2026 Week One - Reindeer Rumble
- I AM Volleyball
- 1 day ago
- 13 min read
We host the first tournament of the season and it was bigger than last year's! 32 teams both days and we added a 10/11's quad Friday night. Hot cocoa was flowing and even Santa made a special visit! Let's dive in and see how our teams did.
10 RED

The 10's Team kicked off their season with a bang. Our tournament was Friday night and consisted of a 4 team quad. There were 2 11's teams and 2 10's teams which proved to be great competition for us. We started against Milwaukee Juniors' 11's team and it was a good match to get us warmed up. We worked on calling the ball and getting our serves over and in the end, we won in 3 sets. We then moved on to RVA and played their 10's team - we continued to improve working as a team and our serving got even better. We were able to close out the match in 2 sets winning 25-17 and 25-18. After our second match was over, our team cheered from the sidelines for our 11 Black team, who pulled out a victory and then also became our next opponent. The match was so fun and exciting. By this time, we'd really gotten our serves down and were able to put together a few serving runs which lead us to victory. It wasn't easy as we had to come back after losing the first set 19-25. I was super proud of our team this weekend - they showed that they could overcome adversity by beating 2 older teams and even coming back from deficits to win. I was also really happy with the way they cheered each other on and the other IAM Team, too. We will continue to get more comfortable with each other on the court and get more aggressive. Shout outs to Hayven, Emilia and Violet for serving and MVP awards!
11 RED
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11 BLACK
Super proud of 11 Black’s 2nd place finish at the Reindeer Rumble on Friday! We went 2-1 on the day and played some great volleyball. Maggie and Penny both served fantastic and tallied many aces throughout the tournament. Kynslee also played great defense. The team learned a lot along the way and even got some ace cheers going! The team enjoyed sweet treats for their 2nd place victory. Looking forward to our next tournament UWW Open in Whitewater on January 4th.
12 RED
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12 BLACK

The girls did a great job this weekend, the girls have demonstrated implementation of new skills that we have been working on in practice! The team has been working their butts off in practice and it showed this past weekend! The girls went 2-1 in pool play, earning them a spot in the gold bracket. The girls lost in the semifinals to our 12 Red team; however, the girls were able to battle hard in the second set! We had some great defensive moves and some strong serves come from our girls. The moral of the team stayed high throughout the day, putting the new cheers to use earning some laughs from both the girls and the parents.
A big player shoutout for this tournament to our libero Jay Morrisey. Not only was she all over the court refusing to let any ball hit the floor, but the leadership and the energy she brought to the court was impressive. We had another coach come up to us and compliment Jay on her effort and passion for the game. She really stepped up and took on a leadership role this weekend and helped lead the girls into the gold bracket!
12 WHITE
We had a great start to our season this past weekend at the Reindeer Rumble!
We went 2-2 on the day with 3/4 matches going to 3 sets.
Charlotte Gettelman and Kaylin Schellinger led the team with aces, both tallying 7!
Throughout the day the girls were super positive, hardworking, and gritty!
13 RED
What a great way to start our season! We found ourselves in the 14/15 division for the Reindeer Rumble on Saturday and it went pretty well! We had some sustained moments of enthusiasm, hustle, and powerful play. Several times, we put together some points that indicated that this group CAN do some incredible things. Whether that was pin-point serving, limiting our serve-receive errors, playing as a team to keep balls alive, getting blocks, or ending rallies with aggressive swings and intelligent placement, the hints of a solid squad are certainly there.
We were able to win our pool without dropping a set and defeated 2 15's teams in doing so. It was nice to see the girls not worried about the age gap at all! Even while doing all this, Jaidyn Alexander was able to work through an expanded role, adding attacker, defender, and jump server to her plate; Olivia Harry made some really nice plays as she becomes accustomed to a faster and more aggressive pace: Sarah Heitzkey was able to showcase her newfound float serve that gave our opponents fits: Payton Hemsing, who had to step in and set for a few points, proved to be a stronger passer over the first couple of weeks. Overall, and there is something that could be said about each girl, they did a fine job getting back on the court ready to play!
