More Odds, More Ends

There's a nice photo on the Badger Region site of the winning Badger Region girls high performance team that took gold in Tucson. They've got ups!

The same page also has the remaining television schedule for the JVDA highlight show on CBS College Sports Network. You can check it out on August 29 at 8:00 PM Central or August 31 at 2:30 PM Central. Did anyone see it the first time around? Was Wisconsin well represented?

FOCVs to the Rescue on Beach Jam Results

We were able to get the last names of the winners of various Bradford Beach Jam competitions from the Badger Region site. For first names and high schools we had to rely heavily on comments from several Friends of Cheese & Volleyball (FOCVs). Regarding the identity of B18 winners "Olson and Barreau," we received this comment:

"Johnny Olson and Jake Barreau. Both played 18's for Nightmares in Stoughton this year. Neither were able to play in High School because I believe Johnny went to Iowa-Grant and Jake is from Portage. Great kids."

Regarding the identity of B16 winners "Erickson and Caspar," we assumed the "Caspar" was Dan Caspar of Catholic Memorial, but we received this comment about the identity of "Erickson":

"It's probably Dayton who will be a freshman at Central. He played with Casper at NSMVC 15's."

We know it's frustrating to post comments and not see them appear until we approve them, but it does keep out the inappropriate. Please keep adding comments just like these, though. It makes the blog what it would never be without your help.

And Speaking of Division 1 Sectional 5, Here Are Some Bradford Beach Jam Results

Bradford Beach Jam results are now online at the Badger Region site (you'll have to do some scrolling).

Anyone considering voting in our new Division 1 Sectional 5 poll might take note that two Waukesha West seniors, Jamie Mueller and Ashley Applequist, appear to have taken first in the G18 division, and two Oconomowoc sophomores, Lindsay Gosh and Lauren Gnewuch, seem to have won G16.

On the boys side, "Olson/Barreau" took B18 and "Erickson/Caspar" took B16. We're thinking "Caspar" must be Dan Caspar of Catholic Memorial. Can anyone help with the other three? We apologize in advance for our all-too-obvious ignorance.

Badger Region Girls High Performance Team Wins Girls National Youth Division in Tucson

It's official. They won. The Badger Region girls high performance team defeated Iowa 25-15, 25-18, 25-21 to take first place in the Girls National Youth Division. We've listed their names before, but they deserve another mention:

• Lacey Adler, Waunakee (Class of 2010)
• Erica Beck, West Bend East (Class of 2010)
• Kelli Browning, Catholic Memorial (Class of 2011)
• Veronica Chandre, Oak Creek (Class of 2010)
• Kayla Duesing, Merrill (Class of 2010)
• Abbey Freund, Monona Grove (Class of 2010)
• Becca Fuchs, Menomonee Falls (Class of 2011)
• Janelle Hobbs, Arrowhead (Class of 2010)
• Stephanie Kirchner, Sussex Hamilton (Class of 2010)
• Erin Lehman, Green Bay Notre Dame (Class of 2012)
• Kayla Pickart, Fond du Lac (Class of 2011)
• Carissa Whalen, Wausau West (Class of 2010)

Congratulations to these girls (here's a photo) and all the other Wisconsinites who represented our state in Tucson these past few days.

Jeremy Dejno's USA Youth White Team Wins Boys Youth International Division in Tucson

We're still awaiting word on the Badger girls match this morning, but it appears as though Jeremy Dejno's USA Youth White team won its division in Tucson. Congrats.

Gold Bracket Update, Part 2

At the exact same time we were bemoaning the lack of information about how the Badger girls were doing in Tucson, "Coach Scott" was adding the following exciting news to an earlier post:

Badger Region girls mounted a big comeback against Oklahoma to secure a spot in the finals tomorrow morning at 10:00. They dropped a tight first set and won the second. I left during the third but saw some of the players a short while ago before leaving the CC. They will play either Iowa, who they have a loss to or Intermountain (Utah). My guess is Iowa having seen some of that match but I wasn't paying much attention to the score. Great job Badger Region!

This is good stuff and we're very grateful for the information.

Gold Bracket Update from HP Championships

Looks like Matthew Klingspohn's USA Select Gold team finished third and Trevor Novotny's USA Select Blue finished fourth in boys national/youth select.

Looks like Jeremy Dejno's USA Youth White team is playing for the championship in boys international youth.

Looks like they have the wrong pdf file in the girls national youth so there's no telling how the Badger Region girls are doing (in other words, we could use another text from Tucson).

We'll do a complete report tomorrow that will include all seven teams we're tracking.

