No Ranking? No Problem – Sneaky Good Wisconsin Squads

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Looking at the rankings there are always the typical names that are going to be there year in and year out.&nbsp; There are teams who have gotten off to a strong start in the 2025 season, but who are the ones that aren't ranked that could be making a push.&nbsp; Here are some teams to know that could be a threat, despite not being in the WVCA Week 2 rankings.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Westosha Central&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Falcons are off to a 6-2 start after kicking off their season at the Crusader Cup.&nbsp; Their two losses are to Heritage Christian, top ranked in D4 and conference rival Burlington.&nbsp; They are led by the top setter in the Class of 2027 in [player_tooltip player_id='435900' first='Payton' last='Scifres'].&nbsp; Scifres is back from a shoulder injury which sidelined her during the entire club season.&nbsp; The junior brings plenty of length, athleticism, and physicality to the setter position.&nbsp; Their top two attackers are [player_tooltip player_id='435893' first='Kahlen' last='Willis'] and [player_tooltip player_id='241664' first='Anna' last='Hansen'] who have combined for nearly five kills per set.&nbsp; The backrow is commanded by senior libero Madison [player_tooltip player_id='324002' first='Maddie' last='Mauser'] who covers quite the range and is really strong with her serve receive, as well as her anticipation for the next ball always finding a way to better it.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Janesville Craig</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Cougars are off to a fast start at 10-1.&nbsp; They captured their home tournament title and are 2-0 in conference play.&nbsp; They have defeated a talented Verona team twice already this season.&nbsp; Junior Abbie Claas is averaging nearly three kills per set and over 2.5 digs per set.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='838630' first='Sophie' last='Hanna'] has also come up big this season where she has already racked up over 100 digs per set and averages two kills per set.&nbsp; Senior [player_tooltip player_id='845012' first='Abbi' last='Gryttenholm'] had a big match against Verona where she contributed 10 kills.&nbsp; Sophomore setter [player_tooltip player_id='581595' first='Chloe' last='Adams'] is running quite the offense as well.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Manitowoc Lincoln&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Ships are back with quite the junior trio of [player_tooltip player_id='828681' first='Abby' last='Weidmayer'], [player_tooltip player_id='724537' first='Mollie' last='Junk'] and [player_tooltip player_id='595947' first='Cora' last='Foster'].&nbsp; Weidmayer and Junk are the six rotation outside hitters who bring a heavy swing. Along with their power, they play with a mature IQ that allows them to find the open spot.&nbsp; Weidmayer brings a nasty float serve as well where she finds multiple ways to score points.&nbsp; Foster is a swiss army knife type of player where she can defend, set, and swing.&nbsp; She is a right side attacker in the front row and a setter in the backrow.&nbsp; There is quite the foursome of teams in Manitowoc this Saturday with Arrowhead, Fond du Lac, and DSHA coming to town.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Fond du Lac&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fondy has only played five matches, but they have notched some big wins.  They have beaten Kimberly who is always near the top ten in D1 and avenged a tournament loss to  Oshkosh West, beating them in conference play last week.  There is a heavy dose of Shultis girls going on with Ellie [player_tooltip player_id='510426' first='Ellisyn' last='Shultis'] averaging over four kills per set as a six rotation outside hitter and [player_tooltip player_id='808024' first='Mackenna' last='Shultis'] who leads the team in assists and is second in kills with nearly two per set. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Winneconne</strong>&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wolves are quietly sitting at 5-0 where there is a lot of pop in this lineup.&nbsp; They have quite the trio of senior attackers in [player_tooltip player_id='453629' first='Alyssa' last='Koval'], [player_tooltip player_id='388540' first='Neela' last='Gardner'], and [player_tooltip player_id='500491' first='Malia' last='Bodoh'].&nbsp; A libero to keep tabs on would be sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='522092' first='Hallah' last='Josephson'] who averages nearly four digs per set.&nbsp; This is coming off a freshman year where she had nearly 400 digs total. The Wolves have joined The Bay Conference where they will take on traditional powers in Xavier and FVL the next few weeks.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>McFarland</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This team isn't afraid to play a big schedule.&nbsp; After a tough first weekend at the Sun Prairie East tournament they have comeback winning four of their past five matches that has included a win over a tough DeForest team.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='504441' first='Kayla' last='Landerud'] leads this team with almost 3.5 kills per set.&nbsp; She is from the state championship runner up team in 2023 and will head to UW-Milwaukee next year.&nbsp; They also have a really strong core of sophomores with [player_tooltip player_id='808254' first='Callie' last='Spanos'], Jordyn Trott-Czebotar, and setter Alex Faust.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Brillion</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brillion in D3 has started off 12-1, taking home the Hilbert and Cedar Grove-Belgium titles.&nbsp; They also defeated a ranked Kiel team this past Tuesday 3-2. Emma Shuh and [player_tooltip player_id='522949' first='Ava' last='Van Camp'] have been doing a lot of damage with their ability to score points. The juniors combine for over five kills per set. The Lions could be setting up for a couple big seasons where three of their top four attackers are juniors along with their setter [player_tooltip player_id='786208' first='Reina' last='Eijtjes'] beng as junior as well. Libero [player_tooltip player_id='522945' first='Maddie' last='Miller'] is also part of this junior crew.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->