Breaking Down the D1 Regional Champs Part 2

Playoffs are well underway with several rounds of regionals and ultimately regional champions being crowned. Next up is sectionals, the first round will take place this coming Thursday at 7 PM. Sectional 3 and 4 for D1 are very competitive and have had some tight matchups. Here are the teams that won their regional finals. All seed references are to the team’s seed within their sectional. <h3>Holmen (#1 Seed)</h3> As the first seed, Holmen had a first-round bye. They then swept Monona Grove in a highly competitive and tight match. This team is incredibly talented. They have only dropped two matches this entire season and went 12-0 in conference. They have a dynamic front row with a number of impactful hitters including [player_tooltip player_id="117342" first="Mara" last="Schmidt"] (Committed to Southern Mississippi beach program), [player_tooltip player_id="149039" first="Harley" last="Bartels"], [player_tooltip player_id="149042" first="Chloe" last="Hammond"], and Kyla Christnovich (2023). Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="149043" first="Rayna" last="McArdle"] and senior [player_tooltip player_id="118269" first="Marissa" last="Pederson"] set for the team and both do a great job feeding their hitters. [player_tooltip player_id="118261" first="Ellie" last="Kline"] is a dynamite passer who is a leader on this team. She takes control of the back row and makes some truly amazing digs. <h3>Verona (#4 Seed)</h3> Verona won an incredible five-set thriller against 5th seeded DeForest. They were very successful in the Big Eight Conference this year and have an 82% win record. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="81322" first="Claudia" last="Bobb"] (Committed to Southern Illinois) is an offensive leader on this team. Junior [player_tooltip player_id="149576" first="Jamie" last="Puent"] and senior [player_tooltip player_id="81317" first="Lexi" last="Stremlow"] have also had a huge offensive impact on the team. Sophomore setter [player_tooltip player_id="122524" first="Reagan" last="McIntosh"] has proven herself an amazing leader on this team. She has 750 assists, 40 aces, 189 digs, and 75 kills. Senior libero Kimberly Quinn also is a very impactful player on this talented team. These athletes are all very gritty. You can never count them out of any match or any play. They can hunker down and work their way through matches. <h3>Waunakee (#3 seed)</h3> Waunakee only dropped one match in conference play and has a 34-14 record overall. Pin hitters Summer Grigg (2024) and [player_tooltip player_id="91910" first="Ally" last="Saleh"] (2023) lead the charge with kills. Senior middle hitter Grace Grogan is impactful and efficient on offense and has one of the top hitting percentages on the team. Additionally, she is unstoppable on the net. She has 72 solo blocks and 93 total blocks on the season. Senior captains Allie Mack and Evelyn Seignarack are both very influential on this team. Allie has over 500 assists, 45 aces, and 145 digs. Evelyn is a libero/ds who has brought in over 400 digs. <h3>Middleton (#2 Seed)</h3> Middleton has had an amazing season. They went undefeated in the Big Eight conference and have a 36-4 record. They won a 5 set thriller against Onalaska with a 16-14 score in the fifth set. Junior captain [player_tooltip player_id="91883" first="Jordan" last="LaScala"] is an impact player for the Cardinals. She has been a top athlete on this team since her freshman year. As a pin, she is hitting a 0.289 and has 431 kills, 44 aces, 288 digs, and 371 service receptions. Junior middle blocker [player_tooltip player_id="149575" first="Sierra" last="Pertzborn"] is a beast at the net with 268 kills, 84 blocks, and a 0.366 kill percentage. Evin Jordee (2023) is another three-year varsity athlete as a junior. She has over 1,600 career assists, half of which she has contributed this season alone. Libero/DS [player_tooltip player_id="149572" first="Eliana" last="Ross"] (2023) is scrappy and competitive in the back row. She is a key defender on this team and brings a lot of energy to the court. <h3>Oconomowoc (#1 Seed)</h3> Oconomowoc is absolutely unstoppable this year. They won the Classic Eight conference and have a 34-5 record. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="122475" first="Anna" last="Bjork"] is unstoppable at the net with 276 kills and 89 blocks. Setter [player_tooltip player_id="122568" first="Lilly" last="Wagner"] (2024), is one of the best athletes in the state. She is dynamic, fast, smart, and incredibly hard to read. She runs this offense efficiently and with precision. [player_tooltip player_id="81331" first="Hadley" last="Strohkirch"] (2022) is a fast and consistent libero that is highly effective on serve receive and defense. Other highly impactful players include [player_tooltip player_id="57245" first="Haley" last="Koch"] (Committed to Cedarville), [player_tooltip player_id="81290" first="Ella" last="Unterweger"] (2022), [player_tooltip player_id="91876" first="Cordelia" last="Kearns"] (2023), and [player_tooltip player_id="81265" first="Alana" last="Dvorak"] (2022). This is the team to beat in this sectional and one that has its sights set very deep into the state tournament. <h3>Hartford Union (#5 Seed)</h3> Hartford Union took out Fond du Lac (#4 Seed) in a tight and highly competitive four sets last week. They have had an incredibly competitive season, playing against some of the top teams in the state. They have a 24-10 record and went 7-2 in the North Shore Conference. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="57247" first="Riley" last="Hamilton"] (Committed to Loyola Maryland) is an energizer on the court. She manufactures kills and is a huge motivator and momentum changer on this team. Junior pin hitter Joelle Melsheimer and senior middle hitter [player_tooltip player_id="148979" first="Courtney" last="Kirley"] are also essential to the success of this team’s offense. Setter Taylor Kutz (2023) is consistent and utilizes her hitters well. She knows their strengths and puts the ball in a great spot for them. <h3>Watertown (#3 Seed)</h3> This is a very competitive team that spreads out its offense well. Senior middle hitter [player_tooltip player_id="81320" first="Maryann" last="Gudenkauf"] leads the Goslings in kills (352), and blocks (138). She is a go-to hitter on this team and touches the ball a lot. Fellow middle hitter Abby Walsh (2023) is also highly effective at the net. She had 12 kills and 6 blocks in their five-set win over Neenah to win the regional championship. Libero [player_tooltip player_id="91918" first="Kallie" last="Feder"] (2023) is very consistent on serve receive. She also is aggressive on defense and plays quick and scrappy. This team has battled their way into the regional championship, adding to their success this season. They will play a highly competitive Manitowoc Lincoln on Thursday night. <h3>Manitowoc Lincoln (#2 Seed)</h3> This team swept their way into Sectionals with wins over Oshkosh North (#15 Seed) and West Bend West (#10 Seed). The Ships went 9-0 in the Fox River Classic Conference and 31-7 on the season so far. [player_tooltip player_id="57260" first="Mary" last="Satori"] (Committed to Minnesota-Duluth) is explosive at the net. She leads the team in kills and is one of the top servers and defenders on the team as well. Sophomore setter Grace Fruzen is averaging over 5 assists per set and has reached nearly 500 assists on the season. She also leads the team in aces. Senior pin hitter Jenna Miller has over 200 kills and sophomore Madison York is also very effective and offense. Senior libero Ashlyn Dymerski is impactful and scrappy on the court. She is very fast and incredibly consistent on serve receive. On 373 service receptions, she has only made 28 errors.