Hot Takes on WVCA Week 3 Rankings Into a Big Weekend

I love talking about Wisconsin High School Volleyball.  From the top players to the new up and coming teams, it’s so fun when you have high schools that are playing a variety of schedules and how they all blend together to somehow come up with a top ten ranking.  This year at Prep Dig, we will not be doing a weekly ranking, but instead taking a close look at the WVCA Rankings which are voted upon by the coaches (Friendly reminder, you need to be a WVCA member to nominate players for All-State).  There may be a few questions that I will attempt to answer in this article where people may not agree with all my thoughts.  Here is my birds-eye view looking at the rankings and interpreting the top ten rankings for September 14, 2021. 

Link To WVCA Rankings – Week 3

Why Is This Team Ranked Higher When They Have More Losses? 

The difficulty of your schedule matters.  Having your team play in front of other top teams and coaches matters.  This is comparable to college sports and the NCAA committee where they are looking at the difficulty of a schedule and if your team is being challenged.  Here are a few examples: 

Exhibit A: 

River Falls (14-0), Sauk Prairie (20-0), and Oconto (11-0) are all undefeated in their respective classes but are not ranked number one.  River Falls’ best win is Turtle Lake in D4, Chippewa Falls, or Stillwater (MN).  Sauk Prairie’s best win is maybe Reedsburg, and Oconto’s best win would be Oconto Falls or Wausau West.  Teams are going to be ranked on their quality wins over their losses, which if you take a look at the losses to most of these top-ranked teams, they are to other highly ranked teams.  Play a tough schedule, get rewarded.  This weekend will be a bit of a judgment weekend when River Falls and Sauk Prairie head to the Adidas Charger Challenge, the top tournament in the state.  

What Teams Are In Position To Make a Move: 

Holmen – This team won the Beaver Dam tournament defeating Luxemburg-Casco, top ranked in D2.  They avenged their only loss of the season when LC beat them earlier in pool play that morning.  This team is solid, they have great ball control led by Ellie Kline Ellie Kline 5'4" | DS/L Holmen | 2022 State WI at libero and Southern Miss beach volleyball commit, Mara Schmidt Mara Schmidt 5'11" | OH Holmen | 2022 State WI , who also averages three kills per set.  They will be in a section with Madison come post-season and will be a threat to break through to the Resch. 

Brookfield East – The Spartans won the opening tournament of the year to qualify for the Joust in 2022 with huge wins over Wisco, Catholic Memorial, and New Berlin West.  No stats were available on Max Preps for Brook East, but they do have one of the top middle blockers in the state in Maddie McGath. 

Sauk Prairie – Yes, they are ranked second in the state, but this weekend can be a huge opportunity for them to make a statement in a field loaded with top ranked teams and other ranked across all classes. 

Muskego, Franklin, Cedarburg, Wisco – These teams would definitely be in a top 15 of D1 squads.  Heading into a big weekend at the Charger Challenge, they can build an impressive resume of wins.  Wisco is in D1 this season and scored a huge win over Pewaukee in conference play last week.  What is exciting about D1 this season is the amount of depth where there are 20 teams who can beat up on each other. 

Who Is Turtle Lake? 

Your new number one team in D4. Turtle Lake is located about an hour North of Menomonie.  This area is no stranger to volleyball success with teams like Clayton and Clear Lake in their backyard.  Anika Torgerson Anika Torgerson 6'1" | OH Turtle Lake | 2023 State WI is an athlete who needs to be known around the state and to plenty of college coaches.  She can set and swing.  She averages over four kills per set and two assists perset. At 6’2, she’s strong, physical, and athletic – not to mention a high ceiling of potential.  She played club at Minnesota Juniors out of the Twin Cities last year and will definitely be soaring on the radar of college programs this upcoming club season when they see her physical presence on the court. 

A Few More Hot Takes On Week 3 Rankings: 

Ranked Matchup! Howards Grove will be taking on Xavier out of Appleton in a non-conference match in Howards Grove.  Xavier is an extremely athletic group of Sophomores who play with no fear.  They took a set off Brookfield Central and lost 15-13 to Luxemburg-Casco while also advancing to power pool play at the Joust.  This team has gotten better with each touch, but Howards Grove is the top ball control team in the state.  Should be a great atmosphere in the Tiger’s Den. 

Be Cautious of Stats – I really only use stats when I haven’t seen a player live very much to feel confident to give an evaluation.  I like to value the “Live Eye” perspective.  There are too many variables with stats such as: level of competition, offensive system, and point spread.  What does point spread mean?  There are some players who are on really good teams who might not play a whole match or whole set when they are blowing teams out.  You can only score 25 points a set, its not like football or basketball where you can score as many points as you want.  And, if the other team is making a lot of errors, it doesn’t count as an assist, kill, or dig on the other side of the net. 

P.S. – Keep stats updated on Max Preps – Plenty of media outlets use this for reporting. 

Remember, It All Comes Down To Sections – The rankings are great and fun to compare teams, but when it comes right down to it, it’s all about who is in your sectional.  Once again we see sections that are absolutely loaded and have a rough road for all of the teams.  The D2 Madison Sectional will have Sauk Prairie, Edgewood, and McFarland  (all teams ranked in the top four on one side having Edgewood, McFarland, Lakeside Lutheran, Lake Mills, and Edgerton all together).  Where in D2, Section 1, Saint Croix Central is the top team who is 15-1 and receiving Honorable Mention Honors.  The same can be said for D1 Section 5 who is always a topic of conversation with #2 Brookfield Central, #3 DSHA, #4 Germantown, and #8 Hamilton (and Arrowhead, Brook East, and Cedarburg). Compared to Section 3 where the top team right now is Holmen who is currently Honorable Mention.  It is, what it is.