After a break, we entered the quarterfinals not quite ready to restart the way we finished the morning, and some of our focus waned, and the level of aggressiveness also followed. As a result, we fell in 2. Missed serves, a lack of communication, and a general malaise was the root cause; it wasn't physical. The goal over the next month, as we prepare for the 14 Elite division in the Power League, is to dive deeper into how we prevent that from happening again. The group is definitely talented! The biggest question is how do we make sure that talent is always being utilized, how do we maintain an expectation of 100% engagement when it's time to compete? If we can do that, we will always be a tough team to take down.
13 BLACK
A great kickoff to the season for 13 Black! The team took second place. The highlight of the day was probably our game against our very own 13 White team—a close 3 set match! 13 Black ultimately came out victorious. A huge shout out to their team. We look forward to matching up with again!!
The first tournament of the season is always an exciting one, but one full of experimenting with different lineups which can be a challenge. However, the girls rose to the occasion and were able to adjust and improve as the day went on. The team’s scrappy defense and hustle really stood out this tournament. We were able to get everyone involved on offense leading to some really great and exciting plays. A shoutout to OH, Lilly Marsh, for making some really high level shots. As the season progresses, we will continue to work on controlling first contacts so we can come out aggressive in serve receive. Excited for the rest of the season with this group!
13 WHITE
The 13 White team showed incredible fight, synergy, and serving prowess this weekend at the Reindeer Rumble tournament, finishing pool play with a strong 2-1 record and advancing to the bracket rounds with high momentum.
The team started the day locked in, consistently demonstrating a positive attitude and fighting spirit. The girls showed resilience, battling for every single point across all matches. This determination was especially evident in the team's powerful serving, which was a dominant factor all day. 13 White racked up an outstanding total of 38 aces throughout the tournament! Key serving accolades included Celia Grove (Outside Hitter) earning an ace pin in the second pool match, and Alaina (Defensive Specialist) also earning an ace pin in the third pool match.

Advancing to the bracket, the team faced off against the tough I AM 13 Black squad. This was the most energized match of the day! The girls came out strong, showing tremendous focus and teamwork to capture the first set with an exhilarating 26-24 scoreline. The energy on the court was infectious, with every player contributing greatly and hyping each other up to maintain the advantage. The second and third set the girls still put up a fight, but fell short, losing 1-2. Though we ended up not advancing in the bracket, we are so proud of the girls and will take the set win as a building block.
While every player on the 13 White roster contributed to the team's success, Lexi Hendricks (Outside Hitter) earned the well-deserved MVP Pin for her outstanding performance throughout the tournament. Her stats speak for themself, she was huge defensively and offensively all day. Us coaches are thrilled with the results and the effort displayed. We are incredibly excited to see the continued growth and development of the 13 White team as we move through the season!
14 RED | 1st Place
The 14-Red season kicked off last Saturday with a dominating performance at the Reindeer Rumble. This team last year as 13s brought home a 2nd place finish at the USAV Nationals in the Patriot Division. Now as they begin the 25/26 campaign, their game play began with that same high level of play. The team welcomed 3 new players who were not with them last year – EDEN KNOBLAUCH, AUBREY JAKUBOWSKI, and EMORY BJORSON who has immediately made an impact on the floor. The unity, focus, and determination on Saturday blew teams out of the water with an average win of 15 points each set.
Each player contributed in a full sweep at the Rumble to go 6-0 in sets and to claim their first tournament championship. Statistically, 14-Red controlled the score and statistics as ball after ball found the floor though offense and serving. Defensively, we have a core belief that our side of the court is “ours, not theirs.” Simply meaning, nothing touches our floor because we control it. That mindset saw our defenders taking ball after ball and putting it back in play. From the first whistle to the last, I AM held the reins (pun intended :P) to the championship.

HAYLEE ROBINSON led the team with an incredible 44 kills on 70 attempts, with only 5 errors for a .560 hitting average. Right behind her was MADDIE HAGEL with 36 kills on 63 attempts, with only 3 errors and a .520 average.
