SW Minnesota Challenge: 5 Observations and Signs Of Great Things To Come
The jitters are out, games have begun, and champions have been crowned the opening weekend of tournaments across the state. This past weekend I spent two days in Marshall at Southwest Minnesota State University and Marshall High School taking in the Molten Southwest Minnesota Challenge. Wow. The talent among the 32 teams participating runs deep and matchups this weekend could be a bit of foreshadowing for matchups to come in late October, early November in the heat of the postseason. Veteran athletes made their mark and there was also a coming out party for some Freshmen and Sophomores who you can see will be making an impact not only for a couple years to come, but there is no better time for their presence than now. Here are some storylines we are going to take a closer look at this week at Prep Dig Minnesota. Throughout the weekend I wasn’t only looking for story lines, but also making notes on players as we will be constantly evaluating to make a major update to our class rankings. With over 50 names I made note of, there are plenty of athletes to keep tabs on their progress throughout the year.
Five Things To Note
The Final Four: Champlin Park, Lakeville North, Lakeville South, and Northfield were the final four standing Saturday afternoon with Champlin Park and Lakeville North going head to head in the championship. Consider this round one between these two teams with another match up on September 18. The Rebels have a roster with plenty of D1 talent led by Izzy Ashburn (Wisconsin commit) and Lauren Clark (Penn State commit), but really the difference in the match was the backcourt defense of libero Kaitlyn Weimerskirch, six rotation outside Jordan Stalpes, and DS Megan Panser coming out on two 2-0. Lakeville North is incredibly physical and athletic starting with outside hitter Elizabeth Juhnke (South Dakota commit) and middle Tori Thompson (South Dakota State commit). Northfield had Lakeville North playing from behind most of set one in the semifinals and even in set three, but Juhnke and Thompson have the refuse to lose body language and competitive grit that just took over and propelled North into the championship.
Not a bold statement when I can say I’m about to watch two of the best prep volleyball teams in the nation @cprebelsvball @LNHSVolleyball1 pic.x.com/pYDosvzHpD
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) September 8, 2018
Mighty Minneota: I will take a closer, more indepth look at Minneota this week, but the Vikings stole the interest of everyone at the tournament. With one player at 5’10, Lauren Sussner who is a do it all middle blocker, everyone else 5’9 and below and play extremely clean volleyball with solid serve receive, defense, and high IQ shots. They don’t make errors. Minneota and Northfield went to 18-16 in the third with Northfield moving on. Minneota would go on to defeat Prior Lake and Kasson-Mantorville to finish 5th overall. The enrollment of Minneota is just under 200 grades 9-12, about 15 minutes Northwest of Marshall with a population of just under 1400. They definitely made their statement as a Class A favorite beating some of the big dogs at the Southwest Minnesota Challenge.
Big block by Lydia Sussner of @vballvikings - she has been so impressive all tournament. 5’10 MB who can terminate all over the court pic.x.com/BVZgeM8F76
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) September 8, 2018
A Young Statement Made: “Watch that number 9 jump. She just flies!” Yes, that would be Julia Hanson of Prior Lake. This was an obvious one for the fans and you could hear fans just say, “WOW” referring to the Freshman. Hanson, a pin hitter for Prior Lake was one of a few Freshman pin hitters to make an impact which also included Mallory Heyer from Chaska, and Natalie Rolbiecki from Minneota.
Freshman Julia Hanson goes on a roll to finish set two as @lakervb defeats STMA to move into the elite eight. #SWMNChallenge pic.x.com/u49cBqxjz9
— Prep Dig Minnesota (@PrepDigMN) September 8, 2018
Northfield On The Rise: Throughout the two days I was in Marshall, I ended up seeing Northfield play three matches and every match I watched they kept getting better and better. Northfield is a matchup nightmare with six footers in the middle and right side and pins who can flat out fly! Libero Emma Torstenson was everywhere putting a good ball up to stay in system with their 6-2 offense. I don’t think I saw a better setter/middle combination this weekend than between Seniors Nora Lehmkuhl setting to middle Emma Roethler. Roethler is the total package in the middle with the size, speed, and a quick snap. If Northfield can stay in system, they will be a very dangerous team this year.
@raiderVB1 and @LNHSVolleyball1 are underway. Should be an interesting matchup as Northfield matches up well in the front row against Lakeville North. pic.x.com/or0fbD1gwj
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) September 8, 2018
Potential Matchups For Sectionals and State: Northfield took Lakeville North to three sets. Could we see a potential repeat of that from the sectional final in 2017. Kasson-Mantorville looked extremely strong behind the play of Peyton Seuss who was scoring and defending in all six rotations, but the Komets also have libero Bailey Berge who is steady as ever in the backrow. They played Marshall Saturday afternoon and defeated the Tigers in three sets who will be a force to be reckon with in AA. Logan Sherman does a little bit of everything for the Tigers from setting to hitting and libero Mia Schniable was all over the court. Another Class A team that looked particularly strong and would be fun to see face off against Minneota was BBE (Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa) with outside hitter Abby Gruber leading the way with finding multiple ways to score points and being a leader with her energy and body language on the court. Setter, Karsee Kampsen is a Sophomore lefty who can play solid defense and keep the offense running as well. I would not be surprised to see them deep into the postseason.
Shout out to the @MarshallTigers students coming out in full force today. This very well could be a post season matchup between Marshall and @KoMetVolleyball in AA. pic.x.com/NBcTHPegww
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) September 8, 2018
I just have to end this with a shout out to the Marshall students who came out on a Saturday afternoon and provided an extremely solid student section complete with jerseys, chants, and everything you would hope to see in a student section. And this was for a Saturday afternoon tournament! High schoolers can get a bad label of being gamers, always on their phones, playing too much Fortnite, the list can go on. Two thumbs up for the support of all these athletes. The gym just can such an energy to it, thats what makes high school volleyball a little extra special. For this being week one, I think it would be safe to say this is only a sign of good things to come for the rest of the season! Look for more articles throughout the week as well as coverage on our Facebook and Twitter pages!
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