Five Opening Day Events To Follow In Wisconsin

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wisconsin is a little bit unique in regard to how quickly teams play matches after the first day of practice.&nbsp; Most states have two weeks prior to their first competition, but in Wisconsin - we get the party started early.&nbsp; Here are five opening day events to know about and who could be some of the top teams and athletes competing, looking to make an early statement.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Slinger - Edgewood, Hamilton, Muskego, and Slinger</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Slinger wil host a four team quad with Edgewood, Hamilton, and Muskego.&nbsp; This will be a fun combination with Slinger and Hamilton losing some big pieces to graduation, but with the strength of these programs they will be ready to reload.&nbsp; Hamilton returns two high level pins who will enter their sophomore year in [player_tooltip player_id='734111' first='Claire' last='Baldwin'] and [player_tooltip player_id='781698' first='Faith' last='Benson'].&nbsp; They were key pieces in their state title run and will be ready to run it back.&nbsp; Muskego is a team who should be on the rise in 2026.&nbsp; They return five athletes who had over 100 kills in 2025.&nbsp; This will be a well balanced group where they can put the ball on the floor.&nbsp; Watch for [player_tooltip player_id='435901' first='Piper' last='Graham'], [player_tooltip player_id='827908' first='Tatum' last='Meinen'], and [player_tooltip player_id='522050' first='Maddie' last='Kuglitsch']. Edgewood is always a contender in D2 out of Madison.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='726010' first='Emily' last='Conwell'] will be a junior who can score points for the Crusaders.&nbsp; The host Slinger will use balance and ball control led by libero [player_tooltip player_id='708834' first='Brooke' last='Zoromski'].&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Barn Battle of The Valley  - Xavier, Waupun, Little Chute, Howards Grove, Oconto Falls, Ashwaubenon, Fox Valley Lutheran, Manitowoc Lutheran, Appleton East, Chilton, Wrightstown, Brillion</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Xavier will be the host of the Battle of the Valley where they welcome 12 teams to The Barn, home of [program_tooltip program_id='428591' first='FC' last='Elite'].&nbsp; The top seeds in the opening pools will be Xavier, Manitowoc Lutheran, Oconto Falls, and Fox Valley Lutheran. Manitowoc Lutheran will enter this tournament as the two time defending state champions.&nbsp; They have a lot of power in the front line with two D2 commits in Ava Steubs (Concordia St. Paul) and Brooke Duvenick (Northern State).&nbsp; Oconto Falls have quite the senior duo in [player_tooltip player_id='435897' first='Lucy' last='Ripley'] and [player_tooltip player_id='724541' first='Izzy' last='Otto'].&nbsp; Ripley will head to Loyola-Chicago and Otto will go to UW-River Falls.&nbsp; The Panthers are able to use Ripley out of the middle or either pin.&nbsp; This will be an exciting season for them.&nbsp; A program in this group who has been on the rise is Brillion. The Lions were 28-5 last year and return two big time scorers in [player_tooltip player_id='522345' first='Emma' last='Schuh'] and [player_tooltip player_id='522949' first='Ava' last='Van Camp'].&nbsp; A setter who keeps everything rolling for them is [player_tooltip player_id='786208' first='Reina' last='Eijtjes'].&nbsp; Should be an exciting day at The Barn.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Neenah - Freedom, Luxemburg-Casco, Pulaski, Bay Port, Fond du Lac, Pulaski</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Neenah will have a clash of conferences with Freedom and Luxemburg-Casco from the Northeast, Bay Port and Pulaski from the FRCC, and Neenah and Fond du Lac from the FVA.&nbsp; Teams will have four matches and will not play the team from their own conference.&nbsp; There will be some very talented seniors who will look to lead the way.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='459898' first='Aubrey' last='Frey'] of Luxemburg-Casco led the state in kills as a junior and will be back along with counterpart, [player_tooltip player_id='510447' first='Claire' last='Schleis'] on the right side.&nbsp; Bay Port has Truman State commit in setter [player_tooltip player_id='509331' first='Meghan' last='Bruss'].&nbsp; She will be the leader for the Pirates who are the defending FRCC champions.&nbsp; Lillian Big Eagle will run the show for Freedom who returns plenty of experience from a strong 2025 season.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='510426' first='Ellisyn' last='Shultis'] will lead the way for Fond du Lac.&nbsp; The Green Bay commit will be one of the top senior outside hitters in D1.&nbsp; Pulaski is coming off a 22-17 record in 2025 and will lead with [player_tooltip player_id='807375' first='Sophia' last='Logue'] who is a force at the net with her block and powerful attacking. Neenah will look to feed outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='510416' first='Lillian' last='Romjue'] will be one to score in all six rotations.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>SPASH - Berlin, De Pere, Green Bay NEW Lutheran, Northland Pines, Reedsville, Rhinelander, Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln, Wittenberg-Birnamwood. </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This is a unique combination of teams heading to Stevens Point to start their season.&nbsp; De Pere and SPASH are the early favorites in this field.&nbsp; If they were to meet in bracket play it could be the first pf plenty of meetings between the two teams.&nbsp; SPASH is a returning state tournament team returning senior libero [player_tooltip player_id='500399' first='Lenna' last='Mayer'] and junior outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='522106' first='Nora' last='Kruger'] who already has over 700 kills in two years of varsity play.&nbsp; De Pere will look to score points out of the middle with [player_tooltip player_id='510430' first='Erin' last='O'Connor'].&nbsp; Northland Pines will be a team to keep tabs on where they have multiple attackers who can score points with [player_tooltip player_id='523127' first='Kami' last='Neff'], [player_tooltip player_id='1005736' first='Natalie' last='Kohn'], and Tatum Fischer who are back after leading the Eagles in kills.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>McFarland - DeForest, Lakeside Lutheran, McFarland, Reedsburg</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>McFarland will be playing host for a quad of Madison area teams.&nbsp; DeForest will return some firepower in [player_tooltip player_id='553214' first='Haylin' last='Arnold'] who can score from both pins as well as the backrow.&nbsp; They also have [player_tooltip player_id='915855' first='Brinley' last='Schwenn'] and [player_tooltip player_id='809480' first='Addy' last='Tuite'] who had valuable experience in 2025.&nbsp; McFarland is always going to be a tough matchup.&nbsp; The Spartans will return attackers Jordyn Trott-Czebotar and [player_tooltip player_id='734118' first='Callie' last='Spanos']. [player_tooltip player_id='769842' first='Rhessa' last='Thompson'] will be the top returning point scorer for Reedsburg while Lakeside Lutheran will return [player_tooltip player_id='522963' first='Brianna' last='Dahlie'] who had 241 kills last season.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->