Bracketing Up the 2008 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships

OK, we're trying to keep up with seven different teams of Wisconsin volleyball interest at the 2008 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships and it's now clear which playoff bracket each will be in (three are in gold championships):

• Badger Region Girls are in the gold playoffs of the girls national youth division
• USA Girls Select with Sara Blasier are in the flight one playoffs of the girls international youth division
• Badger Region Boys are in the bronze playoffs of the boys international youth division
• USA Boys Select Gold with Matthew Klingspohn (Nicolet '11) are in the gold playoffs of the boys national/youth select division
• USA Boys Select White with Peter Hutz and Connor Keating are in the silver playoffs of the boys national/youth select division
• USA Boys Youth White with Jeremy Dejno (New Berlin '09) are in the gold playoffs of the boys international youth division
• USA Boys Youth Blue with Jack Geary (Marquette '09) and Pete Heinen (Marquette '09) are in the silver playoffs of the boys international youth division

Thanks to all who added comments to previous HP posts. Some were provided in the middle of the night. Others were forwarded from text messages. All were appreciated. Now let's go win some playoffs.

Focusing Only on Badger Region HP Teams (and USA Youth White)

This is the schedule for the entire Girls National Youth tournament. The Badger Region HP team finished 3-0 in round one, which puts them in the first division of round two. If they finish in the top two of their pool of four, they'll make it to the gold playoffs. Let's hope.

This is the schedule for the entire Boys International Youth tournament. The Badger Region HP team is currently (unless someone has an update) 2-3 in their pool of seven. It looks as though they have to finish in the top two to make the gold playoffs. A quick glance also seems to show that the USA White team of Jeremy Dejno (New Berlin) is 4-0 in the same tournament.

Sorry for the chaos. It's hard to navigate these Select, White, Gold, Blue, Youth, National, International waters.

RE: HP in AZ

Unfortunately, we'll have limited availability today to sift through the latest 2008 HP Championships results and fully break down how Wisconsinites and Badger Region teams are faring in Arizona. We'll try later this afternoon or tonight. In the meantime, the latest comments to our earlier post provide nice insight into some of the action.

Sorting through First Day 2008 HP Championship Results (Almost Successfully)

We think this is how Wisconsinites and Badger Region teams fared on day one of the HP Championships. Please let us know where we've mishandled the ball.

• Sara Blasier's USA Select Blue team went 0-2 in the Girls International Youth division


• Trevor Novotny's USA Select Blue team went 1-1 in the Boys National/Youth Select division


• Matthew Klingspohn's USA Select Gold team went 1-1 in the Boys National/Youth Select division


• Connor Keating's and Peter Hutz's USA Select White team went 0-2 in the Boys National/Youth Select division


• Jeremy Dejno's USA Youth White team went 2-0 in the Boys International Youth division


• Jack Geary's and Pete Heinen's USA Youth Blue team went 1-1 in the Boys International Youth division


• The Badger Region boys team went 0-2 in the Boys International Youth division


• We still can't find the Badger Region girls team listed in the Girls National Youth division

If anyone has match details or other insights, let us know. Thanks.

Cheese & Volleyball & Surfing

With apologies to USA Volleyball for whining about not having results and gratitude to "Coach Scott" for showing us how to surf to the right page, here's the link to pool play results from the 2008 High Performance Championships. Divisions are listed on the left so all you have to do is click on the one you're interested in. We'll take a more complete look at these later this morning. In the meantime, go, Badger Region and Badger Region players, go.

Photos We've Found, Results We Haven't

Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but they're not so good at letting us know how Badger Region teams and players are doing out in Tucson. Want proof? Here's a link to some really, really nice photos of the 2008 High Performance Championships. Unfortunately, what we want are some really, really nice results. Can anyone help?

2008 High Performance Championships: What We Know & What We Wish We Knew

What We Know

• Competition starts today
• Two Badger region HP teams are competing
• Additional Wisconsin players competing include Sara Blasier (USA Girls Select Blue), Jack Geary and Pete Heinen (USA Boys Youth Blue), Jeremy Dejno (USA Boys Youth White), Trevor Novotny (USA Boys Select Blue), Matthew Klingspohn (USA Boys Select Gold), plus Connor Keating and Peter Hutz (USA Boys Select White)

What We Wish We Knew

• When all of the above are playing (the best we could find online is this page that shows first day start times, but that's not exactly pools, is it?)
• Whether we've missed any Wisconsinites in the above list

C&V Is Looking for JVDA & JO Links ASAP

After reading this local article about the JVDA successes of New Berlin Eisenhower's Katie Mroczenski, Muskego's Kate LaTour and the rest of their teammates on Milwaukee Sting 16 Black, it got us thinking: How many other local news outlets (if any) reported on the exploits of Wisconsin teams at JVDAs or JOs. If you know a link, why not post it as a comment below? We'll publish as soon as we can.

