The 2nd weekend of the season is in the books and many of our teams participated in the Badger Region Power League and our younger teams headed over to Sting!
11 BLACK
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11 RED
We were all so excited to get into the gym and play volleyball knowing that we have a very talented team and couldn't wait to watch them play on the court for the first time this year.
Our first match of the year ended in a 25-20 25-17 victory over the McHenry JR’s. It was so exciting to see consistent play in the match with many 3 contacts with swings for kills.
Our next match we played against Milwaukee Sting White. We started a little nervous in this match and lost this first game 13-25. However, I was amazed at the competitiveness of this team and they came out to compete in game two and end up winning by a score of 25-20. The 3rd game was a back and fourth battle and I was so proud how the girls competed and came up with some huge plays to win the game 15-13.
In the championship match we played against a good JR viking team and lost a close first game 21-25. Again the girls fought back to win game 2 by a score of 25-15. The 3rd game was a great battle and we all believe that we were going to win until the last ball dropped with a score of 15-11. The girls were confident and grew quite a bit in the first day of competition and I cannot wait to get back to practice and continue to work with these girls! We are so proud of them!!
12 RED
Not bad for the first event! We put ourselves in a position to win our first tournament but came up short in 3 games in the championship. After coming out extremely strong in the first set and playing our sharpest volleyball of the day, we ran out of gas and our feet got a step slower and fell to Sting Black. I am certain that we will see them again and it's a good sign to know that we can compete with anyone, and beat anyone, when we are sharp.
We had 2 goals for the day: To gain a strong understanding of our rotations, pre-serve positioning, and transitions...and to have fun competing. We certainly did both of those things. Our 6-2 offense became very efficient, our setters did a great job getting our hitters involved (there were around 20 backsets to our right sides in system! on our first day!).
We also found out that we can be scrappy and are willing to swing hard, and tip when necessary. Overall, the coaches are pleased with the growth we saw in 6 hours and it just confirms our beliefs that this is a very talented group that can be pushed.
While all of the girls did a really fantastic job, the jump serves of Morgan V. and Milli K., really kept our opposition under stress, and Hannah H. showed wonderful steadiness, competency, and composure throughout the day. Abby B. also showed incredible growth in serve recieve and a clearer understanding of what the libero's job is.
13 RED
The 13's Red Team went 6-1 over the weekend playing in the 14's Select Power League! They played a lot of strong teams that pushed them to be disciplined in their court positioning and ball control.
#Shoutout to Paige (#11) for moving to a new position, MB, and taking over the court! She was a strong offensive threat for our team and learned how to play the new position quickly!
The coaches are proud of how the girls started to make noticeable change with their
communication and defense! The girls became unstoppable when they were focused on what they have been working on in practice!
14 RED
This weekend we played in the Badger Region Power League, which was also our first tournament. On day one the girls came out a little nervous in our first match and spotted OVBC 6 points on a bunch of errors. After we settled down we cruised to an easy victory in 2 sets. Our next match was against a very good FC Elite 13s team. We fought hard in the first set to come up just short at 24-26, but bounced back to take the 2nd set 25-21. Unfortunately we ran out of steam and lost the 3rd set 7-15. We were in the gym from 2-10pm and reffing or playing with no real breaks. I was concerned we would lose focus and energy in the last 2 matches. The girls did just the opposite. Their energy and focus were spot on. We played very good teams from RVA and Adversity slowly taking control and winning each match in 2 by 5-7 points.
After some much needed rest day 2 started out on a good note with a quick victory over MVP 13 Blue 25-15, 25-21. We finished our pool in 2nd place with a record of 4-1. Our crossover match put us up against Epic 14 Black. We lost 20-25, 17-25. This was by far the best team we faced and the speed of the games was much quicker than we'd seen. The girls adjusted to the tempo and we easily played our best volleyball of the weekend despite the loss.
#ShoutOut to Hannah, who figured out her swing and had a string of monster hits to help us on day 2.
14 Red is a "new" team bringing together many players that have not played together before. We are getting to know each other and I was pleased to see steady improvement in each match throughout the weekend. Kate and I are excited to see what we can accomplish this season!
15 WHITE
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15 BLACK
This weekend we had a tough round in the Badger Region Power League going up against some stronger 16s teams. Our momentum slipped a few times but were able to get it back mid evening. We had alot of great saves from our defense, serving is almost near perfect and setting was most improved even in difficult situations. We have work to do, and will definitely be stronger and more prepared for the next round of league.
#Shoutout to Ava for motivating the team when we needed it the most, that really shows her dedication for this team!
