Senior Soundoff PART 1: Coaches Give Final Shout Out To Opposing Seniors

The past couple months are something that we could have never really fathomed. New terms such as “social distancing”, “flatten the curve”, and too many times where I had to Google the difference “cancelled” and “canceled” (I still can’t explain it). What won’t be doing is honoring the Class of 2020 in Wisconsin, one part at a time. Today we have coaches talking about Seniors….from the other side of the net. There is a respect that coaches develop for athletes on the other side of the net. For some, it will be odd to face that team and not have that particular athlete to scheme against. For some of these athletes they were making an impact as these 14 year old Freshmen just starting high school, now they will be heading off to college while some will play volleyball, others just focusing on their academics. Either way, they have made a definitely impact on the Wisconsin volleyball landscape. Have a shout out to an athlete on the other side of the net? Send it to chris@prepdig.com [caption id="attachment_92270" align="aligncenter" width="434"] [player_tooltip player_id="56004" first="Kaley" last="Blake"] setting[/caption] Megan Awe, Head Coach Westosha Central High School on [player_tooltip player_id="56004" first="Kaley" last="Blake"] of Burlington “I have been on the opposite side of the net form [player_tooltip player_id="56004" first="Kaley" last="Blake"] the past three years. It will be weird knowing she is not running the offense at Burlington next year (it literally feels like she has been setting there for a decade). Her high volleyball IQ and competitive drive is respected by many coaches and players in the conference. I wish her the best at UW- Milwaukee next season." [caption id="attachment_92269" align="aligncenter" width="437"] [player_tooltip player_id="80176" first="Emily" last="Wendt"] #10[/caption]   Trish Fortune, Head Coach McFarland High School on [player_tooltip player_id="80176" first="Emily" last="Wendt"] of East Troy “Emly Wendt from East Troy was always a setter we prepared to play against. She not only located the sets well, but she kept our defense on their toes with her ability to dump on two. A lot of times her serves would get us out of system. She has a great jump, float serve. Besides her high level skill set, she is a fierce competitor that took her teams to the next level. She always had good sportsmanship toward McFarland. I have respect for Emily and wish her the best of luck in her adult life!” Jeff Frey, Head Coach at Luxemburg-Casco on [player_tooltip player_id="80162" first="Katherine" last="Walch"] of -Notre Dame Academy “One of our biggest rivalries at Lux-Casco is Notre Dame, we have battled them and Katherine in the playoffs the last four years including the last three epic 5 setters in the sectional semi-final. She was an absolute beast and took half the court away in serve receive and everyone knew to serve away from her. Her leadership, drive and intensity was always on full display. While I won’t miss having to game plan against her, I will miss having the pleasure of watching her play with her passion and intensity. There is no doubt that she will do great things as she continues her career at Michigan Tech. [caption id="attachment_92267" align="aligncenter" width="352"] [player_tooltip player_id="56006" first="Milla" last="Malik"][/caption] TJ Rantala, Head Coach at Sun Prairie on [player_tooltip player_id="56006" first="Milla" last="Malik"] of Waunakee. “When [player_tooltip player_id="56006" first="Milla" last="Malik"] transferred to Waunakee her sophomore year nobody really knew what we were getting. Even though we only played against each other 4 times in 3 years, every time was memorable. When you look across the net you see a player in black goggles, she quickly shows you what she is made of. Milla has an all-around game that can shut teams down. A serve that quickly takes you out of system followed by a killer swing both in the front row and back row. Milla is going to do great things at the University o f Buffalo. Congratulations on a great high school career & best of luck at Buffalo.” [caption id="attachment_85269" align="aligncenter" width="401"] [player_tooltip player_id="80155" first="Jacqueline" last="Smith"][/caption] Justin Jacobs, Head Coach at Mosinee on [player_tooltip player_id="80155" first="Jacqueline" last="Smith"] of Northland Pines "[player_tooltip player_id="80155" first="Jacqueline" last="Smith"] was the latest and possibly the best of the Smith girls that seemingly have been playing at Pines since the dawn of time. With Jacqueline, the big swings and the eye popping kills numbers stand out (over 2,000 career kills), but she is a well rounded multi-tooled player. Her serve receive is great; she routinely takes up half the court passing dimes, while still transitioning to hit from any spot on the court at any time. But more importantly, she is a class act showing phenomenal sportsmanship and is extremely well respected by everyone she plays against. Our whole program wishes Jacqueline the best of luck at Northern Michigan!!!!" [caption id="attachment_86968" align="aligncenter" width="382"] Wucherer and Hamilton[/caption] Emily Bennett, Head Coach of Neenah on [player_tooltip player_id="10329" first="Aubrey" last="Hamilton"] of Arrowhead: “I think many coaches in Wisconsin are glad to see [player_tooltip player_id="10329" first="Aubrey" last="Hamilton"] from Arrowhead graduate -- now she gets to be a headache for all of Notre Dame’s opponents. She is such a dynamic player -- she stumped so many teams because no matter how you tried to adjust your defense or your block to her swings, she would just pick another spot from her bag of tricks. She is an incredible player to watch and I’m excited to her succeed at the next level." Matt Prissell, Head Coach at Fall Creek on Mckenna Krall of Stratford The past 2 years we played Stratford in an early-season tournament and in sectional play. [player_tooltip player_id="80270" first="McKenna" last="Krall"] was the type of Libero that made us change our game plans to adjust to where she was across the net. We knew that she would get to every ball and find a way to have a perfect pass and we tried to avoid serving at her 100% of the time. For my money, she was one of the best liberos in our area and the defensive anchor of some really good and talented teams at Stratford."