The Showcase at the Dells – What to Watch?
I will be covering the Mizuno Showcase at the Wisconsin Dells this upcoming weekend and there are a few things I will be looking for. What I enjoy about this event is that I get to see athletes from Illinois,…
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Continue ReadingI will be covering the Mizuno Showcase at the Wisconsin Dells this upcoming weekend and there are a few things I will be looking for. What I enjoy about this event is that I get to see athletes from Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. I always enjoy getting to see teams I know play against each other that have no prior connections. It’s like two of your friends meeting each other, you just want it to work out. Let’s set being corny aside and take a look at what to watch heading into the Mizuno Showcase.
The evolution of Kiersten Schmitt has been so fun to watch. Two years ago she was kind of a right side setter. Now the @CycloneVB commit is a big time powerful outside hitter.
She gets the kill for Beckman to win set one pic.twitter.com/VEy1CA5LcB
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) November 2, 2021
Iowa Teams!
Iowa is going to bring some strong teams to the Dells this weekend. Iowa Rockets and CIA will be two of the stronger clubs competing. Iowa is a heavy USAV Region affiliate where rarely will they send teams to AAU Nationals. There will be plenty of new matchups for these Iowa teams as they prep for qualifier season. The Iowa Region tournament is next weekend and its always a heated battle at Drake University where teams will have their first chance to snag a bid. CIA 18 Black has some high powered commits featuring Kiersten Schmitt (Iowa State) and Meredith Street (UNI). Iowa Rockets 17R has a really athletic and dynamic team who will be in the hunt for a 17s title. Avery Van Hook (South Dakota) will be one of the top setters in the gym along with versatile and dynamic attacker, Chloe Cline (Evansville).
Locking In Recruiting Classes
March is usually the time where decisions are being made, especially for the Class of 2022 and some for the Class of 2023. VC United 171, VC United 182 Elite, VC United 173 Elite, CIA 18 Black, and plenty of others have 2022s and 2023s who will have college coaching eyes on them where they hope to have that decision secured for their college future. There are a lot of 2023s playing this weekend who will be next level college players.
Looking At The 17s
There will be two power pools for the 17s with Power A having SMV 17-1 Black, Capital 17 Adidas, Madtown 171 National, and Iowa Rockets 17R. Power B will have Kokoro 17-1, Pentagon 17-1, CIA 17 Black, and Xtreme VBC 17 Adidas. I’ve seen the likes of Capital, Madtown, and Kokoro live and I know the roster that Iowa Rockets and CIA have in the 17s division. I am really excited to see Capital play iowa Rockets. Two really evenly matched teams. Capital has St. Thomas commits in Addison Schmotzer and Elle Gustafson, but also have plenty of 2023s who would be great at the next level. Outside of the power pools, I would take a look at Impact 17 National and Wisconsin Ice 17 National. There are also some teams coming from Michigan that will be exciting to see take the court.
Picking Out The Favorites In The 18s
There is one power pool of 18s with Sports Performance 18 Blue, VC United 171 Elite, Sports Performance 18 Red, Summit 18 Bob, and Kokoro 18-1. These are all strong teams representing multiple states, but there are some outside of the power pool that will be a huge threat. Madtown Juniors 181 National is coming off a huge weekend where they finished second, securing a bid to USAV 18 Nationals. They have a dynamic roster that include Aida Shadewald and setter/right side Sydney Lewellin. VC United 182 has a roster full of college athletes like Sylivia Hausz, an Eastern Illinois commit who can swing and set. Xtreme VBC 18 Adidas has the tools to build a winning weekend with outside hitter Mia Quist (Vitero) and libero Ellie Kline who can control the tempo of the game with her first contact.