WEST BEND POWER 2007 - 2008 Season Highlights

 


 

 

 

Four West Bend Power Teams Earned Bids

to the USA Junior Olympics Championship Tournament

in Dallas, TX

The four West Bend Power teams representing the Badger Region (and Wisconsin) all put in very respectable performances at the Junior Olympics National Championship tournament in Dallas, TX.  There were 48 teams at each age group for the National and American Divisions. 

 

14-Purple finished 1st in Silver, 9th overall in the American Division

15-Purple finished 23rd overall in the National Division

16-Purple finished 37th overall in the American Division (with a very respectable 5 and 5 record)

18-Purple finished 3rd in Silver, 11th overall in the American Division.

 

A special thanks to our sponsors that helped get our teams to Dallas to compete at this tournament.  They are:

Platinum Sponsor:  Washington Co Deputy Sheriffs Association

Gold Sponsors:  M&I Bank, A.J. Tool Co., Helsan Development Co., and Restat PBM.

Silver Sponsors: Schloemer Law Firm S.C., Delta Media, Gerry's at Home Carpets, Margins Provided Inc., Networker's Funding (WB), Rexnord, West Bend Mutual, and West Bend Sand & Gravel.

Bronze Sponsors: Albiero Plumbing, Ben Falter Services, Gordie Boucher Ford & Lincoln Mercury, C&K Services, Cousins, Downtown Family Dental, Dupli Quick Printing, National Exchange Bank, Newberg Lions, Noodles, Port Washington State Bank, Schneiss Heating, West Bend Firefighters, and West Bend Lakes.

Friendship Sponsors:  Badger Packing, Bob Fish, Cole Tool & Manufacturing, Dental Professionals, Greg Martin Design, Grounds Keepers, American Design & Build, Kiwanis Early Risers, Pack N Ship, John Bregnan (RESTAT)

 

Note: our Platinum, Gold and Silver Sponsors will remain on the Website through the next regular club season.

 

2007 - 2008 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

Four West Bend Power Teams are going to Dallas!

 

14-Purple placed 2nd at the Badger Region Qualifier to earn an American bid to the USA Junior Olympic Girls' Volleyball Championships (JOVC) in Dallas, TX..  16-Purple placed 3rd and 18-Purple placed 2nd at the qualifier, both earning bids to the American Division at the JOVC.  15-Purple who already had an American bid from NLQ was hoping to upgrade that to a National bid and they did just that by taking 1st at regional's.

14-Purple, American Bid

15-Purple, National Bid

16-Purple, American Bid

18-Purple, American Bid   

 

Congratulations players, coaches and our supportive parents!

 

Badger Region Rankings

Every season multiple West Bend Power teams earn their way onto the top ten Badger Region Rankings.  Last season was no exception with 8 teams being in the top ten rankings.  This included all our Purple teams and one of our Black teams.

 

Badger Region Monthly Rankings

  12-Purple: Highest 4th, Final May Rankings 4th

  13-Purple: Highest 3rd, Final May Rankings 3rd

  14-Purple: Highest 3rd, Final May Rankings 3rd

  15-Purple: Highest 1st, Final May Rankings 1st

  15-Black: Highest 7th, Final May Rankings 7th

  16-Purple: Highest 7th, Final May Rankings 7th

  17-Purple: Highest 5th, Final May Rankings 6th

  18-Purple: Highest 3rd, Final May Rankings 4th

 

15-Purple Earns American Bid at Northern Lights Qualifier!

Competing in a field of 103 teams, the 15-Purple team came away from Minneapolis last weekend with an American Division bid to the upcoming JOVC to be held in Dallas, TX.

 

The team came into the tournament with a huge bulls-eye painted on their backs as the #1 overall seed.  They held true to form in days one and two beginning 6-0 going into Sunday's Championship brackets.  Day three saw them continue their winning ways with a first round victory over Omaha.

 

The quarter final match was against Fox Cities Elite 15-1, an opponent that they had not yet seen.  Game one went to Fox Cities, but Power came back to win the match in three games, with a 15-3 exclamation point in the finale.

 

The team was handed a setback in the semi-finals as they were defeated by the Iowa Rockets, the eventual champions.  Power came back with a great effort in the third place match to sweep their opponent in two games and earn the bid, sporting a 9-1 overall match record.  Congratulations to the entire team and parents for a wonderful accomplishment!

 

West Bend Power is Building a Reputation at the Northern Lights Qualifier

 

Six West Bend Power Purple teams competed at the Northern Light National Qualifier and 3 teams finished in the gold bracket and a 4th just missed the gold in a closely fought challenge match. 

