Notre Dame Prep Quad Standouts & Evaluations

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As the 2022 prep season is getting rolling in its early stages, Tuesday night marked a great chance to see some talented teams.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2021 Division 2 state champs, Notre Dame Prep, welcomed Division 1 programs Clarkston, Lake Orion and Oxford to town.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Clarkston got the quad victory with three wins, while NDP took two and Lake Orion got one.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Throughout the hours of play, here's the standout players and team evaluations I noticed.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Clarkston</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":220220,"width":177,"height":241,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/08/Oxford-quad-18.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-220220" width="177" height="241"/><figcaption>[player_tooltip player_id='66303' first='Paige' last='Giehtbrock']</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wolves went 3-0 and looked impressive with a balanced effort. Despite having a lot of weapons, it was hard to miss Rider commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='66303' first='Paige' last='Giehtbrock']</strong>. The senior outside was doing it all and really coming through with finishes in key points. She was placing the ball very well from the front and back row. Junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='110288' first='Cayla' last='Cogan']</strong> is also a real force at the net. Her vertical leap is an impressive sight and makes for some highlight-reel attacks. Sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='156298' first='Chloe' last='Giehtbrock']</strong> is building off a great club season early and filling multiple key roles for the Wolves as well. I like the connection setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='110309' first='Emery' last='Kuebler'] </strong>has with her hitters. She's putting them in place to succeed. Defensively, Clarkston continues to be strong at libero with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='110299' first='Kiley' last='Gallagher']</strong> handling the role now. She was all over the floor on Tuesday night and coming through with big digs. The Wolves are already dealing with injuries and unfortunately saw senior middle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='140487' first='Emma' last='Larkins'] </strong>get injured on Tuesday as well (hopefully will be back soon). Should Clarkston avoid the injury bug, it should be a great team in the D1 mix.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Notre Dame Prep</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":220221,"width":209,"height":195,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/08/Oxford-quad-46-1024x958.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-220221" width="209" height="195"/><figcaption>[player_tooltip player_id='66295' first='Allison' last='Berent']</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It would have been easy to count the Irish out this year after graduating so much talent from its championship squad last year. But, we knew Betty Wroubel would find ways to make sure her team played at a high level. While the team made uncharacteristic mistakes for NDP, they also bounced back and learned quickly. Defensively, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='66295' first='Allison' last='Berent'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='66331' first='Margo' last='Sudzina']</strong> were outstanding. Sudzina's impact on the defense was definitely more noticeable as one of the few returning players. She's still one of the team's two setters, but then is flying around the floor to make defensive plays. Berent is as good as advertised as well. Alabama has a good one coming next fall. <strong>Grace Wenaas </strong>also looks much improved as a middle finisher. NDP will need her to dominate for stretches and she appears to be able to do that. While undersized at outside hitter, <strong>Bree Blakeslee </strong>was someone consistently coming through with finishes at the net, as was middle <strong>Delaney Zielke</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":220222,"width":167,"height":236,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/08/Oxford-quad-44-723x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-220222" width="167" height="236"/><figcaption>[player_tooltip player_id='66309' first='Nina' last='Horning']</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Lake Orion</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Dragons will know they can take the floor against anyone and compete this year. That's because <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='66309' first='Nina' last='Horning'] </strong>is as good as they come. The 6'4” outside committed to Cincinnati continues to improve on her defensive skills, but it's her imposing power and size at the net that is the real factor. Horning gets a lot of back-row swings as well, but the Dragons will need to find players to take the focus off of her so often in a match. <strong>Savannah Chapie</strong> is a 6-foot middle that came through with some solid kills during the quad and junior outside <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='110285' first='Devin' last='Brunk'] </strong>is definitely a hustle player with some pop on her attacks. Lake Orion has dominant stretches against each opponent on Tuesday, but then saw big gaps where it couldn't get on track. Those mostly came with Horning in the back row.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Oxford</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":220223,"width":180,"height":197,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/08/Oxford-quad-3-936x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-220223" width="180" height="197"/><figcaption>[player_tooltip player_id='66339' first='Rachel' last='Townsend']</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wildcats were a really resilient team. I really appreciated their fight and grit against Notre Dame Prep and Lake Orion in the first two legs. They seemed to just run out of gas against a Clarkston team that got stronger as the night went on. Oxford has a real talent in outside <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='66339' first='Rachel' last='Townsend']</strong>. She took on a lot of swings and kept bringing the velocity on her attacks. She explodes off the floor and doesn't hesitate to shoulder the offensive load. Senior middle <strong>Allison Delauder </strong>was very active as well and came through with a lot of hustle plays by just continuing to move and go to the ball. Senior libero <strong>Ashley Horne </strong>was also impressive with her effort. She was facing a lot of big hitters and continued to pick herself up if she didn't make the dig. The next time, she usually did. Her play is what sparked some nice rallies for the Wildcats.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->