2008 RECAPWisconsin Heights defeated Cuba City in four on their way to the division three state championship. The other sectional semifinalists were Aquinas and Dodgeland.
2009 CONTENDERS AND RANDOM NOTES
Regional A
- Aquinas The Blugolds graduated four Mississippi Valley all-conference players, including two first-teamers: setter Erin Kelly and middle Kassie McGettigan. They do, however, return senior right side Kristine Schill, who made second-team all-conference last season.
- Bangor Senior Devin Tenner is one of the returning letterwinners for the Bangor Cardinals.
- Brookwood The Falcons are in the Scenic Bluffs conference. They lost to Viroqua in the first round of last season's playoffs.
- Luther The Knights were Coulee conference champions last season, but graduated all of their all-conference selections.
- Necedah The Cardinals are in Scenic Bluffs conference and lost in the first round of last season's playoffs.
- Viroqua Returning letterwinners for the Blackhawk include junior Shelly Anderson, and seniors Katelyn Sloane and Mali Collins.
- Westby Returning letterwinners for the Norsemen include Megan Fortun.
- Belleville The Wildcats return junior Quinn Rear, who was second-team Capitol South all-conference, and Natalie Manion, who was honorable mention.
- Boscobel The Bulldogs are in the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League (SWAL) and we're still desperately trying to track down an all-conference list from last season.
- Fennimore The Golden Eagles are also in the SWAL.
- Iowa-Grant Same goes for the Panthers. Any and all help with this conference would be greatly appreciated.
- Lancaster The Flying Arrows graduated two first-team Southwest Wisconsin all-conference players, Ashley Henry and Danielle Kolb.
- New Glarus The Glarner Knights graduated three Capitol South all-conference players.
- Riverdale The Chieftains are another SWAL team. They made it to the second round of the playoffs before falling to Belleville in four.
- Wisconsin Heights The returning state champs graduated many outstanding players, including, among others, Truman State recruit Lauren Radix, Washburn University recruit Hillary Hughes and Minnesota-Duluth recruit Kalli Lochner. They return senior libero Anna Ruhland (435 digs), who was first-team Capitol South all-conference last season and junior Alexa Barsness (144 kills in 2008), who was second-team. Senior middle Kaia Friske had solid numbers last season, including 52 kills and 35 blocks. Look for additional contributions from sophomore setter/outside Allison Roth (79 assists in 2008), who was also on a bronze medal-winning team at the 2009 High Performance Championships last month.
- Dodgeland The Trojans graduated Akron recruit Morgan Kuhn, but return juniors Brianna Schmitt and Samantha Schultz, both of whom were first-team Trailways South last season.
- Marshall The Cardinals are in the Capitol South and fell to Dodgeland in the first round of last season's playoffs.
- Palmyra-Eagle The Panthers return senior middle Becky Pronschinske, who was second-team Rock Valley South all-conference last season. They took Wayland Academy to four in the first round of last season's playoffs.
- Pardeeville The Bulldogs graduated two Trailways South all-conference players, but return a group of seniors that includes Miranda Mahlum, Sadie Sterling, Katie Holland and Jessica Standke.
- Waterloo Senior Mandy Rudolph was second-team Capitol South all-conference last season. Seniors Amy Loewen and Tiffany Stout were honorable mention.
- Watertown Luther Prep The Phoenix graduated first-team Capitol North all-conference player Rachel Hein. They fell to Deerfield in the first round of last season's playoffs.
- Wayland Academy The Big Red had three Midwest Classic Conference North all-conference players last season--and all return: Senior setter Megan Connell and senior middle Jenna Ptaschinski made first team and sophomore outside Alli Franco was honorable mention as a freshman. They made it to the second round in last season's playoffs before falling to Deerfield.
- Cambridge Junior Carley Jeffery was second-team Capitol South all-conference last season. Senior Karla Frey was honorable mention.
- Cuba City Senior middle Briana Kaiser should make a contribution for the perennially strong Cubans, who are in the SWAL conference, and return nearly all of the players who defeated Wisconsin Heights in the 2007 sectional final on their way to the state championship and lost to the eventual state champion Vanguards in 2008. In addition to Kaiser, look for contributions from senior middle Danielle Matusiak, senior right side Kate Langmeier and senior outside Megan Pickle.
- Darlington The Redbirds are yet another SWAL conference team. They lost to Parkview in the first round of last season's playoffs.
- Deerfield They return senior Calli Dahl, who was second-team Trailways South all-conference last season.
- Mineral Point The Pointers are also in the SWAL. They advanced to the regional final last season before falling to Cuba City.
- Parkview Senior outside Jasmine Koch was second-team Rock Valley South all-conference last season and senior Abby Smith was honorable mention. The Vikings are in the Rock Valley South. The Vikings advanced to the second round before falling to No. 1 seed Cuba City.
- Turner The Trojans graduated setter Courtney Crouse, who was second-team Rock Valley South all-conference last season, but return senior Sophia Stevenson, who was honorable mention.
Wisconsin Heights over Cuba City in five (of course, with so many holes in this preview, we freely admit this prediction is nothing more than an uneducated guess).
KEY LINKS
- Coulee Region Preps
- WVCA D3 Scores
- 2009 Rosters (to come)
2009 SEASON NOTES
- Cuba City finished first at the Middleton Invite, 9/19/09
- Wisconsin Heights finished fifth at the Middleton Invite, 9/19/09
6 comments:
If your prediction of Cuba City vs. Wisconsin Heights in the Division 3 Sectional 3 sectional final is accurate, it will be the fourth straight year with those two teams. The last two winners (CC in 2007 and Heights in 2008) went on to win the D3 state championship.
Cuba City is probably a strong favorite to get there, as I think they return nearly everyone off last year's excellent team. So they may well be the favorites to win the sectional title.
Heights lost five seniors from last year's eight-player rotation. So it might be a struggle for awhile, until they find their groove. There are still some very talented players (like the ones you listed), but nowhere near the depth and size that last year's 44-2 state champions possessed. Things look promising, though, as Heights finished tied for 3rd in the 47-team Molten Summer Slam in the Dells that wrapped up today. Ironically, Cuba City was the other team that tied for 3rd.
A couple corrections for the Heights writeup: (a) Lochner was a Minnesota-Duluth (not St. Cloud State) recruit, (b) [NOTE from Cheese & Volleyball: The second correction refers to a transfer and our policy is not to publish those until confirmed. We don't doubt the accuracy of the information left in this comment, but we prefer to wait for it to be confirmed by a coach, parent or club director.]
Thanks so much for the above comment. Very helpful. Do you have the names, positions and graduation years for the returning Cubans? Any piece of that information would help improve the preview. Thanks again for the help.
Regarding the first comment, we also tried to atone for our transgression of sending Kalli Lochner to St. Cloud instead of Duluth by including a roster link for both her and Washburn recruit Hillary Hughes. We also added name and roster link for the third 2008 D2 recruit from the Vanguards, Truman State freshman Lauren Radix.
Cuba City returns senior middle Emily Kaiser, senior middle Danielle Matusiak, senior right side Katie Langmeier and senior outside Megan Pickle.
Thanks. We'll update after we eat dinner. (We know, too much information.)
Any chance anyone has a 2008 SWAL all-conference list?
Post a Comment