The Joust: Teams On the Rise
The Joust has been regarded as an early season indicator of who are the top teams in the state. The 22nd running of the event included 8 of the top 15 Division I teams and 3 of the top 10…
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Continue ReadingThe Joust has been regarded as an early season indicator of who are the top teams in the state. The 22nd running of the event included 8 of the top 15 Division I teams and 3 of the top 10 Division II teams according to Prep Dig’s pre-season rankings. While predicting high school sports has no perfect formula, top performers at this tournament tend to be ones in the running for qualifying for state in their respective sectionals.
Brookfield Central Lancers: The Champions
Champions Brookfield CentralIt’s hard to be considered as a “team on the rise” when you were seeded number one overall to start the tournament and near the top in every pre-season poll out there. Coach Spiess led his Lancers to a quick 5-0 start before Gold Bracket play started. Lake Country Lutheran gave them the biggest competition throughout pool play and crossovers. The Lightning had leads in both sets, but McKenna Wucherer eventually took control and finished each set. BC dropped the opening set in the semis and finals to Burlington and Arrowhead respectively before closing things out in exciting 3rd games. The Lancers will need their middles to continue to produce to take some pressure off their talented outsides. Brookfield Central will have a target on their back all season. This won’t be a one year run either, their roster is set up for success for the next couple years.
Arrowhead Warhawks: Runners Up
Arrowhead looks head back to Green Bay after getting there last year for the first time since 2001. The Warhawks flew into the Gold Finals with DSHA putting on the most pressure during crossovers. Coach Hobbs has looked to Jade Stefan Jade Stefan 5'8" | S Arrowhead | 2021 State WI to run the offense solo this year after the departure of Emma Ruckstadter. While running a 5-1 eliminates a front row swing, this team had plenty of offense to go around. Seniors Aubrey Hamilton Aubrey Hamilton 6'0" | OH Arrowhead | 2020 State WI (Notre Dame) and Elise Schneider Elise Schneider 6'0" | RS Arrowhead | 2020 State WI (Wofford) had 79 kills and 37 kills respectively. Fellow senior Emily Larson led the way for the Warhawk defense throughout the day. The early season Finals match up between BC and Arrowhead could be a preview to the Sectional Final to go to state.
Runner Up ArrowheadWest Bend West Spartans
The Spartans are not so quietly making a name for themselves to start the season. They are dealing with an early season coaching change with Varsity Assistant Lisa Paulson stepping into head coaching duties. However, Coach Paulson has a team full of returners looking to make a push for the North Shore title this season. Maddie Rettler (Upper Iowa) led the way for the Spartans. As a 6 rotation outside her presence on the court at all times has proven to be pivotal to the early season success. West Bend’s only losses came to 3 teams ranked in the top 10 of Division 1..Burlington, Sussex, and Brookfield Central. As Bronze Bracket Champions they had impressive 3 set wins over Kimberly and Lake Country Lutheran. Both of which are state contenders in 2019. The Lightning lost a tight 3 set match to Cedarburg in crossovers, which gave West Bend a great a look how to beat the North Shore favorite.
Lake Country Lutheran Lightning
The Lightning don’t care if their opponent is Division 3, 2 or 1. They wear their hearts on their sleeves and fight until the end. The addition of freshman setter Rachel Rossing Rachel Rossing 5'9" | S Lake Country Lutheran | 2023 State WI has allowed them to keep 3 attackers in the front row at all times with a 6-2. While Alayna Ritter Alayna Ritter 5'5" | S Lake Country Lutheran | 2020 State WI ran a 5-1 during their state run a year ago, a bigger opposite block is needed against teams with big outside swings. Evvie Kaskowski Evvie Kaskowski MB Lake Country Lutheran | 2021 WI is going to need to be their true OH1. LCL lost Brooke Anderson Brooke Anderson 5'2" | DS/L Kimberly | 2021 State WI (Iowa State) and then Jennifer O’Keefe Jennifer O’Keefe 5'11" | OH Lake Country Lutheran | 2019 State WI the last two seasons. Evvie stepped up this weekend in a major way leading the team with 45 kills.
Senior libero Rylee Vaughn Rylee Vaughn 5'5" | DS/L Lake Country Lutheran | 2020 State WI finished the weekend with 82 digs. Adriana Studer Adriana Studer DS/L Lake Country Lutheran | 2022 State #187 Nation WI , the heir to the libero jersey, finished with 44 in her DS responsibilities. The Lightning proved they can hang with the “big kids” in Division 1 beating the defending State Champion and just coming up short against top ranked Brookfield Central and Cedarburg. While they are not able to defend their Division 3 State Championship, look for the Lightning to be potential favorite to take the Division 2 title this year.
Appleton North Lightning
Lightning strikes again with Appleton North. Going into the Joust I predicted they would upset DSHA to take the 1 seed out of pool play but I was not ready for what I watched from this team. I knew this team had some offensive weapons but I did not expect the length of their front row. This team has 5 players over 6’0 and while the offense is led by a “small” dynamic Brianna Cantrell Brianna Cantrell OH Appleton North | 2022 State #104 Nation WI . This
Appleton North team huddlehas to be one of the longest (wingspan) teams in the state this season. The first comparison that came to mind was the Milwaukee Bucks. While these girls don’t have NBA wing spans, their length is frustrating for their opponents giving them defensive advantages.
Appleton North was the only team able to slow down Tayler Alden Tayler Alden 6'0" | S Oconomowoc | 2020 State WI (Northern Iowa) and beat Oconomowoc. This was in large part of aggressive serving. But a bigger factor was their big block not allowing Alden to take control by going over on her second contact. Brooke Bolwerk Brooke Bolwerk 5'6" | S Appleton North | 2021 State WI and Taylor Vanden Berg Taylor Vanden Berg 5'11" | S Appleton North | 2020 State WI did a great job running the offense. Their opponents struggled to key on any sort of tendencies. Freshman Karissa Fortune also made an immediate impact and will be a player to watch the next 4 years. Appleton North shot up the State Rankings after the first week of play, and you can expect to see them there all season long.