State Hopefuls Battle In The Classic 8
The Classic 8 Conference could be represented by 3 teams in Green Bay for the State Tournament. But before we get to the Resch, who is going to walk away with the conference championship? Mukwonago took the title a…
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The Classic 8 Conference could be represented by 3 teams in Green Bay for the State Tournament. But before we get to the Resch, who is going to walk away with the conference championship? Mukwonago took the title a year ago, do they have enough left to repeat? Will Tayler Alden (Northern Iowa), Aubrey Hamilton (Notre Dame), or maybe a Laser freshman win the conferences top honor?
2019 Predictions | |
Place | Team |
1st | Arrowhead |
2nd | Oconomowoc |
3rd | Kettle Moraine |
4th | Mukwonago |
5th | Waukesha West |
6th | Catholic Memorial |
7th | Muskego |
8th | Waukesha South |
9th | Waukesha North |
Like the Greater Metro Conference you should see 4 teams battle it out for for the conference title. Mukwonago walked away on top a year ago but have to find someone to fill in Alayna Jansky’s shoes as she starts her collegiate career at Eastern Michigan. Arrowhead established themselves as favorites by starting 2019 with a 2nd place finish at the Joust. Oconomowoc followed closely behind winning the Silver Championship. A big story line to watch for the Raccoons may be that they face the other top 3 teams in the conference on their home court this year. High School cheering sections have grown for volleyball. Ocon’s opponents will hope their cheering sections can create a playoff-like home court advantage.
Kettle Moraine is coming off a disappointing 3-5 2018 conference season. But the Lasers started 2019 on the right foot winning the Crusader Challenge in impressive fashion. Again like the GMC, the top 4 teams will duke it out for the conference title while the next 4 should also battle it out for 5th. Classic 8 conference matches are always fun to watch with schools representing their colors proudly.
Key Matches:
Mukwonago at Kettle Moraine – September 5th
Oconomowoc at Mukwonago – September 10th
Arrowhead at Kettle Moraine – October 1st
Oconomowoc at Arrowhead – October 8th
Oconomowoc at Kettle Moraine – October 15th –
Players that are essential to win Conference:
Joust Runner Up ArrowheadArrowhead
Aubrey Hamilton (Notre Dame) is the biggest name on this talented Warhawk roster, followed closely by Elise Schneider (Wofford). With that comes the attention of her opponents. They will need to rely on Madi Tolzman and Michala Mechenich to be offensively leaders. Both started the season off strong with 25 and 31 kills, respectively, at the Joust. This conference is loaded with collegiate talent and the Warhawks can not expect to win conference without a strong supporting cast. Coach Hobbs also pushes her girls to serve aggressive in route to winning the important serve/serve receive battle. If they can keep Classic 8 opponents out of system it plays right into their strength. I expect Arrowhead to continue to build on their 2nd place finish at the Joust and win the Classic 8. They will have a target on their back all season, but look for that to just fuel the fire on the Warhawk side.
Oconomowoc
A lefty setter with length and power to swing. Unfortunately, my genetics gave me sub-six foot height and right-hand dominance so I had to get creative sending the ball over on 2. Senior setter Tayler Alden on the other hand, pun intended, has been making a name for herself since she started playing volleyball. The Northern Iowa recruit has been toying with opposing blockers her whole career. She has 3 Division I recruits in the back row that will be expected to make her life a little easier.
The Raccoons will again rely on Alden to open up the net by drawing attention on her 2nd contact. However for Ocon to win conference they will need their middles to become active and pins to hit more efficiently. The Joust exposed some inexperience with pins having 65 errors to 116 kills. Maleah Howe and Cordelia Kearns are underclassman that will be asked to terminate on the pin. If those two and their middles can take advantage of the plentiful 1-on-1 opportunities this team should be in line to win on any court.
Crusader Challenge Champs, Kettle Moraine
Kettle Moraine
The Lasers are ready to make some noise this year and into the future. The Crusader Challenge was established as the new “waiting list” to get into the Joust. The top 3 teams from this event replace the bottom 3 (unless host schools fall in the bottom 3). Kettle Moraine went undefeated and beat a strong Howards Grove team in the finals in a three set thriller. This was without sisters Madeline and Becca Siedenburg who are both slated to be in the starting line-up.
But another set of sisters will be key to this teams success. Middle blocker Hailey Grocholski (Presbyterian) is looking to finish her high school career on top along side her little sister, freshman outside Grace Grocholski. Grace hit .317 on the outside while her older sister hit .446 with 33 kills. If they can keep hitting at that rate it will round out a complete Laser offense. They also get Mukwonago, Ocon, and Arrowhead on their home court which, they hope, will give them an extra edge.
Mukwonago
Mukwonago started their season taking 2nd at their Burlington tournament last week. Erin Powers (UAB) will be asked to try to replicate the season that Alayna Jansky a year ago in route to Player of the Year honors. Abby Gardner will be asked to run the defense and Nicole Pozorski (Upper Iowa) the offense. For the Indians to repeat as conference champions they will need swings not named Erin and Nicole to step up. They were first and second on the team in kills at their last invite.
Marissa Reynolds, Aoife Treacy, and Dru Henning will need to develop into terminators to take the top spot. All three had their shining moments in Burlington, but Mukwonago will need those shining moments to occur at the same time. Unfortunately, they have a match up with Kettle Moraine thursday, September 5th. The high school season flies by and they start conference play with a potential state qualifier.