Breaking Down The 17s Badger Region Qualifier

I knew this would be a combination of teams that would be extremely interesting. Some will be very familiar with each other with former teammates, high school teammates competing against each other, and a few wildcards who could really add some fire to the mix. The Milwaukee Sting Center will be hosting the Badger Region Qualifier this weekend with 13s-18s competing for bids on the line to Vegas, the host of the 2021 USA Volleyball Girls National Junior Championships in late June/early July. How Does This Weekend Work For Earning A Bid? I'll keep it simple. You win the whole thing, earn a National Division bid. Get second place, earn an American Division bid. The National Tournament is broken into different divisions with the Open level being the highest level of competition which the FC Elite 18 Elite team and Milwaukee Sting 18 Gold have punched their ticket to the Open level. You must earn that bid at a national qualifier. This weekend will be a regional qualifier where the highest bid earned is a National Division bid - but hey, a bid gets you in the door. Viva Las Vegas! I will be at the Milwaukee Sting Center providing coverage on Sunday with live updates on Twitter - @PrepDigChris and will have content, pictures, and video to follow that can be found on our Prep Dig Wisconsin website and Prep Dig Wisconsin Facebook Page. Pool 1 Seed - Team 1 - Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold 6 - FC Elite 17 Navy 7 - Eau Claire Air 17 Blue [caption id="attachment_116926" align="alignright" width="300"]<img class="wp-image-116926 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/11/DSC08499-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> [player_tooltip player_id="81257" first="Sydney" last="Lewellin"], 2022[/caption] This is most interesting pool by far. Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold is coming off a big weekend at the St. Louis Presidents Day Nike Challenge where they finished 5th in Open and had some huge wins against national powers Adversity and Michio out of Chicago and KiVA out of Louisville who is always one of the top clubs in the nation. They have a relatively new combination of athletes this year where [player_tooltip player_id="81262" first="Berkley" last="Mischler"], [player_tooltip player_id="57260" first="Mary" last="Satori"], [player_tooltip player_id="81261" first="Madisen" last="Miller"], and [player_tooltip player_id="57288" first="Ella" last="Buddenhagen"] all played for FC Elite 16 Navy last season. They also have two top setters in [player_tooltip player_id="81267" first="Lily" last="Lutz"] who recently committed to Belmont and [player_tooltip player_id="81257" first="Sydney" last="Lewellin"] who is one of the top available setters in the Class of 2022. The top six will get into the championship bracket where the match between FC Elite and Eau Claire Air is going to be huge. FC Elite 17 Navy has been in the top batch of teams in the Badger Region Power League and have seen top competition at the Northern Lights Qualifier in Omaha. They will be led by their setting duo of [player_tooltip player_id="57252" first="Emma" last="Baierl"] and [player_tooltip player_id="81273" first="Emma" last="Johnson"] and will look to get points from their outsides in Grace Holshuh (Green Bay) and [player_tooltip player_id="118258" first="Hannah" last="Moe"] (Oshkosh). Eau Claire Air will come in relatively unknown to the Eastern side of the state, but do not sleep on this squad. They competed at the Central Zone Invite, finishing second in their division, finishing 6-1 with their only loss coming to Circle City out of Indianapolis in three sets. Attacker, Emily Brenner is from the Class of 2023 and will bring quite a presence to the front row and will have a solid first contact from libero   Pool 2 [caption id="attachment_125335" align="alignright" width="393"]<img class="wp-image-125335" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/01/DSC04510.jpg" alt="" width="393" height="263" /> [player_tooltip player_id="117350" first="Calli" last="Haus"], FDL Fusion[/caption] Seed - Team 2 - Milwaukee Sting 17 Black 5 - Wisconsin Premier 17 Teal 8 - [program_tooltip program_id='431937' first='Fond' last='du Lac Fusion'] 17 Purple 11 - 360 VA-17-1 Milwaukee Sting 17 Black will be the favorite in this pool after impressive showings at Central Zone in Indianapolis and Presidents Day in St. Louis. With their two pins in [player_tooltip player_id="81321" first="Grace" last="Schneider"] andRiley Hamilton, there is always an outlet to score and with Aoife Tracy on the right side they can really spread the front line. Wisconsin Premier 17 Teal has been consistent all season and has a group that plays well together. [player_tooltip player_id="90600" first="Elise" last="Gillen"] is a do it all setter who connects really well with middle blocker, Gabby Magee. [player_tooltip player_id="81333" first="Stella" last="Zarling"] is a dynamic six rotation point scorer on the outside who can do plenty of positive things for her side of the net. The sleeper in this tournament is [program_tooltip program_id='431937' first='Fond' last='du Lac Fusion']. They are extremely athletic, they've hung in there with the top teams at the Badger Region Power League and with an athletic setter in Izzy Coon and big swings from [player_tooltip player_id="81293" first="Gianna" last="Trotter"] and [player_tooltip player_id="117350" first="Calli" last="Haus"], they will make for a tough out.   [caption id="attachment_117060" align="alignright" width="236"]<img class="wp-image-117060" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/11/Katie-Gund-2-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="236" height="354" /> [player_tooltip player_id="35805" first="Katie" last="Gund"][/caption] Pool 3 Seed - Team 3 - Milwaukee Sting 17 White 4 - Sting Burlington United 17 Orange 9 - [program_tooltip program_id='431537' first='Midwest' last='Penguins'] 17 Black 10- SWVBC 17 Blue Sting 17 White has started the season red hot, winning their division of Central Zone and went 6-1 in St. Louis for Presidents Day before losing in the Gold Semifinals. This team is well balanced where they can run multiple combos of athletes with two solid setters in [player_tooltip player_id="35805" first="Katie" last="Gund"] and [player_tooltip player_id="81283" first="Tatum" last="Kebisek"]. Burlington United 17 Orange is coming off a big three set win against FC Elite 17 Navy in their last match this past weekend at BRPL and has had strong showings at Central Zone and Presidents Day. [player_tooltip player_id="81303" first="Sophie" last="McCormack"] is a pin hitter that needs to be on the radar of plenty of college coaches as well as libero [player_tooltip player_id="117345" first="Ella" last="Luoma"]. [player_tooltip player_id="81296" first="Mya" last="Lequia"] will be a physical presence in the middle or on the right side. This team will be hungry and eager to prove themselves in a very competitive field.   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> What's next in 2021 for <a href="https://x.com/PrepDig?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PrepDig</a> Tournaments?? Check out our full tournament lineup below! Registration and info on AES (search Prep Dig) ⤵️<a href="https://t.co/Rb6kKlxfGE">https://t.co/Rb6kKlxfGE</a> <a href="https://t.co/cicrES5Bzl">pic.x.com/cicrES5Bzl</a> — Prep Dig Events (@PrepDigEvents) <a href="https://x.com/PrepDigEvents/status/1356984568096686087?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>