Badger Team Camp Equates To High School Hardware
Before the winter storm warnings of winter and the championship trophies earned, there was summer camp. The hot gyms, the team bonding, the building blocks for high school teams to have a successful season. At the Badger Team Camp, held…
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Continue ReadingBefore the winter storm warnings of winter and the championship trophies earned, there was summer camp. The hot gyms, the team bonding, the building blocks for high school teams to have a successful season. At the Badger Team Camp, held July 12-14, there was plenty of talent between the high school athletes as well as the Badger players participating in demos as well as serving as coaches for various teams part of the camp. Here is a quick look back at some of those squads with the time put in on some of those hot summer days into late fall hardware.
Arrowhead State ChampionsArrowhead, Luxemburg-Casco, and Howards Grove Take Home Titles
Of the four possible state champions in Wisconsin, three of the titles went to teams who were at the Badger Team Camp. Howards Grove was one of the
first in-state teams to take home the camp title, where the camp trophy stays at the school for the entire year until the next Badger Camp. The Tigers were led by strong Senior leadership as well as a depth of backrow defenders who showed their versatility as being key scorers from the outside, including Badger commit, Saige Damrow, one of the top Class of 2023 athletes in the state.
Arrowhead was strong
Luxemburg-Casco State Championsall year with an extremely athletic and physical lineup. Aubrey Hamilton, a Notre Dame commit on the outside has been a primetime player, but with added depth from middle blockers Monica LaFleur and Lindsay Krznarich along with upstart Sophomore, Madi Tolzman, was key in their path to the state title where they battled through one of the toughest sectionals in the state and defeated conference rival Oconomowoc in the championship.
Luxemburg-Casco came into the Badger camp with potential as well as some question marks. With 1st Team All-State setter Bekah Day out this past summer with a back injury, the Badger camp was an opportunity for others to gain some valuable experience, especially with Sophomore outside hitter, Grace Holshuh who was a big bonus for the Spartans come tournament time. The path to a state title was not an easy one with five-set matches throughout conference and sectional play, but teams who get hot at the right time are tough to stop with L-C sweeping their semifinal and final matches to claim the gold ball.
West Liberty at Iowa State TournamentWe are officially checked in and ready to go at the Badger Team Camp! …and a picture with the one and only Dana Rettke; USA National Volleyball Champion Team!! pic.twitter.com/YSDenkouis
— WLHS Comet Volleyball (@WLCometVB) July 12, 2019
West Liberty Continues To Be Top Contender In Iowa
Seeing West Liberty compete this past summer against Howards Grove (WI) as well as Appleton North (WI) at the Badger team camp there was a glimpse of what could be a pretty special season. West Liberty even had some of their athletes who were competing for a spot in the state softball tournament during team camp (Iowa has summer softball). The Comets would advance to the Iowa State Volleyball tournament before losing a five-set battle to the eventual champion, Mount Vernon. The Comets will be coming back strong in 2020 with outside hitters, Martha Pace and Macy Daufeldt (Drake) as well as their libero, Monica Morales, who was only a Freshman.
Missouri and Nebraska Teams Finish Strong
Liberty High School outside of Kansas City, MO, the former high school of current Badger player, Madison Duello made an appearance at the Badger Team Camp and was coached by John Yunker of Champlin Park (MN) – the former high school coach of Sydney Hilley and Izzy Ashburn. Liberty would finish third overall in Missouri’s largest class. The Blue Jays were led by Junior, Bailee Middleton, an Ole Miss commit who had over 400 kills. They will return other top attackers in Madison Corf and Brooklyn Young.
Omaha Duchesne is always a powerhouse program at the Badger team camp with ball control and a roster loaded with all-around athletes. This past season, Duchense finished second in Class B behind Omaha Skutt Catholic who is one of the top high school programs in the country. Duchense was led by plenty of balance as always with three attackers with over 200 kills in Kaitlyn Knobbe, Caroline Ortman, and Mayah Delgado.