Who’s Dishin’ at the Early Bird Invite: Setters to Watch
Just like that, varsity rosters are set and teams compete in their first official matches on the year. Scrimmages are great, but there is nothing like lining up against another program its matches that matter. One of the first events…
Access all of Prep Dig
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingJust like that, varsity rosters are set and teams compete in their first official matches on the year. Scrimmages are great, but there is nothing like lining up against another program its matches that matter. One of the first events of the season will be hosted by Watertown High School. Here are the teams competing in the Invite and their setters who look to dish out assists throughout the year. Check back Wednesday with results from the Invite and some featured players that stepped up to the competition.
Pool A
Watertown
Isabelle SchauerIsabelle Schauer (Belmont) is back and ready to lead her Goslings on her final run to the State Championship. Schauer will look to lead a balanced offense relying primarily on outsides Allison Stair and Samantha Gray. The athleticism and great court awareness will allow Isabelle to almost toy with opposing middle blockers allowing her pins numerous one-on-one opportunities all day.
East Troy
Emily Wendt helped lead the Trojans to a 2018 Division 2 State Championship, but will have to shoulder even more weight this year. Wendt will surely rely on recent Seton Hall commit Katie Winkler to provide the bulk of the offensive production this year. Setting is Emily’s primary focus, she also finished 4th in kills and digs a year ago. Emily will have to get creative and look to utilize other offensive weapons so the opponent can not key on Winkler on every attack.
Germantown
The Warhawks have a competition brewing for who will run this potent offense. Sophomore Maddie Connor led the team a year ago in assists but senior Emily Galaszewski followed close behind a year ago. The competition doesn’t stop there, varsity newcomer Leah Schaeve will look to push for some playing time after finishing up a very successful club season with I AM Volleyball. I wouldn’t be surprised to see freshman Lilly Wagner be given some opportunities to set as well. The high school season flies by and in my experience, head coaches use these early tournaments to get meaningful reps to players in position battles.
West De Pere
Junior Cambria Budinger and sophomore Mya Zielinski will be tasked with running the Phantom offense again in 2019. Cambria edged out Mya in assist total a year ago. The Phantoms will be forced to replace major offensive production lost due to graduation but having both setters return to run a 6-2 and maximize hitting opportunities will help the rebuild. These two will have a tough go in their first event of 2019 with a pool with many offensive weapons.
Pool B
Sussex Hamilton
Kaitlyn Lefler (Illinois State) will find her in an interesting position due to the loss of Sarah Schrader (UW-Milwaukee). Lefler has seen action both pins during summer league and scrimmages leading up to this event. She has already established herself as one of the top setters in her class. However, the Chargers will need Katelyn to become a major offensive weapon in the front row while getting her setting reps opposite Janelle Stuempfig running a 6-2.
Waunakee
Sam Miller setting for CVAWaunakee is led by senior outside and Buffalo commit Milla Malik. But you can’t forget Sam Miller (Augustana), as she is the one who provides all of those attack attempts on the outside. Sam led her Capital Volleyball Academy team to a 1st place finish in St. Louis on Presidents Day during her club season. She will look to carry that success over into the high school season.
Brookfield East
Rachel Wessel stepped into the spotlight at East after the program took big hits due to graduation in 2018. Last season Wessel led the team in assists with a very “green” roster around her. The majority of the roster found themselves starting for the first time besides middle blocker Riley Kindt. With Hannah Maney gone to graduation, the Spartan offense is Rachel’s to run.
Janesville Craig
The Cougars find themselves as the only team in this event that has to replace their setter. Taylor Salmon (Edgewood) led the team to Big 8 Conference Championships in 2016 and 2017 while also graduating as valedictorian. Sophomore Abby Trapp will look to step into a larger role this season. She finished 2nd on the team in assists as a freshman. But Salmon ran a 5-1 for the majority of the season. I would expect Abby to rely on fellow sophomore Britten Bertagnoli as much as possible to take some pressure off of herself. Bertagnoli will be leading the offense after finishing 3rd in kills a season ago behind two seniors.
**Featured Photo of Lauren Carlini Credit: AP Photo/Elaine Thompson