     15-Purple 3rd (out of 103 teams)

     18-Purple 4th (out of 77 teams)

     14-Purple 5th (out of 92 teams)

     16-Purple 21st overall, 5th in Silver (out of 119 teams)

This is also the 3rd year in a row where a West Bend Power team finished in the top 3 overall (bid territory)

 

 

Badger Region Championship Tournament

 

West Bend Power was proud to support the Badger Region Championship Tournament (BRCT) on 4-5 April, by sending all of our teams to the tournament (with the exception of our 11/12 Black team).  We were very pleased to see almost all of the top clubs in Wisconsin competing at the BRCT.  There were a total of 240 teams competing in the seven standard age groups from 12 and under through 18 and under.  This tournament provides a great opportunity to see how well we stack-up against the competition -- and the results were very good for West Bend Power.

 

All of the West Bend Power Purple teams were entered into the Open Division and all of our Black teams were entered into the Club Division. Summary of the finishes are:  18-Purple 6th in Open, 17-Purple 8th in Open, 16-Purple 13th in Open, 15-Purple 2nd in Open, 14-Purple 7th in Open, 13-Purple 11th in Open and 12-Purple 9th in Open.  In the Club Division, all of the West Bend Power Black teams finished in the Gold: 16-Black 5th in Club, 15-Black 5th on Club, 14-Black 5th in Club, and 13-Black 2nd in Club.   

 

16-Black Wins Silver Medal at Whitewater Open on April 20, 2008 

With minor bumps, bruises, sprained fingers and run-ins with the wall, each of the girls played a great tournament to take home the Silver.  The girls played hard, worked well as a team and also had a lot of fun.  16-Black Power parents are very proud of our girls and want to thank our coaches, Kevin and Heather. 

 

13-Black does it again!!! 

After placing second in gold in the last two tournaments, 13B took care of business and beat Club Breakout to become the Gold Champions!!!! 

 

Losing to them in pool play in a very close match was all 13B needed to pump them up (Say What?) for their grudge match. Non stop defensive hustle from Mandy Fiorentino and Amber Schmitt helped our phenomenal setters, Jenna Reitz and Katy Jahns, put the ball up for our aggressive, front row animals, Casey Krell, Alecia Bhatti, Lindsay Griggs and Sara Martin. They really mixed it up with unexpected tips and line shots. An awesome save and some key serves from Josie Vore was just what Coach Maija and fill in Coach Krell ordered, to take the girls through an exciting, tough, three game battle, to bring home the gold.

                                                                                            

Again, 13B's team spirit and unity on the court pulled them through all day long.  They played like every point was match point, while smiling, having FUN, and believing that they could win!  Our parents and families were AMAZING, becoming the loud, third echo to all of our cheers!!!  We loved the support!!! You Can't See Me!!  GO Black!!!!

 

15 Purple Continues Winning Ways at River City Open

Our 15 Purple continued their strong showing by winning last weekend's River City Open.  The offense continued to perform well, but was assisted by solid defense behind the block.  Team dig leaders were Amanda Weiss (38) and Emily Brzezinski (33).  Middle blockers Heidi Spies and Laura Zeamer continued to shut down opposing hitters with 14 and 11 blocks respectively.

 

On the offensive side, kills leaders were Lindsey Gosh (36) and Weiss (29), who had her best offensive match of the season.  The team continued to serve well at over 97% and ace leaders were Dayna Sammons (14) and Weiss (12).  Continuing their focus on ball control, the team is serving over 96% year to date.

 

The team will now begin to prepare for the Badger Region Championships in three weeks. It deserves noting that the team's consistent style of aggressive play and focus on continuous improvement has earned them a 38-0 match record to this point

 

13-Purple, a Team With Spirit!

The girls started the Feb 16/17 weekend at the Dells with a lot of energy!    One team member even played the tournament with a broken wrist and  served beautifully!  During the last day of the tournament 13P was shutting out the competition one win included a 25/9 score.  Ultimately, they were first in their bracket so it's with large smiles and high hopes the team is looking forward to the remainder of the season.  Way to go 13 Purple!!!

 

15-Purple, 27-0 in Match Play

 

The 15-Purple team returned from Whitewater on Sunday with its fifth gold championship in five outings.  The team encountered some pushback from a feisty WI Juniors 14-1 team in game one of the semi-finals (25-16), but managed to come back with an intimidating effort to close out with a 25-5 performance.  Much of the final match was played from behind against a very scrappy and emotional Match Point 15-1 team.  In the end, Power prevailed in two close games, extending their match unbeaten streak to twenty-seven.

