Scouting #2 North Branch (MN) vs. #3 River Falls (WI)
These two teams will be competing in different state tournaments, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t familiarity on both sides of the net. North Branch will be heading across the Mississippi River to take on River Falls in what will…
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Continue ReadingThese two teams will be competing in different state tournaments, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t familiarity on both sides of the net. North Branch will be heading across the Mississippi River to take on River Falls in what will be another border battle for River Falls who has played plenty of top competition in Minnesota this season.
North Branch is the defending state champion for Minnesota in Class AA (Equivalent to Wisconsin D2). They are returning some key players from that
North Branch senior Cianna Selbitschka goes up for a kill against Southwest Christian during the Breakdown Sports Sideout Classic at Edina High School. The Vikings defeated the Stars in five sets (23-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-15, 19-17). Photo by Jeff Lawler, SportsEngineteam which would include Cianna Selbitschka (Minnesota-Duluth), the top-ranked Class of 2020 prospect in the state of Minnesota. Last season, en route to a state title, Selbitschka completely took over with North Branch winning their quarterfinal match in five sets against Watertown-Mayer, another win in five sets against Kasson-Mantorville, and capped off with a five-set win over Marshall in the state championship. Selbitschka was the go-to throughout, averaging over five kills per set in the state tournament. Libero, Kylie Kline was on the all-tournament team as well as setter, Paige Sheehan. North Branch also has a big scoring threat in the middle with Paige Peaslee.
River Falls has been to the D1 (Wisconsin’s largest class) state tournament the past three seasons, with a runner up finish in 2017 and a final four finish in 2018. The Wildcats return a large part of their lineup from 2018 which includes three Division 1 commits. Emily Banitt (Loyola-Chicago) and Halle Olson (Florida Atlantic) lead from the outside and have been major point scorers their whole career. The season started out with some key injuries with setter Maddi Kealy (Minnesota-Duluth) in a boot with a stress fracture and Junior, Anna Wolf (Minnesota) with a back injury. Kealy is back and in her initial return to the court, led River Falls to a second-place finish at the Charger Challenge, the top tournament in Wisconsin with the top teams across the state at the Milwaukee Sting Center. Anna Wolf will be working her way back into the lineup for the Wildcats and will add another dimension to the Wildcat attack. Wolf is 6’4 and touches 10’5 out of the middle. Her presence will definitely be felt on defense with the ability to create a major mismatch. Sophomore, Haley Graetz is a Class of 2022 prospect to keep an eye on with her ability to find the open court, use a variety of shots to score points, and has the ability to play on the pin as well.
Keys To Tonights Game:
Olson (#7) and Graetz (#4) go for a block at the Charger ChallengeCan River Falls Get In-System?
Will River Falls be able to get in system where they can use all of their attackers. When Graetz can run a slide or a variety of tempos with Kealy, it will cause a lot of problems for the Vikings. Banitt and Olson will get their kills and so will Selbitschka for North Branch, but if River Falls can execute their free ball opportunities, they will definitely have the edge.
Manage Selbitschka, Contain Everyone Else
Cianna Selbitscka is going to get her kills. There are going to be plays where she will be diving out of middle back and by the time she gets up there will be a set going to her for a backrow attack and she will find a way to score points. That’s what great players do. However, if the supporting cast is getting into double-digit kills, then its good news for the Vikings, bad news for the Wildcats.
The Serve and Pass Game
North Branch will have their mindset to score from the first touch, meaning the serve. With aggressive serving, the Vikings will want to get Kealy moving which takes out the threat of Wolf and Graetz and they can just defend the outside. However, if Banitt and Olson get a one on one opportunity they are going to score in bunches.
Plenty of Connections
Cianna Selbitschka, Maddi Kealy, and Emily Banitt were all on the Kokoro 17-1 team for club last season while Halle Olson and Anna Wolf played for MN Select with Olson on 17-1 and Wolf on 18-1. Head coach for North Branch, Mike Selbitschka was the 15-1 head coach at Kokoro where he had River Falls players Haley Graetz and Dani Lien. Maddi Kealy and Cianna Selbitschka will both be playing and Minnesota-Duluth next year.