Thursday Night Lights – Arrowhead vs Waukesha West

<p>The Wisconsin Girl’s Volleyball State Tournament got kicked off Thursday night and it started off with some great matches!  One was Arrowhead vs Waukesha West.  Now, I don’t typically give the chants of the crowd much thought, but they were dead on when shouting, “You can’t stop her” in reference to Waukesha West’s sophomore stud, [player_tooltip player_id="80712" first="Alexis" last="Boling"].  I knew Arrowhead and Waukesha West would be a serious battle, but I didn’t expect West to come out quite so strong to start.  </p> <p>When you see Arrowhead next to another team, you immediately notice they look more like a college roster.  West did come out on top in this match-up, but not without Arrowhead pushing back. West defeated Arrowhead in 4 (25-18, 25-21, 21-25, 29-27).  I want to bring attention to some standouts that left it out on the floor tonight. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="33165" first="Emily" last="Larson"] – 2020 – 5’5 – Libero - Arrowhead</strong></p> <p>Larson was impressive in August, but I had a blast watching her tonight.  She was making awesome defensive moves. She was solid in serve-receive with the exception of a couple passes, but kept 99% playable and, to be clear, Liberos from both teams were tested. Larson came up with some really big clutch defense in big moments to keep her team alive as long as possible.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="33046" first="Darragh" last="Dixon"] – 2019 – 5’10 – Setter/Right Side – Waukesha West</strong></p> <p>Dixon is an ideal setter that can play solid defense, has great court awareness, and her set selection was on point. She can also hit a really nice line shot and a hard cut as a lefty hitting from the right side. Dixon has a really tough deep float serve and made some huge plays to stay alive in the 4^th set.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="80712" first="Alexis" last="Boling"] – 2021 – 6’0 – Middle Blocker – Waukesha West</strong></p> <p>Boling came out on fire and never really cooled off.  She was pounding it in set 1, with no warm-up needed. Boling worked really great angles with a crazy fast arm swing, as well as aggressive tipping. She picked apart the defense and was absolutely lethal. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="10329" first="Aubrey" last="Hamilton"] – 2020 - 6’2 – Outside Hitter – Arrowhead – Committed to Notre Dame</strong></p> <p>Hamilton has a target on her, and she does a great job moving on from an error.  Set 1 started with a West run until she stopped the bleeding with a well-set block.  Hamilton made smart tips, roll shots, and came flying in from the back row. It is really impressive how well she sees the court and can pick apart ALL the corners and finds hands to use the block.</p> <p><strong>Jenna Clouser – 2020 – 5’6 – Defensive Specialist/Libero - Waukesha West</strong></p> <p>Clouser came in and did an awesome job as a defensive specialist in this match.  She took Arrowhead out of system with a really tough topspin serve hitting all areas of the court. Clouser also showed off her strong defensive moves at key moments.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="80158" first="Elise" last="Schneider"] – 2020 – 6’1 – Pin Hitter - Arrowhead - Committed to Woffard</strong></p> <p>Schneider was so clutch on the pin that she should be nicknamed “the executioner” or the “the terminator”.  She came up with much needed points with a sneaky roll shot or pounding a seam.  Schneider was not often seen coming and would tool the block when they couldn’t get set in time.</p>