 

Heidi Spies was dominant in the front row defensively leading the team with 15 blocks, including six in game one of the semi-final match.  On the offensive side, Lindsey Gosh led with 27 kills and Lindsey Sauter and Laura Zeamer contributed 21 and 16 respectively.  Serving continued to be strong as the team served .957 for the tournament.  Dayna Sammons led the team with an impressive 22 aces.  Back row defensive leaders were Emily Brzezinski and Amanda Weiss with 19 and 12 digs each.

 

This weekend the team will be playing in Oshkosh (Fox Valley Thunder) in their third 16’s tournament of the season.

 

15-Black Brings One Home

 

15-Black went to the Feb. 16th Whitewater Open and brought home their first tournament championship after a couple early season third place finishes.  Defeating Midwest Juniors and North Shore in morning pool play saw them with a 2nd seed in the gold pool and a semi-final match against a feisty Midwest Penguins team. 15-B pulled out a 2-game victory and headed into the championship match against a West Allis Lightning team that they struggled with earlier in the year.  After starting out slowly against tough serving, 15-B played even the remainder of game 1 but found them selves going into game 2 with their backs against the wall. The girls continued how they finished game 1 however, playing strong and leading most of game 2 to head into game 3 even once again.  15-B got off to a fast start in game 3 thanks to excellent serving and defensive play. Taking advantage of all aspects of the game, 15-B held that lead and moved on to a 15-9 third game championship victory.

CONGRATULATIONS GIRLS and thanks to all the parents and family members who showed up to cheer us on!

 

11/12-Black Puts in a Stunning Performance

Our very young developmental team put in a stunning performance at their first tournament making it to the Gold bracket and ultimately placing 3rd at the Fond du Lac Open.  The girls surprised everyone with a win on their opening game, but then lost that match in a close triple over-time third game.  That gave them the confidence they needed to win the next two matches against Wautoma Flash 12-1 and a very talented Block Party 12-1 to take first in the pool.  The girls then lost a close match in three to a very strong Club Break-Out 12-1 in the gold bracket.  Their success was based on excellent serving and the ability to stop hard servers.

 

The 11/12-Black team is mostly composed of 11 and under players with one 10 and under player.  They have a shorter season, having started practice in January and will play a total of four tournaments through March.

 

15 Purple Dominates the Kaepa FC Elite 16's Tournament!

 

15 Purple continues their winning streak by capturing their third straight Gold victory!  The coaches have made excellent progress with the team’s hard-hitting offense.  The key was a solid serve receive that allowed them to use a great variety of attacks to pepper and confuse the competition with slides, quicks, dinks and even a few back row attacks.  The communication and timing between the setter and hitters was great for this early in the season.  Serving was outstanding with the team hitting an amazing 98% for the tournament.  The team’s defense was a core asset.  Four hands extending high over the net challenged the opponent’s hitters followed by great coverage and some amazing ups!

 

The semi-final match was against a solid FV Thunder team that went undefeated in pool play.  Our team never trailed in the match and posted a convincing victory in 2 games.  The final match was against a local foe, West Allis Lightning. 15 Purple posted a strong 15-6 start in game 1 and fought off a brief comeback to win 25-11.  The Lightning team fought hard in game 2, pulling to within a point at 15-14.  But Power pulled together a strong finish with a 10-3 run lead by some great serving to take home the Gold! Congratulations team!

 

 "13 BLACK WINS"

After placing 3rd in Silver at their first tournament, 13B bounced back at their second tournament and went undefeated all day, to claim the "CHAMPION" T-shirt.

 

With consistent passing from Amber Schmitt and Katy Jahns, our awesome setters Jenna Reitz and Katrina Gedemer, pushed the ball to Alecia Bhatti, Josie Vore, Sara Martin, and Lindsay Griggs, who took care of business and put the ball away.  Casey Krell was "an animal" jousting at the net and intimidating their opponents.  Mandy Fiorentino was 13 Black's secret weapon, with her short, dropping, consistent serves, that were very difficult to receive.

 

13 Black's cheering and team enthusiasm was contagious as many opponents’ coaches and fans complimented their team spirit and unity on the court.  CONGRATULATIONS to Coach Maija, Coach Rosann and the girls.  Keep up the good work!!

 

 

OTHER PAST EVENTS

 

West Bend Power Volleyball Club hosted a Wine and Beer tasting fundraiser.  This fundraiser was for new uniforms for the 2008-2009 season.  The event was a success with 75 people in attendance.  It was a great social event that brought parents together from all eleven teams.  Those attending had over 20 different wine vendors and 30 different beer vendors to choose from.  If you didn't make it this year we look forward to seeing you there next year.