The team served a staggering 94%! This was led by LONDYN WISKIRCHEN and OLIVE BRYANT who both had 20 aces, and EDEN MILLER who had 15. Across the board, 14-Red owned the service line!
The team also held a strong serve receive for the day with a 1.81 average. This was led by libero WISKIRCHEN who passed an impressive 2.14 serve receive, and a team leading 38 digs. CHLOE CAVANAUGH added 17 digs to help sure up the defense.
The setters led the offense with remarkable movement and setting choices. BRYANT led the team with 72 assists on 156 attempts, and CHARLEE KRULL added 51 on 98 attempts.
What an amazing start to the season! If you have the opportunity, come watch this extremely talented team as we battle our way to the 2026 National Tournament.
14 BLACK
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14 WHITE
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14 GOLD
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15 RED | 2nd PLACE
Excited to see how our team would come together after 4 practices and we had an awesome story arc worthy of a sequel! Not to mention our elf performance on Saturday!

The first set was against Spiketown 6-2 and it was a challenge from the start. Game one was rough as we were learning on the fly to see who gets what ball in a live situation. Spiketown had good offense, defense, and pressure serving. Game two we calmed our nerves and was able to side out quickly and with a serving surge from Reagan we found some life and energy!
#Shoutout to Reagan for earning our first GAME CHANGER pin! A service run that switch the mentality of the team!
Matches 2 and 3 we controlled the game against nice teams from JustAGame and Cool City. We took 2nd place in pool and had the crossover with WI Shock 16's who won their pool. We go 3 with them and pull off the upset! Our next opponent is our very own 15 Black. This will be a fun matchup all season. They were down players but they put some pressure on us and making us call timeouts. Their serving gave us something to think about but in the end we had enough firepower to come out on top.
Now we are in the Championship against Spiketown16-2 AGAIN! They beat their own 16-1 team in the semifinals. They looked gassed and we took advantage of that in game one and served them off the court. Game two we had serving and hitting errors early that gave them momentum which they used through the rest of the set and game 3. We came up a few points short but what a great day of volleyball! 3 Exciting matches and a whole list of things to work on before power league. Great work team!
15 BLACK | 3rd PLACE
What a strong start the season. Well done to the girls being earning a tie for 3rd place out of 16. The plan for the day was to work a few lineups, see if we could get a rhythm going and work on team identity. We got that along with some very good matches. As the girls told me...it's game day.
We started the day against a long, tall and fast Spiketown 16-1 team. They came at us with aggressive serves and a defense that did not break. We definitely showed first game jitters that were compounded with a last minute change in line up. While we struggled and ultimately took a 2 set loss, we didn't give up at any point.
After a break we regrouped, tweaked the line up a bit and found a groove. We were able to work past the IAM 16 Gold team to secure the first win of the day. Next match was against Hartford 15-1 where we found the rhythm we were looking for. With a 2-1 record we finished second in pool and got ready for our first playoff match.
Got to love a home tournament as we were matched against the IAM 16 Black team. What a match. It was hard fought from both sides with 15 Black earning the W in 3 sets. The girls never lost focus and showed real grit when working through tough runs. Next up was IAM 15 Red for the semi finals to earn a trip to the Gold Championships. Unfortunately the early morning start and long day was starting to catch up with us and some plays that were easier before did not go as we wanted. We won some hard earned points, hitting over and through their big tall block across the entire front row, but weren’t able to close it out. Another tough loss but again the spirit never faltered.
I did a terrible job with stats so instead I'm going to call out a few key elements from the day:
Coach Jamie and I asked for flexibility and willingness to be uncomfortable. We got that from everyone. Even when we mixed up lineups a bit and tried things we did not practice we kept grinding and everyone had high spirits all day.
Ava had a crazy day in the middle. Some unorthodox defense kept the ball alive in more than a few situations as well as a few big overpass kills to finish rallies.
Jovie and Zoe had multiple point serving runs at key times to keep momentum with us.
Team serving overall had minimum errors all day. This is huge when battling for every point.
As expected, 15 Black learned a lot about ourselves and what this team can be. The energy, joy and resilience shown this weekend will be the building blocks to make a great season. Super proud of all of the girls.
