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Submitted by Shane Kleiman for WisSports.net



2009 Recap



Oshkosh Lourdes scheduled too many matches last season and therefore could not play Cambria-Friesland in the final match of conference play and was unable to be awarded the Trailways North Conference title, although the Knights went 8-0 in conference matches and won the conference tournament. Valley Christian and Cambria-Friesland both finished 8-1, with Valley Christian taking second in the conference tournament and Cambria-Friesland taking fourth to give Valley Christian the "conference title." Oshkosh Lourdes made it to D3 regional finals before falling to eventual state qualifier Laconia in four sets. In Division 4, Valley Christian got to sectionals before losing to eventual state runner up Wausau Newman while Central Wisconsin Christian beat Cambria-Friesland in regional semifinals before losing to Johnson Creek in the regional final match.  



2009 Final Standings

2009 All-Conference Teams



2010 Preview



Predicted order to finish:

1) Valley Christian

2) Cambria-Friesland

3) Oshkosh Lourdes

4) Oakfield

5) Randolph

6) Markesan

7) CWC

8) Princeton

9) Montello

10) Green Lake  



Players to Watch:

Megan Sharkley, Green Lake

Arianna Wiersma, Cambria-Friesland

Kayla Wiersma, Cambria-Friesland

Angela Brown, Markesan  

Kayln Hungerford, Oakfield 

Natalie Buyarski, Oshkosh Lourdes

Teenie Lichtfuss, Oshkosh Lourdes

Lizzy Potratz, Valley Christian

Lizzy Jonas, Valley Christian



2010 Season Outlook:

It is always a concern for a team that graduates a player who had more than 900 kills in the past three seasons as Valley Christian has to deal with in the departure of First Team All-Conference middle Alyssa Frees. However, if a team is going to graduate a player of that caliber and still be successful, it is very helpful to be returning most of the players who played the previous year, which is also the case for the Warriors. Aside from Frees, the only other player they lose from their starting rotation is defensive specialist Emily Simpson. The Warriors will try to compensate for the loss of kills through returning senior outside Hannah Schultz, junior outside Rachel Potratz, senior outside Courtney Hart, and junior middle Jordan Geffers. Of course, there is also the next 900 plus kills player in school history, First Team All-Conference senior middle Lizzy Potratz, who has over 600 kills in the past two seasons. Getting the ball to the hitters for the Warriors is Honorable Mention All-Conference junior setter Lizzy Jonas and junior Libero Olivia Schettl.



When coaches around the conference are consistently mentioning a player who will keep her team in competition for the league title, you know that player is special. This is very true of All-State Honorable Mention and UW – Milwaukee recruit Arianna Wiersma, as the senior outside has been named Trailways North Conference Player of the Year the past two years. She is not the only Wiersma on Cambria-Friesland s team either as senior setter Kayla Wiersma was 2nd Team All Conference and junior outside Brittany Wiersma was third on the team in kills per game in 2009. Also returning are senior middle Sydney Bancroft-Hart and senior defensive specialist Lauren Grahn. The Hilltoppers have to replace four players who saw gamely playing time last year.



Oshkosh Lourdes has only lost five conference matches in the past three years, but do not have a conference title to show for it after last year s technicality. Do not expect Lourdes to be losing many matches this year either, as the Knights return four starters from their 2009 team. Senior outside Natalie Buyarski earned First Team All-Conference honors, while junior middle Teenie Lichtfuss was Second Team. Other returning starters include senior Libero Katie Blando and senior right side Haley Barnett. The biggest hole to fill will be at setter, where the Knights graduated First Team All-Conference Ali Tomcyzk.



Last year, Second Team All-Conference junior Kalyn Hungerford led Oakfield in kills while splitting time setting with now graduated Kelsey Hungerford. It will be interesting to see what the Oaks do, do they have Kalyn Hungerford set all the time or can they find someone else to set? At other positions, the Oaks return everyone on their roster other than libero Kayla Ruplinger, where they have senior Katie Gross ready to step in. Starting hitters returning include Honorable Mention All-Conference senior middle Kayla Rymer, senior middle Valerie Swanson, and senior outside Jami Fink. Randolph looks to improve on a season in which they went 9-24, including 5-8 in conference matches. Like Oakfield, the Rockets return most of their key players from 2009. However, they must replace Second Team All-Conference middle Megan Pickhardt, and finding someone to replace her is a bit of a question mark at this point for head coach Jeff Kohlbeck. Otherwise, Kohlbeck says the Rockets' strengths include "experience, offense, setting, and strong hitters." They return nine players who played in at least forty of their eighty-five games last year, including senior outside Britany Toon (163 kills) and Honorable Mention All-Conference junior outside Myriel Werner (250 kills). At the setter position, they return two setters who played in a majority of their games, junior Allie Omen (549 assists) and senior Kylee Nelson (115 assists). In the back row, they return junior defensive specialist Jami Nelson.



Markesan comes into the season having "experience in the back row" according to head coach Troy Miller, but also having to replace a couple of their front row players. Second Team All-Conference senior libero and senior defensive specialist Maddie Kelly anchor the back row, while senior setter Stacy Dougherty will set up the offense for the third year in a row. Honorable Mention All-Conference outside Rea Rooney will be the biggest loss for the Hornets, as well as losing front row player Julie Eager and serving specialist Ally De Young. Returning hitters include senior middle Courtney Jenkins, junior middle Kelsey Symmons, and senior right side/outside Melissa Stindt. All in all, Markesan returns ten players who saw playing time on varsity last year. Central Wisconsin Christian finished the 2009 season strong, beating Cambria-Friesland in the Trailways North Conference tournament to take third and then beating C-F again in regional semifinals. This year the Crusaders have to rebuild their front row, where they lose their three top hitters in First Team All-Conference outside Anna Hofman and Second Team All Conference selections outside Alyssa De Young and middle Jaimie Kok. Returning hitters junior middle Joeli Heuver and senior right side/middle Becca Smits will try to pick up the front row production. CWC should be stront at setter and in the back row though, as it returns senior setter Lisa O Connor, senior libero Shanna Bruanschweig, and senior defensive specialist Vanessa Katsma.



Princeton went winless in conference play last year, but four of seven starters return in 2010. Most notable is Honorable Mention All Conference senior middle Ashley Mashuda, as well as senior middle Kelsey Zodrow, sophomore setter Hannah Lashock, and senior libero Sammy Braun. However, the Tigers lose all three of their left and right side hitters, so look for senior Kassondra Halaka and junior Skye Mabry, who each played in over half of Princeton s games, to fill in on the outsides. Although Montello only won two matches all season, it was able to get many players on the varsity roster regular playing time. Eleven players played in at least half on the Hilltopper s games, and seven of those players return. Leading the returnees is Honorable Mention All-Conference senior back row player Paige Polk, as well as senior all around Kayla Baukhnect, senior outside Nici Kearns, senior middle Chelsea Troost, and sophomore middle Brittany Schroeder. However, Montello will have to find a replacement for graduated setter Amy Slama. There is a lot of experience in a conference when only one team returns less than half of the players who saw regular playing time the previous year. Unfortunately for Green Lake, it is that team in the Trailways North Conference this upcoming season. Still, the Lakers return three starters, including Second Team All-Conference senior middle Megan Sharkey, senior outside Samantha Rowley, and senior outside Mallary Nissen. The biggest holes to fill will be at Libero and setter. Sophomore Allison White saw limited varsity action as a freshman but may be the one to take over at setter.