Notes From the Prep Dig Resolution

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Over 50 teams in 4 divisions came to play in Appleton this past weekend. A lot was happening and a lot of excitement over what the rest of this season will hold as teams were in knockdown drag-out battles with one another. As I reviewed my notes on the teams and athletes I saw this weekend, I thought it would be fun to go through a few points in my notes app.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Where the Seeds Fall</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's so incredibly hard to seed teams that have possibly never played yet or have played but not against teams their age or in the state. When there haven't been any head-to-head match-ups it's hard to seed. The top held pretty true in the 17/18 Open division with the championship coming down to [program_tooltip program_id='428591' first='FC' last='Elite'] 17 Navy and [program_tooltip program_id='428672' first='Milwaukee' last='Sting'] 16 Gold. [program_tooltip program_id='428591' first='FC' last='Elite'] 17 White caused some chaos in their pool and caused a match-up between [program_tooltip program_id='428662' first='Wisconsin' last='Ice'] 18 Prep and [program_tooltip program_id='428672' first='Milwaukee' last='Sting'] 17 Black where Ice ended up knocking Sting out of contention before facing the eventual runners-up, Sting 16 Gold.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 17/18 Club was a different story. JAG 18 Red turned heads from day one when they took their pool that included the number 1 seed, Sting 17 White. But they would eventually get their rematch in the Championship but JAG proved to be too gritty. Their setter, [player_tooltip player_id='181819' first='McKenna' last='Oetzman'], is crafty and knows exactly when to send it over and how to find the hot hand. She is crazy athletic and gets her hands on everything. JAG also has an outside hitter, [player_tooltip player_id='497930' first='Jenna' last='Vermillion'], and she is incredibly explosive and a high flyer with a fast swing. Holmen's senior middle blocker, [player_tooltip player_id='380045' first='Melissa' last='Hoff'], and the Elevate Frozen Flamingos also shook things up in their pool and made their way to the semifinals before falling to Sting 17 White. Hoff is strong in transition and she exhibits good footwork and speed to the ball. Sting had their own secret weapon in the middle with [player_tooltip player_id='497919' first='Amelia' last='Werner'] in the middle patrolling the net.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In 16 Open one pool had some shaking up with Sting 16 White upset [program_tooltip program_id='428591' first='FC' last='Elite'] 16 Navy in their first pool. But then [program_tooltip program_id='428591' first='FC' last='Elite'] turned around and upset Sting 16 Black in their second pool meanwhile Spiketown got a match from [program_tooltip program_id='428591' first='FC' last='Elite'] 16 White to make their way to the Silver Bracket. The Gold Pool ended with a 3-way tie but Sting United ended up on top with their loss coming in 3 sets while [program_tooltip program_id='428591' first='FC' last='Elite'] 16 Navy and Sting 16 White both lost in 2.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>16 Club was all kinds of crazy! Sting United 16 Black surprised their pool by sweeping Xtreme in 2 sets at the end of the day. In large part to setter, [player_tooltip player_id='504456' first='Trinity' last='Alexander'] who is super athletic and has a really gritty style that I love seeing. Sadie Newcombe takes a big aggressive approach and an even bigger swing on the ball. [program_tooltip program_id='428659' first='Wisconsin' last='Blaze'] 16 Red swept through their pool as the bottom seed. And JAG 16 Red did the same but dropped a single set. FVP 16 National turned some heads when they upset Sting 16 Silver in pool play. Sting got another shot at FVP in the Championship and made the most of it to take the title. Another surprise was [program_tooltip program_id='428594' first='G-Force' last=''] making their way into Gold Semifinals. This just goes to show you it's really hard to seed teams this early in the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->