Morning Champions of Day 1 at the Gauntlet

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Who had a big 1st day during the AM wave of the Gauntlet? Let's take a look.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Northern Light's 17-1</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are so many big names and big playmakers on this team but I will have to give the cliffnotes for Day 1. [player_tooltip player_id='177421' first='Ava' last='Ball'] was hitting a great deal of cross-body shots and finding success. Opposite Ball was [player_tooltip player_id='117880' first='Mesaiya' last='Bettis'] and the height she is making contacting at is absolutely insane. [player_tooltip player_id='229827' first='Kate' last='Holthaus'] was putting up a monster block and [player_tooltip player_id='177424' first='Keira' last='Schmidt'] was running a number of routes and also hitting from a really high contact point. [player_tooltip player_id='283773' first='Carly' last='Slusser'] did a great job closing the block and I love how [player_tooltip player_id='229965' first='Elli' last='Tufto'] hangs in the air and brings a huge presence at the net.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[program_tooltip program_id='428672' first='Milwaukee' last='Sting'] 17 Gold</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This team has had a really strong season and day 1 of the Gauntlet was no different. [player_tooltip player_id='178034' first='Gabriella' last='Pitcel'] was destroying overpasses and going on huge serving runs. She was showing off a serve that would landing perfectly in the 5 corner. [player_tooltip player_id='178033' first='Madison' last='Quest'] was hitting at such a high level she was going over most blockers. When she wasn't going over she would somehow find the perfect space to work through the block. One of the most impressive to me was [player_tooltip player_id='178032' first='Billie' last='Reiter']. She played with a whole knew relaxed and confident body language that I don't think I've seen since she was playing sand as a 14. Reiter was holding her own in the front row and competing with some big hitters at the net.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Northern Light's 17-2</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lights always brings some of the toughest crews. This particular team I really enjoyed watching [player_tooltip player_id='177430' first='Alex' last='Kiebel'] run the offense. She has nice athletic movement off the net and can still set a number of tempos. [player_tooltip player_id='177423' first='Natalie' last='Ptacek'] is super smart on the right side and she just seems to know what is open and how to get the ball there. [player_tooltip player_id='177426' first='Mia' last='Weaver'] was lighting it up on the outside and I was loving it! She's a selfless player and I love seeing her take over a match.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">1st Alliance 16 Gold</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This group was really impressive today. Setter, Nikolija Bulatovic was putting up a big block and making some really smart setter dumps. She know just the time and the place to execute. Alaina Pollard has some serious hang time while Carolyn Tarnow has a big hefty swing and will use angles to score. Tarnow runs a slide approach and isn't afraid to scorch the line. Elle Schara will come flying into the middle and burries the ball on the opposing side. She takes a hard swing or uses a cross body shot to go down the line. Samantha Shelton puts up a big block and causes opposing hitters a lot of trouble.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[program_tooltip program_id='428672' first='Milwaukee' last='Sting'] 16 Gold</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='249644' first='Brooke' last='Baldwin'] runs the Sting offense fast and efficiently. Her connection with [player_tooltip player_id='277420' first='Allie' last='Beers'] is really fun to watch because Beers takes a great slide approach and will torch the line. [player_tooltip player_id='504161' first='Malena' last='Benz'] has some really fast reactions in the middle including rejecting a setter dump and throwing it back to score. [player_tooltip player_id='223818' first='Isabella' last='Ruether'] was taking some huge rips on the ball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Circle City 16 Black</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This group out of Indiana had some really sneaky weapons. One that took me by surprise was Karsyn Buck on the right side. She does a great job of getting up quickly behind the setter and teams just don't see her coming. Buck shakes really smart shot selections and she is super sneaky with her choices. Ella Vandermark was slicing angles and powering through blockers from the middle.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->