Class AAAA Ahead of Opening Day – #7-#13

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Before the high school season is in full swing in Minnesota, let's do an early Power Ranking of our Class AAAA teams.&nbsp;&nbsp;There was a lot to consider, like the program history, what the high school coaches are predicting, and who will be returning in 2022.&nbsp;&nbsp;Normally you see top 10s, but there were just some teams I could not leave out of this initial ranking because it looks like it will be so close between some teams.&nbsp;&nbsp;This sure makes for an exciting season, so we start our countdown from #13.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>#13 - St. Michael-Albertville –&nbsp;</strong>Just 1 match shy of a trip to the X and an impressive 26-7 record in 2021. They return&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='195113' first='Madi' last='Gartner']&nbsp;</strong>who will be looking to take on a larger portion of the offensive swings.&nbsp;&nbsp;Meanwhile,&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='195116' first='Kendra' last='Behrens']&nbsp;</strong>and&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='187729' first='Natalie' last='Pilney']&nbsp;</strong>will be ready to put on a blocking clinic.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>#12 - Forest Lake</strong> <strong>– </strong>This squad made their way to the X in 2021 with a 21-12 record.  They will return heavy hitters <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='172014' first='Bethany' last='Weiss'], [player_tooltip player_id='184743' first='Madeline' last='Muellner'], </strong>and Northern Michigan commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='169705' first='Kaysie' last='Bakke'].</strong>  They will also return their savvy setter, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='187402' first='Katie' last='Brandl']. </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>#11 - Shakopee –&nbsp;</strong>This squad posted a solid 22-7 record and a 2^nd&nbsp;place finish in the South Suburban Conference in 2021.&nbsp;&nbsp;They graduated 9 seniors and will be counting on players like defensive specialist,&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='203821' first='Kyrah' last='Clark']</strong>, to step in and fill in some big shoes.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://x.com/BreitNelson/status/1530559133992247296","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true,"align":"left"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed alignleft is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/BreitNelson/status/1530559133992247296 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>#10 - Rochester Mayo –&nbsp;</strong>This was another crew that made it one match shy of a trip to the X.&nbsp;&nbsp;They return setter,&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='73474' first='Hannah' last='Hanson'],&nbsp;</strong>to run the offense.&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='200527' first='Gabrielle' last='Buhrow']</strong>&nbsp;is the smaller, but explosive, middle, while&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='191412' first='Madison' last='Meyer']&nbsp;</strong>and&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='191413' first='Maria' last='Winter']&nbsp;</strong>terminate from the pins.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>#9 - Northfield&nbsp;</strong>– The Raiders ended their 2021 campaign with a 22-8 record but return some players to be excited about, like Tennessee commit,&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='73475' first='Sydney' last='Jaynes'].&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong>And if you aren't excited enough about 1 Jaynes, then how about the setting duo of North Dakota commit,&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='73496' first='Teagan' last='Timperley']</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='207317' first='Teagan' last='Jaynes']?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong>If 2 Teagans doesn't get you out of your chair, maybe the fact that they have the first contact by&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='200540' first='Isabella' last='Rushing'].&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong>And we really can't leave out the big blocking style of&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='174725' first='Madeline' last='McDowell']</strong>.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>#8 - Eden Prairie –</strong>&nbsp;This squad isn't going anywhere soon.&nbsp;&nbsp;They finished 21-7 in 2021 and will be returning Michigan State commit,&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='166353' first='Cameron' last='Berger'],&nbsp;</strong>to distribute the ball.&nbsp;&nbsp;For fire power, they will bring back&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='166352' first='Lillian' last='Ekness'],&nbsp;</strong>while&nbsp;<strong>&nbsp;[player_tooltip player_id='166351' first='Emma' last='Matousek']&nbsp;</strong>keeps the ball alive on their side of the court.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>#7 - Rogers – </strong>Rogers had a solid 2021 going 29-6, and they will return their leading scorer, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='117878' first='Anya' last='Schmidt']</strong> and the big blocking middle, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='191406' first='Hannah' last='Bruskiewicz'].  </strong>They will also return <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='195111' first='Taylor' last='Dawson'],</strong> who was very effective with the opportunities she got in 2021, so she could be taking on a bigger role.  Another couple pin hitters who will be trying to break into a bigger role will be <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='195106' first='Joanna' last='Scherber'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='195112' first='Emma' last='Ellingson'].</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->