D1 Sectional 1-4 Finals Matchups and Players to Watch

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It is hard to believe that the Sectional Finals are tomorrow night, and the State tournament is next week. Wow. Time flies during the high school season. I tuned into as many Section Semifinals last night as I could find, and every single one was an absolute battle, and many were heartbreakers. Let's take a look at the D1 Sectional Finals Matchups and Players to watch. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Sectional 1: Hudson vs River Falls</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hudson has the #1 seed overall in this sectional. Hudson has bested River Falls twice this season already, one of them in a point-for-point 4-set battle in conference play where Hudson won 3-1. In the Sectional Semifinal against Marshfield, [player_tooltip player_id='181197' first='Jana' last='Jankowski'] was lethal. Not much got in her way when she was in the front row. She put on a show with 9 kills, hitting 0.333, and 6 blocks. [player_tooltip player_id='571376' first='Addison' last='Leach'] is an explosive pin hitter who contributed 10 kills and hit 0.348. She also had 3 aces and 7 digs. [player_tooltip player_id='285234' first='Ellie' last='Burns'] runs the offense for Hudson and has both form and finesse. She is smart and keeps her hot hitters involved. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>River Falls looked clean and efficient last night. Despite dropping one set to Eau Claire Memorial, River Falls was very impressive from start to finish. With the outside hitter duo of [player_tooltip player_id='178331' first='Maddy' last='Range'] (16 kills, 0.310, 4 aces, 14 digs) and [player_tooltip player_id='511138' first='Amelie' last='Pankonin'] (17 kills, 0.308, 3 aces, 19 digs) going all six rotations, there is always a lethal option available for setter [player_tooltip player_id='641803' first='Ava' last='Peters']. Amelie is only a sophomore and is playing with the IQ and precision of an athlete much older. Sophomore middle hitter Brook Dusek was also very impressive with 9 kills and 3 blocks, hitting 0.348. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Sectional 2: Verona vs Holmen</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This is an interesting sectional as it is the only one where both teams that made it to the Sectional Final caused upsets. Verona initially had the #4 seed, upsetting the #1 seed Middleton in the Sectional Semifinal, while Holmen had the #6 seed and upset the #3 seed Waunakee in the Regional Final. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Verona is a gritty team that is absolutely relentless. [player_tooltip player_id='178298' first='Kelsy' last='Grant'] and [player_tooltip player_id='211556' first='Anna' last='Haines'] run the offense. Kelsy also swings in the front row. She had some incredible stats last night, logging 9 kills, hitting 0.412, 8 digs, and 23 assists. [player_tooltip player_id='248484' first='Allison' last='Bostley'] is a huge presence at the net. She has a heavy hand on the ball and takes massive rips out of the middle. She led the team with 14 kills, hitting 0.522, and contributed 4 blocks. [player_tooltip player_id='487009' first='Emily' last='Jensen'] and [player_tooltip player_id='376269' first='Reya' last='Lawrence'] are also offensive assets for Verona. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Holmen has a fairly young squad with numerous juniors and sophomores playing key roles. [player_tooltip player_id='437479' first='Charley' last='Casey'] is the go-to hitter for the Vikings and already has 228 kills this season. She had 16 kills in their Regional Final Match against Waunakee. Charley has a lighting fast armswing that is tough to block and can also execute on both pins as well as from the back row. Libero [player_tooltip player_id='388556' first='Macy' last='Kline'] is a huge reason for Holmen's success. She is scrappy yet consistent and one of the top liberos in her class. Setters Makenna Mchugh and [player_tooltip player_id='522863' first='Sadie' last='Mayer'] both do a great job running the offense. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Sectional 3: Kimberly vs Bay Port</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kimberly and Bay Port played each other in a tournament last month, where Kimberly won in three sets, 17-15. That sets us up for what should be a nail-biter of Sectional Final. The breadth of Kimberly's talent is impressive, with 11 different athletes playing all three sets in the Sectional Semifinal. [player_tooltip player_id='249636' first='Ava' last='Van Hammond'] and [player_tooltip player_id='388474' first='Emma' last='Tesch'] were both impressive running the offense. [player_tooltip player_id='178228' first='Ava' last='Reis'] and [player_tooltip player_id='724568' first='Kendyll' last='Brochtrup'] led the team in kills, and both had high efficiencies. [player_tooltip player_id='522949' first='Ava' last='Van Camp'] ran the back row and was a huge contributor on serve receive and defense. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bay Port relies on highly experienced veteran leadership for its offense. Seniors [player_tooltip player_id='202186' first='Chloe' last='Parker'] (12 kills, 0.250), Jolie Jacques (12 kills, 0.455), and [player_tooltip player_id='202161' first='Kendra' last='Shimon'] (9 kills, 0.320) all had huge nights in their sweep of Kaukauna. Sophomore setter [player_tooltip player_id='509331' first='Meghan' last='Bruss'] and senior setter [player_tooltip player_id='202187' first='Alaina' last='Shimon'] had 16 and 17 assists respectively, each having a huge impact. Meghan also contributed 2 aces. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Sectional 4: Menomonee Falls vs Slinger</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This will be one of the most hotly-contested sectional matchups. They have played once so far, in late September, and Menomonee Falls had the edge on Slinger. But I watched both matches last night, and both Slinger and Menomonee Falls are on fire heading into this Sectional Final. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Menomonee Falls has the trio of Bruns sisters running their back row. [player_tooltip player_id='249647' first='Cassidy' last='Bruns'] is their libero and not much gets by her on serve receive or defense. [player_tooltip player_id='249624' first='Addison' last='Bruns'] had a huge night against West Bend West, going on a huge serving run at the end of the first set to shut down any momentum that the Spartans had. [player_tooltip player_id='275794' first='Kennedy' last='Nimmer'] was a key pin who was super smart and never hit the same shot twice. I was also very impressed with [player_tooltip player_id='277426' first='Kaylee' last='Harder'] who set in the back row and hit in the front row. She embodied each role perfectly and got the job done. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Slinger's offense looked lethal last night, which will make for a fun game against the Falls stud defense. [player_tooltip player_id='458391' first='Rebecca' last='Sherman'], [player_tooltip player_id='202993' first='Miley' last='Quade'], and [player_tooltip player_id='277420' first='Allie' last='Beers'] were all high-impact players in the front row. [player_tooltip player_id='277420' first='Allie' last='Beers'] looks better every time I see her play. [player_tooltip player_id='202993' first='Miley' last='Quade'] was nearly unstoppable and mixed up her shots well. Setter [player_tooltip player_id='277423' first='Ella' last='Kohnen'] ran her court like a well-oiled machine. Freshman libero [player_tooltip player_id='708834' first='Brooke' last='Zoromski'] was impressive to watch from the service line and on defense. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->