Three Tenacious Teams to Watch at the Battle In The Valley

Breit Nelson April 25, 2022 @ 04:58 PM

The Prep Dig Battle in the Valley is coming up fast and we are excited for another weekend at the beautiful Community First Champions Center in Appleton. Some teams will be wrapping up their seasons here while others are still working toward that trip to Indy or Orlando this summer. There will be some great competition and I expect a lot of great energy this weekend! Here are some tenacious teams I’ve already seen this season that you should check out at the Battle in the Valley. FC Elite 16 White This FC Elite team is the definition of tenacious, and they play with enthusiasm from the first point of the tournament to the last. It certainly helps that they are loaded with talent, including their setters [player_tooltip player_id="144816" first="Mariah" last="Potter"] and [player_tooltip player_id="181810" first="Grace" last="Fruzen"]. They are both very athletic; Potter is a really solid distributor who makes smart choices, while Fruzen is also a very talented attacker who can hit a wicked line shot. Neither are afraid to take risks and it pays off. [player_tooltip player_id="181813" first="Addison" last="Albrecht"] is an outside hitter who has developed a nice cross-body shot and her passing has improved a ton this season. She also packs a lot of power and takes an aggressive swing. Middle Blocker [player_tooltip player_id="151739" first="Lauren" last="Fischer"] has a super high contact point and puts up a huge block. She is really about her shot selection, knowing when to pound the ball and when to tip. Just when you rotate her out of the front and you think you don’t have to worry about her, she goes back to serve and frustrates the opposing passers with a hard flat float. This team is really athletic and versatile. FVP 16 Blue There is a lot of talent on this squad, and I’m excited to see how they’ve developed over the course of the past couple months. [player_tooltip player_id="122478" first="Savannah" last="Brown"] and Hannah Griesbach (2024) are solid setters who move the ball around and do a nice job of giving their hitters a lot of opportunities. They both do a nice job of establishing their middle attack and keeping blockers on their toes. [player_tooltip player_id="185620" first="Siena" last="Busalacchi"] is a quick and explosive middle who will come up with huge kills in a match to boost her team’s energy. She swings fast in the split as an attacker and is consistent on closing the block. Breanna Ramczyk (2024) is on the verge of having a breakout season since she is new on my radar. She generates a lot of power and puts up a big block. [player_tooltip player_id="191159" first="Hailey" last="Jeskewitz"] is an outside hitter who can hit a hard cross-body line shot and is really scrappy on defense. Xtreme 17 Adidas This Xtreme squad is really fun to watch because they have power and a really strong core group. They pack a really mean punch, along with consistently chipping away at opponents’ confidence. [player_tooltip player_id="149043" first="Rayna" last="McArdle"] is a key piece and a leader, even though she is playing up an age group. She is jump setting the ball to the outside pin with ease and also terminating in the front row. Brie Eckerman (2023 – Mauston) is a lefty right side hitter with an explosive approach and a fast swing that exposes the late blockers. Meanwhile fellow attacker Kyla Christnovich (2023 – Middle Blocker – Holmen) moves really well and has extremely smart-placed tips to go along with her high contact and fast snap on the ball when she is attacking.