15 WHITE
15 white had a strong start to the season going 3-0 in pool play and making it all the way to the semifinals. With their strong serving and persistent hustle, they were able to string together points and go on long runs. This weekend the focus was about grit and finding their connections with each other as a team, which continued to show and grow throughout the day. We are excited to keep growing as a team to see what these girls are capable of!
Player highlights:
Jeana showed her serving strength hitting multiple zones and going on a run of 6 multiple times
The girls also showed their strength when it came to protecting the net with Hannah, Sienna, Stella, Patton, and Katie getting some big kills
Patton really showed her dedication to being a great teammate this weekend, constantly hyping everyone up and pushing the team regardless of the current outcome hence why she is our first MVP
15 GOLD
Coming Soon!
16 RED | 3rd Place
The I AM 16 Red team started strong with a 3rd place finish of the 17s/18s division in the
Reindeer Rumble tournament hosted by I AM! The team finished with a 4-1 record going
undefeated in pool play, and winning their quarter final match, only dropping 2 total sets for the day. Our hitters had standout performances as our team as a whole hit over .400 on the entire day! Our defense specialists had a spectacular weekend passing keeping our team in system! Our setters put our hitters in great positions to get kills leading our standout offense very well! A full team effort for week 1 getting us ready for a great season to come!
#Shoutout to Ana, Malia, and Sophia who all had a hitting percentage of over .300 for the day!
Another #Shoutout to Sophia who had 6 service aces in one set during pool play!
16 BLACK
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16 WHITE
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16 GOLD
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17 RED | 2nd PLACE
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17 BLACK
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17 WHITE
I AM 17 White kicked off the volleyball season at Reindeer Rumble this past weekend! It was a fun day full of development as players and growth as a team. Our team endured a number of challenges throughout the day including being shorthanded on the day, losing a teammate to injury, and a tough go in pool play finishing with a record that didn’t reflect our play or mood. The girls found a surge of energy and came out firing on all cylinders after lunch and played their best volleyball of the day. We ultimately lost in the semifinals of the consolation bracket but the coaches and team agreed, we felt the day was a success despite our record. It was awesome to see the girls bond as teammates, grow as players, and recognize the steps that they took forward this weekend!
18 RED | 1st PLACE
18 Red delivered a statement performance in the opening tournament Reindeer Ramble, capturing the championship after an undefeated six-match run, highlighted by a hard-fought three-set title victory over 17 Red. From first serve to final point, the entire roster played a vital role in an exceptional weekend.

Offensively, Alayna led the attack with an impressive 4.5 kills per set, finishing the tournament with 23 total kills while hitting a strong .260. Anya followed with 2.5 kills per set, contributing 21 kills and posting an efficient .270 hitting percentage. Laila had the most kills in this tournament - 25 total with 2.0 kills per set. In the championship match, Grace was dominant in the middle, hitting an outstanding .330, while Alayna added 9 key kills to secure the victory.
Both our middle attackers, Grace and Taylor, were a consistent force throughout the tournament, as they combined for countless momentum-shifting blocks, timely kills and even digs, that anchored the successful results of 18 Red.
Morgan orchestrated the offense with poise and confidence, logging over 150 assist attempts, with 44 resulting directly in kills, and with 10 perfect assists in the championship match.
Defensively, Emy was relentless in the back court, finishing the tournament with 58 digs and a memorable highlight, our defense queen contributed 7 kills across the weekend.
From the service line, Reese delivered multiple outstanding game-changing runs, recording 16 aces while serving at an impressive 93% efficiency. Laila was flawless from the end line, serving a perfect 100% all tournament long and converting all 23 attempts into successful serves with 6 aces. Anya, Laila, and Grace each served perfect 100% in the championship match.
Beyond the results on the court, the team embraced the holiday spirit, creating ornaments for the I AM tree, taking pictures with Santa, and enjoying a festive team experience that made the weekend even more special. Thank you so much to everyone for cheering and for organizing such a joyful and memorable event - it was a championship weekend in every sense.
