Season Openers to watch: Metro West

<p>This week we finally get to see some of our favorite teams take the court after weeks of uncertainty.  Here are our picks for the conference</p> <p>Oct. 8th</p> <ul> <li><em>Chaska vs. Bloomington Kennedy</em> -  Chaska is likely to center their offense around junior, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="31580" first="Mallory" last="Heyer"]</strong>.  The 6’1’’, outside hitter drew attention last year as a top prospect and this year will look to solidify their position in the conference.  They will be rebuilding parts of their offense but with strong tradition and a solid staff we know they will rebound fine.  </li> </ul> <p>Oct. 9th </p> <ul> <li><em>Robbinsdale vs Bloomington Jefferson -</em> RC will have their work cut out for them as they get set to face a strong BJ , who finished second in the conference last year.  They did graduate seven seniors but return a strong core.  Their leading attackers for the year will be <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="72796" first="Cassie" last="Sieling"] </strong>and<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="31609" first="Ellie" last="Sieling"].  </strong>They graduated their top setter, <strong>Alicia Wendler, </strong>but have a good replacement with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="71964" first="Kelly" last="McArthur"]</strong> and a few underclassmen.  Sophomore <strong>Olivia Opstad,</strong> will likely see more playing time this year.  Jefferson is the heavy favorite here but we will wait to see what awaits them on the other side.</li> </ul> <p>Oct. 15th</p> <ul> <li>With a few matches to get out jitters and finalize line-ups, we are most excited for the following Thursday as <em>Bloomington Jefferson and Chaska</em> face off.  Last year Chaska claimed the West title and they have taken on some tough competition for their shortened season, including <em>Wayzata.  </em>But Bloomington will be hard to beat with a bounty of hitters and excellent passing.  </li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>