#Shoutout to Emma and Kate for being a great defensive team and hustling on the court
Finally a shoutout to IAM 16 Black for supporting our team and cheering us on when we needed it the most. Thank you!!!
15 RED
15 Red had a great start to their Badger Power League season. Going into a tournament where you are playing up an age group and the competition is some of the best is no easy task. Adding on that it is your first tournament of the season could have frustrated many teams, but not this group. The girls came out with a ton of energy and worked hard the whole weekend. They were able to finish 4-2 on the weekend earning the opportunity to stay with the best teams in their group. The girls know there is a lot to work on but are excited for the start they created for themselves and what is to come.
#Shoutout to Lauren Lanning and Olivia Friedl for their constant communication and positive attitude all weekend!
16 WHITE
The 16 White team started off their season extremely strong in the Badger Region Power League at the Rec Plex center. Although we were missing two of our girls, everyone stepped up and played lights out on both days of the tournament. On the first day, we won our first game in a sweep 2 sets and a tough 3 set match for our second game. Even with a mix up in the lineup sheet for game #2, the team adapted to the confusion and played really well to finish the day strong and undefeated.
On the second day, the team took their play to a whole nether level! We had an early start to the day at 8am, but that didn't stop us from becoming undefeated and top of our pool. The championship match was a nail biter of going back and forth for points for both sets.
Overall, great first tournament to start our season off as 6-0 champs!!
16 BLACK
The 16 Black team played in the first round of the Badger Power League this past Saturday and Sunday. Overall it was a successful weekend with a 4-2 record. We are steadily getting used to playing with each other and we’ve been improving something in each match. A few highlights- Saturday’s last match saw a fabulous comeback against a very strong FC Elite team, taking a 29-27 victory in game 2. Sunday was a long one, but after a misstep in our second match, we rolled the rest of the day with everyone contributing in various ways.
Every member of the team contributed- Natalie, Molly, Anna, and Maddie with blocking, Ava and Becca with serving aces and running the team, Lily in all-around play, Macey with defense/SR, and Maddie K being a leader. The team’s energy and support for each other, as well as the never give in attitude is really fun to watch. We can’t wait for our next chance to compete.
PS – it was great to have a chance to cheer on the other IAM teams over the weekend #IAMfamily!
16 RED
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17 WHITE
The I am 17s West Bend team played our first round of badger power league in Appleton. The facility was very nice. We started on Saturday very strong by winning both of our matches. Some very strong play by Caitlin Wohlt and Gianna Hemauer. Carolyn Lang had 7 kills in 1 game from the right side. Outstanding!
Unfortunately, our winning streak did not continue on Sunday. Every game was close and we will call it a learning experience as both the coach and the players believe the could have won all 3 of the matches. We established the middle hitter over the weekend and had consistent kills from Jenna Butchlich. We ended up 3rd in our pool. This team has a lot of heart and spirit. I love it!
One of the refs came up to me after the tournament and told me he will be notifying the Badger region that our team should be commended for good sportsmanship and positive attitudes!
17 BLACK
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17 RED
Have you ever had the experience where you are streaming a movie and right when the action happens the connection starts to buffer? Well that was a very familiar feeling for the team this weekend. We were in a a lot of close games with plenty of chances to win but could not get through that buffering stage before we could finish. But when winning doesn't happen, the learning starts! Some very positive things happened over the weekend. Our two new players to the the team, Allison and Sam, started to find their groove with the team dynamic and played some solid ball and making big plays!
#Shoutout to Alison for giving us the competitive attitude we are looking for when when get into tough matches.
#Shoutout to Sam for finding her comfort zone in serve receive and defense. Making it look easy as we progressed through the two days.
BIG #Shoutout to Julia who has bounced back from a knee injury last year and getting big blocks and greats touches when our team needed them the most!
Even though we buffered at the end of our matches this weekend, we will fix that internet speed and get back to the show! :)
18 RED
This weekend we played at Badger Power League. Saturday provided our athletes an opportunity to play roles they otherwise might not, as we were missing a few players. Having our middle hitters and right side passing and libero playing outside while we ran a 5-1 provided some different perspectives for our team and there were certainly some strong moments - narrowly losing to WI Juniors 13-15 in the 3rd and another close match with 414. Sunday we had the ability to return to a more normal playstyle, but unfortunately met similar results with two very close losses. While the record may not reflect it, we again picked it up over the course of the weekend. The biggest early-season takeaway is to develop a proactive defense. I am looking forward to having some time to grow as a team before our next opportunity to showcase our talent.