Recapping High School Action from Bill Marshall Classic

<p>GRAND ISLAND - A total of 29 teams took part in jamboree matches in the Bill Marshall Classic as part of the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island over the weekend.</p> <p>With matches at the four area high schools in town - Grand Island Senior High, Northwest, Central Catholic and Heartland Lutheran - I was able to get to each venue between Friday and Saturday and took in as much volleyball action as possible as we close in on the start of the regular season this Thursday.</p> <p>Here is a recap of the action I was able to watch.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>SEM, Heartland Lutheran, Brady triangular at Heartland Lutheran</strong></span></p> <p>A trio of Class D2 teams got the high school portion of the Bill Marshall Classic underway Friday afternoon with a triangular between host Heartland Lutheran, SEM (Sumner-Eddyville-MIller) and Brady.</p> <p>Both SEM and Brady were able to get sweeps against Heartland Lutheran while SEM and Brady split their match with Brady taking the first set 25-19 and SEM coming back to win the second set 26-24. The last time either of the three teams won a match at the state tournament was 2011 when Brady finished third in D2, but the teams played some really good volleyball to get the weekend started.</p> <p>Heartland Lutheran - despite not winning a set in the two matches - played with a lot of grit and hustle. It's not a team with a lot of size, but they are going to fight people all the way through and be a tough team to beat.</p> <p>SEM went 12-17 last fall, but the Mustangs have some nice talent to work with and can definitely compete for a trip to the state tournament based on what I saw. Ashley Schroeder is a really nice senior middle that goes at 6'0 on paper but is probably more like 5'10 or 5'11. She is athletic and a better blocker than attacker, although she's got a strong arm and should be the top offensive threat for the Mustangs. She can definitely play at the 2-year college or NAIA level.</p> <p>Brady was a solid 23-6 a year ago before losing to North Platte St. Patrick's in district play to end the 2018 season. I was especially impressed with senior setter Elizabeth Sitorius-Johnson, who had about 5'10 puts up a real nice block and she has really good hands and is capable of running a 5-1. Senior middle Megan Lusk is right about 6'0 and is raw, but she is athletic and can really play and, along with Sitorius-Johnson can play at the next level. The Eagles also have a couple really nice but undersized outsides in Trinity Christophersen and Kate Axthelm that make up for their lack of height with power arms.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Grand Island Central Catholic 2, Columbus Lakeview 0</strong></span></p> <p>One of the front-runners for the Class C2 state title will be Grand Island CC this season, and the Crusaders looked every bit the part in taking a 25-22, 25-8 win over Columbus Lakeview.</p> <p>I've talked a lot in the past about the talent on GICC's team, but you know who I was really impressed with and who I don't think I've given nearly enough love to on that team? Allison and Avery Kalvoda. The senior twin sisters are really, really good players. </p> <p>Both are right about six foot and they are both just really athletic and incredibly consistent and under control on the court. Avery plays in the middle and has nearly 500 kills for her career. Allison is on the outside and she has about 400 kills for her career, but I'm telling you what - they are both going to have huge seasons this fall and both of them can be impact players at the NAIA level.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Fremont 2, Grand Island Northwest 0</strong></span></p> <p>Fremont is coming off a 14-20 season, and by the looks of things, the 2019 version of the Tigers will be one of the best in many, many years. Now, keep in mind, this is a program that hasn't been to the state tournament since 1983. That's 36 years people. </p> <p>There is a lot to be excited about based on the 25-17, 25-16 Fremont got of Grand Island Northwest if you are a fan of the Tigers. It's a team that has the look and feel of a squad that could finish the year around ,500 and maybe finish in the top half of the Heartland Conference, which would be a huge step forward for the program. It's not an overly big Fremont team and its back row isn't quite there yet, but their combo of setter/right sides in junior Hannah Wilson and Ellah Hofer is really solid and outside hitters Grace Williams and Michaela George had Class A-level arms.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Elkhorn South 2, Grand Island 0</strong></span></p> <p>Elkhorn South proved why it's one of the best teams in the state, beating Grand Island 25-11, 25-12 on the Islanders home court. Senior middle Emma Hilderbrand held her own at 5'11 against Elkhorn South and looked really good. She's a next-level player.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Elkhorn South 2, Millard South 0</strong></span></p> <p>Two Class A teams with high aspirations for the season finished out the Bill Marshall Classic in awesome style with a super-competitive match that ended with the Storm winning 25-21, 25-23.</p> <p>I've talked a lot all summer about both teams and the talent they have, but they really did some outstanding work on Saturday. Millard South is so dang scrappy and they seem to always get a piece of every attack with their block. When she is on, sophomore outside Maddie MacTaggart is hard to stop and Paige Fixemer is an absolute beast in the middle, but sophomore setter Makayla Fleming deserves lots of love as well. She has really developed into a really good Class A setter and looked sharp on Saturday.</p> <p>I'm not sure there are enough words in the dictionary to adequately describe what Elkhorn South showed on Saturday. They have talent and power at every spot on the floor and you're going to hear a crap ton about all of their players this season, so let me give some love here to a few kids that deserve a little attention. Madi Woodin is such a great setter, she really is. She's only 5'5-ish, which really limits her upside in college, but she's a helluva high school player. She's smart with her selections, outstanding with ball placement and in a lot of ways is the straw the stirs the drink for them. One of my biggest questions about Elkhorn South this season was going to be who would be the #2 middle, but both Mia Mroczek and Kaitlin Thiebauth looked pretty good on Saturday. Not sure who wins that second middle spot in the rotation, but either way the Storm will be in good shape.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>