 2019
Capital 18 Adidas (WI) vs. Adrenaline 18 Adidas (IA)
Two elite, big time middle blockers with Kiana Schmitt of Capital heading to Creighton and Grace Tubbs of Adrenaline going to Iowa. Capital also has Bailey Neuberger who is an outside hitter going to Southern Illinois and Sopheea Mink heading to High Point in North Carolina. Adrenaline is led by some really solid all around players in Maddy Baxter (Drake), Akeela Jefferson (South Dakota State), and Sommer Daniel (Utah). Capital is always well disciplined and trained and would make for a great match up with Adrenaline with how their top positions really cancel each other out. Capital still has a few top prospects available in Ashley East as a right side and Sarah Malone as a libero.
Kathrynn Reimann – such a high flyer for @nlightsvball heading to @AugieVolleyball – Lights up 13-4 in set 2 pic.twitter.com/oPWMfj8q36
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) January 11, 2019
Northern Lights 18-2 vs. Milwaukee Sting 18 Gold (The Rematch)
Northern Lights is by far your typical twos team with the speed and power they have across all positions. With running a 6-2, they always have an extremely physical front line with Tori Thompson (South Dakota State) and fellow Lakeville North teammate Macy Winter (Navy) and two middles who are heading to Marquette in Claire Neussmeier and Gabrielle McCaa (Boston College). An extremely physical lineup. Milwaukee Sting 18 Gold has really been coming on strong lately. They are anchored by Dru Kuck, one of the top liberos in the Class of 2019, and is still unsigned, but have quite the depth at the pin with Alayna Jansky (Eastern Michigan), Brianna Scuric (Northern Illinois), Ashley Geunveur (Troy), and setter/right side Kayce Litzau (Wichita State).
Kandi Elite 18-1 (MN) vs. One Wisconsin 18-1
These two teams are eerily similar. Kandi Elite is full of athletes from Western/Southwestern Minnesota and One Wisconsin has athletes in the Green Bay/Appleton/Lakeshore area that come together and just form a really solid team. Kandi Elite is led by setter Carly Wedel who has committed to play at South Dakota State, a physical presence at the net who can attack and block with the best of them along with a whole batch of players who are the future of the NSIC, one of the top Division 2 conferences in the country. One Wisconsin has an extremely offensive setter in Taylor Vanden Berg (Class of 2020), but also Gabby Murray (Marist), Cece Huhn (Northern Colorado), Lily Welti (St. Louis), and Makenna Krause (Creighton).
The Battle of the Axe – Volleyball Style
Minnesota claimed the axe from Wisconsin this year in football in their annual “Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe”. A major upset and a definite blow to the pride of Wisconsin. Now if we turn this into a volleyball power pool between Northern Lights 18-1, MN Select 18-1, and FC Elite 18 Navy. Their whole roster is full of athletes who will be going to some of the top programs in the country next year and have pulled up some of the top players in the Class of 2021 with Lights having setter Kennedi Orr (Nebraska), Middle Blocker Anna Wolf (Minnesota) for MN Select, and Brooke Mosher for FC Elite 17 heading to Illinois. These teams have all played each other and have traded sets back and forth. It would be such a thriller to showcase something like this to volleyball fans to see the future of the Big Ten, Big East, and other major conferences across the country.
Championship Day! ????????????starting out with a Minnesota state title (Round 1) with @MNSelect and @nlightsvball pic.twitter.com/le85MdtlFR
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) January 13, 2019
The Live Eye Rankings of Teams From the Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin
*In order to qualify for this I have to see you play live. The season is young, there are still more teams to see, but this is what I have seen so far this year. Again, I take pride in live evaluations and seeing these athletes from the side of a sport court where you can truly see they are some of the best prep athletes in the country! These are NON-AES Rankings and where they would be at right now based on when I saw them play LIVE.
- Northern Lights (MN) 18-1
- Iowa PowerPlex 18 Elite Black
- MN Select 18-1
- FC Elite 18 Navy (WI)
- Mizuno M1 (MN) 18-1
- Milwaukee Sting 18 Gold
- Northern Lights (MN)18-2
- MN Select 18-2
- Adrenaline 18 Adidas (IA)
- Motion (MVP) 18 Blue (WI)
- Capital 18 Adidas
- Milwaukee Sting 18 Black
- Kandi Elite (MN) 18-1
- Milwaukee Sting 18 Silver
- One Wisconsin 18-1 Bay
Knocking on the door…
SMV 18-1 (MN)
Kokoro 18-1 (MN)
MN North 18-1
One Wisconsin 18-National
MVP (IA)
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???? https://t.co/5HsmtBvAN6 pic.twitter.com/KCdJW1l38R— Prep Dig Events (@PrepDigEvents) January 31, 2019