Where Do They Stand? WIAA Sections 1-4

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We are nearing the halfway point of the season.&nbsp; Teams are getting into the heart of their conference schedule and some have over 20 matches under their belt.&nbsp; There have also been some key matchups in regards to sectional seedings that could come into play when meetings happen in a few weeks.&nbsp; Let's take a look at each section and where teams stand.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Section 1 </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Early Favorite - River Falls 24-5</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>River Falls was dethroned last season to Hudson, but so far the ‘Cats are back on track to grab the top seed in section one.  Some of their key wins in section play would be Eau Claire Memorial, Hudson, Chippewa Falls, and Menomonie.  They have also played a heavy non conference schedule that includes top teams in Minnesota and went 3-3 at the Charger Challenge this past weekend.  Junior outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='511138' first='Amelie' last='Pankonin'] just surpassed 1,000 kills in her career while UW-Milwaukee commit [player_tooltip player_id='496803' first='Olivia' last='Doerre'] paces the defense as their libero. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Who Is Rising?&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Chippewa Falls 21-5</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hudson 12-3&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>SPASH 15-4</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This section covers plenty of ground geographically.&nbsp; Chippewa and Hudson are part of the Big Rivers Conference with River Falls while Stevens Point is part of the Wisconsin Valley that also includes Marshfield who is always in the mix in this section.&nbsp; Hudson recently defeated Chippewa Falls last week in a conference match 3-1.&nbsp; Eau Claire Memorial has a win over Stevens Point which could come into play at a seeding meeting.&nbsp; Stevens Point will head to the Appleton East tournament this weekend and will be at Neenah the following weekend where they will have an opportunity to pick up some big wins and will also beef up their strength of schedule.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Section 2</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Early Favorite - Holmen 19-0, Waunakee 19-5</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Holmen is returning everyone from their state tournament team in 2024 where they upset Waunakee in regional play.&nbsp; They have raced to an undefeated start winning Beast of the Northeast and the Kettle Moraine Tournament.&nbsp; They have one more tournament remaining and will not face any ranked D1 or D2 teams the rest of the season.&nbsp; The other side of the coin is Waunakee who has played a rugged schedule and will head to the Sprawl this weekend.&nbsp; They have notched wins over ranked Sussex Hamilton, Menomonee Falls, Brookfield East, Catholic Memorial, Xavier, and Waukesha West.&nbsp; When it comes to the Max Preps formula for rankings, Holmen is currently ranked 5th and Waunakee is 6th.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Who Is Rising?&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>DeForest 14-7</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sun Prairie West 14-7</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Middleton 11-5</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>DeForest has collected some big wins most recently at the Kettle Moraine Tournament where they knocked of Oak Creek and Wauwatosa East.&nbsp; They will also have a key match later with Waunakee on October 7 that could be key in the seeding discussion.&nbsp; Junior [player_tooltip player_id='553214' first='Haylin' last='Arnold'] has been leading the way with 3.2 kills per set where senior [player_tooltip player_id='809419' first='Morgan' last='Bentel'] is having a big season where she has collected nearly 350 assists, over 150 digs, and leads the team in aces.&nbsp; Sun Prairie West has [player_tooltip player_id='247272' first='Sari' last='Marks'], the Green Bay commit, who has over three kills per set and hits nearly.400 while setting too. Middleton will face Sun Prairie West on October 7 which will have huge implications when it comes to sectional seeding.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Section 3 </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This is where teams stand from this section in the top 50 in Division 1 via Max Preps. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:table --> <figure class="wp-block-table"><table class="has-fixed-layout"><tbody><tr><td>Team</td><td>Max Preps Rank</td><td>Record</td><td>Strength of Schedule</td></tr><tr><td>Janesville Craig</td><td>25</td><td>22-4</td><td>5.5</td></tr><tr><td>Verona</td><td>27</td><td>18-5</td><td>7.5</td></tr><tr><td>Burlington</td><td>32</td><td>14-7</td><td>8.4</td></tr><tr><td>Milton</td><td>35</td><td>13-9</td><td>10</td></tr><tr><td>Westosha Central</td><td>39</td><td>10-8</td><td>9</td></tr><tr><td>Memorial</td><td>41</td><td>13-9</td><td>7.4</td></tr><tr><td>Mukwonago</td><td>50</td><td>6-10</td><td>13.9</td></tr></tbody></table></figure> <!-- /wp:table --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This could be an interesting seeding meeting where there is the debate of strength of schedule versus the wins.&nbsp; For a team like Mukwonago, they do have a win over Verona, so does that put them ahead of Verona? Burlington has a win over a ranked River Falls team and sectional opponent Westosha Central.&nbsp; Westosha Central still has a conference match with Burlington later in the year.&nbsp; Janesville Craig is 22-4, but has a 1-2 record against Verona.&nbsp; Their win over Verona came during conference play.&nbsp; This will be interesting to see how the next few weeks go when some of these larger tournaments happen and some of these teams will see each other in conference play.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Section 4</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Early Favorite&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kimberly 17-8&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Papermakers are running to the top of section two with a rugged strength of schedule along with some key wins so far in this 2024 season.&nbsp; They have collected wins over Brookfield East, Oshkosh West, Catholic Memorial, Mosinee, Cedarburg, and Slinger.&nbsp; They will be heading to the Sprawl this weekend where they will see some tough competition and follow that up with the Neenah Tournament.&nbsp; Two sophomores are leading the Makers in scoring with Brianna Haglund and Natalie Wyenburg.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='249636' first='Ava' last='Van Hammond'] is the setter/right side combo player who can find ways to score points with her left handed swing and knows how to find open attackers.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Who Is Rising?&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bay Port 11-3</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>West De Pere 13-4&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>De Pere 13-11</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bay Port won this section last year defeating Kimberly in the sectional final.&nbsp; The Pirates are off to an 11-3 start with wins over Neenah and Luxemburg-Casco, but were defeated by West De Pere in three sets the opening weekend of the season. They still have plenty of key conference matchups.&nbsp; Bay Port will have a chance for some big wins and to beef up their strength of schedule when they head to the Neenah Tournament as well as DSHA.&nbsp; West De Pere is off to a fast start, junior Boston College commit [player_tooltip player_id='564276' first='Lauren' last='Tisler'] is leading the Phantoms with five kills per set.&nbsp; West De Pere will host their home tournament this weekend and will head across town to the De Pere tournament in a couple of weeks.&nbsp; Thursday night will be a key matchup for both with these two teams going head to head at Bay Port.&nbsp; The winner of this will be in the drivers seat for the number two seed in the section.&nbsp; De Pere could be one who could mix into this as well.&nbsp; They Redbirds have played a challenging schedule with tournaments in Watertown and Sun Prairie while they will face these two in conference play.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->