Wayne State Team Camp Recap

<p>WAYNE - The Friday that kicks off the world-famous Chicken Days festival in Wayne is called Hen-O-Ween, but before the cluck-off, hard boiled egg eating contest and all the other fun started this weekend, several teams converged on Wayne for the Wayne State team camp.</p> <p>In total, 24 teams competed in six pools of four in the morning, followed by a re-pool and more competition in the afternoon. There technically isn't a camp champion, as the six pool winners were re-pooled together, but didn't all play each other.</p> <p>However, there was still plenty to report on after a full day at Rice Auditorium. Here are some random observations and thoughts after taking it all in. </p> <p>I will start with a non-Nebraska team, but one that will be of interest to several teams in the state - Western Christian out of Hull, Iowa. One of the premier small-school programs in the state of Iowa, Western Christian has been consistently one of the top teams at the Bellevue Invitational at the start of the season.</p> <p>After watching the team play several matches on Friday, the 2019 version of Western Christian might not be the best team they've brought to Bellevue in recent years, but I think they will almost certainly find themselves back in the championship bracket again this fall. Stop me if this sounds familiar about Western Christian, but they will be big, physical and put up a really good block. They've got a really nice team again. I did not get name of their setter, but she would be comparable to any of the top setters in the state of Nebraska. Once again, Western Christian will give teams fits.</p> <p>North Bend was really impressive at times and a little shaky at times, but the Tigers put together a real nice camp. Lauren Emanuel is a legit blocking middle with great athleticism and good pin-to-pin quickness. Overall, North Bend is big at the net, which will likely have the carry the Tigers for the summer and into the start of the 2019 season while its back-row play and setting are still in a growth stage.</p> <p>Cierra Kluthe is a 5'10 outside hitter who did some really nice things and has some power in her swing and 5'8 Morgan Ortmeier and 5'11 right side Jenna Byrd all played well and can get above the net, as can Sydney Emanuel, who is springy and athletic and a good blocker despite being about 5'8. Kaitlyn Emanuel has a lot of upside as a setter, but with upside comes room for improvement. If she starts to click at setter, North Bend Central can do some damage in Class C-1.</p> <p>Guardian Angels CC of West Point was about a .500 team last year, which is actually something of a down year for the school, but they competed well in Wayne. The Bluejays were young last year, with underclassmen representing about 91% of the team's kills. Incoming sophomore Sophia Hass is legit as a 5'8 full-rotation outside hitter. She led the team last year with 298 kills but hit just .124 - which was still much better than the team average.</p> <p>Hass has a future at the next level - likely in the NAIA or 2-Year College range - as a back-row player, but look her her and the Bluejays to have a much-improved year in 2019.</p> <p>When you think volleyball in Columbus, you generally think immediately of Columbus Scotus or even Columbus Lakeview, but I'm here to tell you that you better start keeping an eye on Columbus High - you know, the Discoverers - because that's a program that's coming up strong.</p> <p>The team made the Round of 16 in Class B last year and you can tell that the kids are really getting coached up in that program. The Discoverers aren't big, but you can see the huge development of ball control that has taken place and the team not only won its pool in Wayne, but competed really, really well against the likes of Western Christian and others. I didn't really see any super stars on the court for Columbus, but I liked what I saw from them as a team - a lot.</p> <p>The aforementioned Columbus Scotus looked strong in Wayne and is coming off a 19-10 season in which the Shamrocks made it to state last fall. I will see more of the Shamrocks at the Kearney Catholic Top 10 Camp later this month and I will be curious to see how the team has improved. The team doesn't return anyone with more than 100 kills from last year, so I would expect the team to be competitive this summer with a lot of competition going on within the team. How that parlays into the 2019 season will be interesting to watch.</p> <p>Wayne definitely turned some heads on the day from a team standpoint and the Blue Devils have a real difference maker coming in as a 6'0 freshman - whose name I somehow did not get before I left - looked really good. The Blue Devils are going to be able to put legit talent on the court in all six positions and they have the look and feel of a team that is going to be in the mix for a state-tournament berth this fall.</p> <p>Here were the final standings of each of the initial pools from the Wayne State team camp on Friday:</p> <p>Pool A:</p> <p>1.) Western Christian A<br /> 2.) Norfolk<br /> 3.) Howells-Dodge<br /> 4.) Laurel-Concord-Coleridge</p> <p>Pool B:</p> <p>1.) North Bend Central<br /> 2.) Sheldon Black<br /> 3.) Summerland (Ewing-Clearwater-Orchard)<br /> 4.) Crofton</p> <p>Pool C:</p> <p>1.) Columbus<br /> 2.) Stanton<br /> 3.) Siouxland Christian<br /> 4.) Pierce Blue</p> <p>Pool D:</p> <p>1.) Columbus Scotus Green<br /> 2.) David City<br /> 3.) Wisner-Pilger<br /> 4.) Sheldon Orange</p> <p>Pool E:</p> <p>1.) Guardian Angels CC<br /> 2.) Cherokee<br /> 3.) Western Christian B<br /> 4.) Hartington-Newcastle</p> <p>Pool F:</p> <p>1.) Wayne<br /> 2.) Sioux Center<br /> 3.) Columbus Scotus White<br /> 4.) Pierce White</p>