And while we're on the subject of New Berlin Eisenhower, be sure to vote in our Division 2, Sectional 4 poll on the right side of the blog. Thanks.

Badger Region Teams Set for 2008 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships

The Badger Region will send two teams to the 2008 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships in Tucson, Arizona from July 23-27. Congratulations to each of the fine athletes listed below. We've tried to identify high school and graduation year where possible. Can anyone help with the ones that still have question marks?

Boys

• Taylor Braun, Catholic Memorial (Class of 2008)
• Cody Buth, Marquette (Class of 2009)
• JW Kieckhefer, Hartford (Class of 2009)
• Josh Kirchner (Class of 2012)
• Kurt Larsen. Racine Horlick (Class of 2009)
• Thomas Niswonger, Marquette (Class of 2009)
• Kyle O'Connell, Wauwatosa East (Class of 2010)
• Ean Reid, Kettle Moraine (Class of 2009)
• Relyea Speller, Wauwatosa East (Class of 2008)

Girls

• Lacey Adler, Waunakee (Class of 2010)
• Erica Beck, West Bend East (Class of 2010)
• Kelli Browning, Catholic Memorial (Class of 2011)
• Veronica Chandre, Oak Creek (Class of 2010)
• Kayla Duesing, Merrill (Class of 2010)
• Abbey Freund, Monona Grove (Class of 2010)
• Becca Fuchs, Menomonee Falls (Class of 2011)
• Janelle Hobbs, Arrowhead (Class of 2010)
• Stephanie Kirchner, Sussex Hamilton (Class of 2010)
• Erin Lehman, Green Bay Notre Dame (Class of 2012)
• Kayla Pickart, Fond du Lac (Class of 2011)
• Carissa Whalen, Wausau West (Class of 2010)

So Who Else Wuz Robbed?

Every year at JOs, many athletes fail to make all-tournament lists simply because their team didn't make the gold playoffs. Someone has started an interesting thread on the Volleyball Magazine Forum that identifies Jeremy Dejno and Matt Machi of West Allis Lightning 16s as two athletes who fall into this category.

So who else would you add? What other athletes (male or female, Sandy or Dallas) had all-tournament-type performances on teams that fell just short.

(Note: Since we screen comments before publishing, it might take some time for your opinions to appear. And we'll tell you in advance that we won't post anything that even comes close to being derogatory toward another team or individual. But we're confident you wouldn't try to do that because this blog is all about promoting the sport in this state and that mission doesn't leave any room for negative juju, right?)

Final Finish for Wisconsin Teams at Girls JOVCs

Here's how 15s, 16s, 17s and 18s teams from Wisconsin fared at the JOVCs in Dallas:

15 American (48 total teams)

• 13th (tie): FC Elite 15-1
• 30th: Fond du Lac 15-1
• 38th: Wisconsin Select 15-1

15 National (48 total teams)

• 23rd (tie): West Bend Power 15 Purple

16 American (48 total teams)

• 23rd (tie): Wisconsin Select 16-1
• 37th: West Bend Power 16 Purple

16 National (48 total teams)

• 41st: FC Elite 16-1

17 American (48 total teams)

• 5th (tie): Wisconsin Select 15-1
• 45th: FC Elite 17-1
• T47th: Next Level 17-1

17 National (48 total teams)

• 31st (tie): Southwest 17-1

18 American (48 total teams)

• 11th (tie): West Bend Power 18 Purple
• 42nd: Southwest 18-1

18 National (48 total teams)

• 38th: FC Elite 18-1

Hillary Hughes Makes All-Tournament Team in 17 American at JOVCs

Hillary Hughes of Wisconsin Heights and Wisconsin Select 17-1 made the all-tournament team in 17 American at the Junior Olympic Volleyball Championships in Dallas. Congrats. This is also a good time to revisit our "Cheese & Trivia" challenge from a few weeks ago. Can anyone name the two 2008 recruits who'll be playing college volleyball in the same conference as the Washburn-bound Hillary Hughes? Anyone? Anyone?

Day One for Wisconsin 16s Teams at Boys' JOVCs

It appears as though both West Allis Lightning 16-1 and North Shore 16 Navy survived the first day of 16 Open competition in Utah.