What If Wisconsin Went To Five Divisions For Volleyball?
I won’t go deep into the numbers, but volleyball is one of the most heavily participated in sports in Wisconsin and across the country. As the game continues to grow, what would happen if Wisconsin would expand into five divisions? Iowa has five classes, Minnesota voted earlier this past spring to expand from three classes to four, but what about Wisconsin? There are five classes for softball and basketball, what would happen if the same would happen for volleyball?
Maddi Kealy of River FallsRiver Falls and Burlington Move to Division 2 (Oh and Waukesha West and Westosha Central)
River Falls has established itself among one of the big time programs in Wisconsin. Three consecutive state tournament appearances and this upcoming season will feature three Division 1 commits in Seniors Emily Banitt (Loyola-Chicago), Halle Olson (Florida Atlantic), and Junior Anna Wolf (Minnesota) as well as Senior setter Maddi Kealy heading to one of the top Division 2 programs in the country in Minnesota-Duluth. In 2017, Burlington defeated River Falls in five sets to win the state title and followed up with another state championship in 2018. Five Divisions would make the classification basically the same as basketball which these two programs are in D2. Waukesha West who qualified for the state tournament last year in D1 and Westosha Central which has always been in contention for state tournaments in Division 1 would move to D2 as well.
Division 5 Still Ruled By Same Small School Powers
Newman Catholic, Clayton, and Catholic Central – all recent state champions would be in the smallest division. For many of these small schools, it’s not uncommon to see the same starting lineup for multiple sports make it to the state tournament. Clayton was able to have virtually the same starters for basketball and volleyball make multiple appearances at the Resch Center playing in some big time games. They were able to take home the state volleyball title in 2017.
Lexi Donarski of Aquinas.Top Division 3 Powers Would Move To Division 4
Howards Grove, Aquinas, Oconto, Cuba City, Stratford, and Waterloo (just to name a few) would be Division 4 teams where in the current classification they are all Division 3. Cuba City would avoid having to play some of the teams out of the Madison area or the likes of a Lake Country Lutheran who ended their run in the sectional tournament last year. Howards Grove will be one of the top teams in Division 3 this season with a defense that will be tough to match. Aquinas has been close to getting back to state since their appearance in 2016 where they faced Howards Grove in the semifinals. This year will be the Senior year for Lexi Donarski, the Iowa State basketball recruit who has been a standout in volleyball and has won two state titles in basketball. Aquinas will be looking to end their season at the Resch Center for both sports this year.
What Separates Division 2 and Division 3 With Five Divisions?
Most teams would all move down a class if there were five divisions. Freedom, Little Chute, Xavier would all move down to Division 3 and Luxemburg-Casco would stay in Division 2. Kettle Moraine Lutheran would get away from Catholic Memorial and Wisconsin Lutheran to only move to a sectional most likely with East Troy and Lake Country Lutheran. No matter how you breakdown a Milwaukee area sectional in any sport or class, it’s always going to be a tough road. The Madison area makes things interesting with so many schools on the border of D1/D2 and D2/D3. Schools like DeForest, Mount Horeb, and McFarland are always hovering between classes and going to five Divisions would break them up a little more. Edgewood would also be down in Division 3 if volleyball went to five classes. If Wisconsin would break into five divisions for volleyball, what would essentially be accomplished?
New Teams and Competitive State Tournament
In an ideal world, I think it would be great to see an expanded state tournament for basketball and volleyball (eight teams in each division). No, this wouldn’t be giving everyone a trophy, this would give the state a chance for new matchups, this might give teams a chance that would typically in the same section a chance to get out of the area to play new teams on the road to state. This doesn’t mean that Kenosha Indian Trail needs to play DC Everest in the first round of a section tournament either. By expansion, it gives a chance to offer more athletes a chance to compete at the highest level and is a win-win for athletes and their communities