Adidas President’s Day Spectacular: 15/16 Premier Preview

<p>President’s Day weekend is a big one for club volleyball.  There are a lot of big tournaments across the Midwest.  While Chris is trying to visit them all, I will be camped out in Wisconsin Dells keeping an eye on the Adidas President’s Day Tournament.  Later we will take a look at interesting match-ups happening in pool play across divisions, but right now we will take a peek at some potential upsets and the players possibly making that happen in the 15/16 Premier Division.  Seeding can always be interesting when combining age divisions and regions.</p> <p><strong><u>Pool 1</u></strong></p> <p><strong>Midwest Penguins 15-Black</strong></p> <p><strong>414 – 16 Elite</strong></p> <p><strong>I AM VBC 15 Red</strong></p> <p>I think I AM VBC 15 Red may be a bit underseeded in this case.  15 Red previously beat Midwest Penguins 15-Black who has the top seed in their pool. They also lost to a solid Milwaukee Sting 15 Burlington who is the top seed in Pool 4.  A key player for 15 Red is <strong>Helena Ashley</strong> (2022 – Defensive Specialist – Cedarburg)</p> <p><strong>WI Performance 16UA</strong></p> <p><strong><u>Pool 2</u></strong></p> <p><strong>MKE Sting 16 Silver</strong></p> <p><strong>RVA G16 Navy</strong></p> <p><strong>MKE Sting 15 White</strong></p> <p>I am predicting 15 White to take a 2^nd place in Pool 2.  They have a number of tools, including <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="57262" first="Abbie" last="Stigler"]</strong> (2022 – Outside Hitter – University School Of Milwaukee), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81315" first="Halie" last="Markovic"] </strong>(2022 – Middle Blocker), and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81283" first="Tatum" last="Kebisek"] </strong>(2022 – 5’8 – Setter – Brookfield Central).  I certainly don’t think RVA would go down without a fight though.  This could be a really good match.</p> <p><strong>Wisconsin Ice 15 Purple</strong></p> <p><strong><u>Pool 3</u></strong></p> <p><strong>MKE Sting 15 Silver</strong></p> <p><strong>Wisconsin Ice 16 Purple</strong></p> <p><strong>Wisconsin Premier 15Teal</strong></p> <p>I think this pool will be quite interesting; their teams are from 3 different age divisions.  Premier has beaten Midwest Penguins 15-Black and RVA G16 Navy already this season, and while they aren’t in the same pool, they will play Wisconsin Ice 16 Purple a 2^nd time after beating them last weekend in the Badger Region Power League.  Premier has a plethora of weapons including: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81311" first="Alyssa" last="Gaeth"]</strong> (2022 – Middle Blocker/Right Side Hitter – Kettle Moraine Lutheran), <strong>Caitlin Johnson </strong>(2022 – 5’7 – Outside Hitter/Defensive Specialist – Kettle Moraine Lutheran), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81308" first="Taylor" last="Larson"] </strong>(2022 – 5’6 – Outside Hitter – Menomonee Falls), and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81337" first="Autumn" last="Daute"] </strong>(2022 – Middle Blocker – Cedarburg)</p> <p><strong>MKE Sting 14 Black</strong></p> <p>This team looks to be a lot of little sisters of some pretty successful players.  This particular team hasn’t seen much action playing against 15s or 16s, but with a 16-2 record, this should be a good challenge.  They have risen to most challenges so far this club season.</p> <p><strong><u>Pool 4</u></strong></p> <p><strong>MKE Sting 15 Burlington</strong></p> <p>Don’t underestimate this group under the direction of UW-Milwaukee’s head coach Susie Johnson.  They are led by her daughter, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81272" first="Josie" last="Johnson"]</strong> (2022 – Setter – Waterford), <strong>Emily Glembin </strong>(2022 – Outside Hitter – St. Thomas More), and <strong>Katie Heidenrich </strong>(2022 – 5’7 – Outside Hitter – Nicolet).</p> <p><strong>FDL Fusion 16 Purple</strong></p> <p><strong>Midwest Penguins 16-Red</strong></p> <p><strong>WILD 16s</strong></p> <p><strong><u>Pool 5</u></strong></p> <p><strong>Club Synergy G16 Red</strong></p> <p>Synergy has a 17-4 record, so far taking 2^nd in the NVC Tournament as well as placing 8^th in the 16 Silver division of the Big City Luau.  Their key player is <strong>Kailey Ertel </strong>(2021 – Middle Blocker – Northland Lutheran).</p> <p><strong>MKE Sting 16-1 Madison</strong></p> <p><strong>Wisconsin Premier 16 Teal</strong></p> <p>This will be a great tournament and a fun division to keep an eye on!</p>