Class 3 Valle Catholic and Blair Oaks Quarterfinal Previews

Notre Dame-Saint Louis Rebels 7-13 @ Valle Catholic Warriors 30-4-3 Valle Catholic comes in as a big favorite to win this quarterfinal and advance to another final four. Valle would take second in last year’s Class 2 championship, falling to Christian in 5. I don’t see this being much of a challenge for the Warriors to move forward in the playoffs. Top Prospects [player_tooltip player_id="119213" first="Ella" last="Bertram"] (2022) | Valle Catholic The 6’0 senior is poised to finish her career off fighting for another state championship. The kill and block leader for Valle with 405 kills and 135 blocks. Valle wins when Bertram is fed the ball early and often. [player_tooltip player_id="119203" first="Sam" last="Loida"] (2022) | Valle Catholic Loida needs only 92 assists to reach the 2000 career assists and could reach that mark in the state tournament. Her quick first steps to the ball allowed her to have all options available to keep her opponents off balance. Hailey Weibrecht (2022) | Valle Catholic The 5’9 outside for the Warriors hasn’t been set a ball she doesn’t like. Another solid option for Valle is the other middle hitter. Second, on the team in kills and blocks, Valle is a middle-heavy team. Maura Oge (2022) | Notre Dame The bright spot for the Rebels is their 5’9 outside hitter. Maura is the primary option, with 236 kills and 75% of her team’s attack attempts. Reaghan Crowley (2023) | Notre Dame A feisty libero for the Rebels 402 digs on the season and a big reason they are still in the state playoffs. If she can rack up the digs, the Rebels might have a chance at a huge upset.   Common Opponents: Valle Catholic 2-0-1 Notre Dame 0-1-1 Both split with Lesterville, and Valle beat Lesterville 2-0   Head to Head: No   Prediction: Valle has too much for Notre Dame to handle and should be a relatively easy one for Valle to make it two final fours in a row and two separate classes. Valle with a 3-0 sweep. John Burroughs Bombers 23-3-5 @ Blair Oaks Falcons 32-4 This should be an exciting game with the finesse play of the Falcons and then the power hitter of Burroughs. Blair Oaks has been a solid program for years but never reached the quarterfinals. Burroughs made the Class 3 quarterfinals last year to only be swept by Hermann and dominating D1 recruit that hits over or through most blocks. Blair Oaks has six hitters with 100+ kills on the year. This match will be a battle of the right-side hitters as both teams feature sluggers on the right.   Top Prospects [player_tooltip player_id="124226" first="Autumn" last="Bax"] (2024) | Blair Oaks The 5’11 fiery lefty has a wicked line shot that she loves to hit on either pin. Leading the team with 350 kills on the season, Bax will be key in giving Blair Oaks the win. Kennedy Flanner (2022) | Blair Oaks Second on the team in kills, and one of the primary passers will play a crucial role in this match-up. Flanner will be tasked with slowing down Burroughs big bomber on the right. [player_tooltip player_id="150942" first="Sarah" last="Girard"] (2022) | Blair Oaks Another key player for the Falcons is Girard. The 6’1 middle will be up with the Burroughs big bomber and needs to help slow her down. The middle loves the tip shot to the four position or cuts across her body to kill in the deep corner. [player_tooltip player_id="102445" first="Vanessa" last="Polk"] (2022) | Burroughs The Pepperdine recruit is a joy to watch as she overpowers most team’s blocks or hits over the top. With 433 kills on the season, Polk is looking to get to the final four after losing to Hermann in last year’s quarterfinals. The Falcons better bring their armor because this kid can hammer. Ellie Skale (2023) | Burroughs Here’s my x-factor for Burroughs, and it’s a 6’1 middle that loves to play beach volleyball. 2nd on the team in kills will need to help keep the Falcon middles honest and give Polk a solo blocker. Emma Clark (2023) | Burroughs Running a 6-1 and doing it for one of the best hitters in the state should be easy enough, but Clark provides so much more than tossing the ball up high for her power hitter. She mixes up the offense well to keep the defense off balance and gets her hands on tough passes. If she can keep Blair Oaks off-balance they Burroughs can win it.   Common Opponents: (Fatima) Burroughs tied 1-1 and beat Fatima 2-0 Blair Oaks beat Fatima twice 3-0   Prediction: Blair Oaks in 5. This game is more challenging for me to pick because both teams offer something the other doesn’t have. Blair Oaks is more a finesse team that relies on ball control to wear down teams. Burroughs has a tremendous right-side hitter that dominates teams. Blair Oaks has played a much more difficult schedule than Burroughs.