Put your reading glasses on! Our largest recap of the season! Teams head down to for the 2nd weekend of MEQ in St. Louis and teams go downtown for the first weekend of Badger Region Championships! A few teams played a single day tournament at the Sting Center too. Bringing home some hardware this week to fill our trophy case. Busy weekend, see how they did!
12 RED
After a grueling weekend in St. Louis, and some adversity in the area of energy and intensity, the girls came out this past Saturday morning determined to play with those 2 issues being a non-factor. They played fast, aggressive, and as a team for the entire first day. We outscored our 3 opponents 150-90, with only a couple of instances where our opponents (Sting Silver, 414 Milwaukee Elite, FeVa Blue) were able to go on 3-4 point runs. Otherwise, we were in complete control of all sets. Our goal of maintaining the number 1 overall seed going into the Gold Bracket on Sunday was accomplished.
On Sunday, the goal was obvious. If we played up to our potential, we would not be beaten. The coaches took a little time, before we warmed up, to remind the girls that we were the most talented, the most experienced, and most united team in the gym. If we played with aggression and quickness, we would win, no doubt about it.
In the semifinal match against a well-coached Heat Red team, we came out smoking hot. We won the first set 25-9, and that doesn't even reflect how much in control we were. Our first contacts by Stella, Payton, Lyla, Reagan, and Sarah were so clean that our setters were able to deliver opportunities to every hitter. Bell, Aaliyah, and Hanlee became unstoppable in those situations when we ran our non-outside sets. Our opponents served a bit tougher and sent some second balls over that caught us off guard, but we prevailed 25-17.
We then faced Sting White in the championship and we started once again on fire.
Our offense was insane!
Hanlee bounced a quick set in the middle about 4 feet deep with power early in the set, and Jaidyn quickly turned a couple of really nice passes into aggressive setter dumps. We stormed out to what seemed like an insurmountable 18-8 lead...but our opponents, who also had their sights set on being champs, picked up their serving entensity, combined with some lapses in communication on our end, and found the set tied 21-21!!!! After an urgent timeout, we battled to a 23-23 tie, to finally win 25-23. That was a nerve-racking set. With the job being the need to win 2 sets, we had one under our belt. We started the 2nd set very poorly, with too many hitting errors and not moving on serve receive and found ourselves down 1-9! WHAT WAS HAPPENING! But, and this is where we truly began to play like a team again, made smart plays, and served tough! We clawed our way back into it and tied it up 16-16. At this point, we knew we had our opponents on the ropes and we rolled them during the final drive and won 25-18. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it!
While every single player had incredible and memorable moments,
a special #shoutout to the stellar Stella Walter and her most complete tournament in the 2 years she has been with I AM.
Her serving, her passing, defense, and most importantly, looking to be the "ball hog" we need a libero to be to run our offense. Her serving in the final set of our Championship was truly the final nail.
12 BLACK
12 Black had a great weekend at the Badger Region Championships. We went 3-2, earning us 7th in the Club division. Some highlights were Grace’s #OverpassKill, Lauren’s defense in the backrow, Ellis’s serves and Arabella’s hustle to keep the ball in play. The girls did a great job tightening up their serves over the weekend and we really worked on keeping energy high during the whole game.
#MVP will go to Lauren for stepping it up to play all the way around
Next up: the final weekend of Power League!
12 WHITE
12 White took first place at Badger Region this weekend in the Wisconsin DivisionThey went 10-1 overall!
13 RED
13 Red was finishing up a long stretch of volleyball with the Badger Region Championships. For the two consecutive weekends prior, the team participated in the Badger Region Qualifier and the Mideast National Qualifier. Throughout those tournaments the team continued to fight through many different adversities. It isn't often that you play three consecutive weekends. Playing three consecutive weekends of this type of volleyball is another story. The team put many positive moments on the court for the first two weekends and an abundance of learning experiences were met and the girls faced them with fight and overall positivity.
For the BRC and coming in as the #1 overall seed the girls had one goal, to get to that final and win it all. We understood that even though we haven't been playing out best we still have a high expectation for our training and desire to compete at a high level. On day 1, the girls below through their competition. Besides one uncharacteristic sloppy set of volleyball, the girls controlled the pace of their matches and began to find a groove again. With a lineup change, and understanding of future roles, and positive leadership we began to find a rhythm.
For day 2, the girls were faced off against Midwest Penguins 13-Black. This is a team they faced before in Power League and won a scrappy 3-set match. During this game we began to challenge ourselves with playing a higher level of volleyball. When you do that some errors can happen but we have talked that aggressive errors are a big positive versus making weak mistakes. Being assertive in your position is essential to taking that next step forward. The girls fought hard through that aggression and won in 2 sets. For the championship, we found ourselves matched up against another familiar foe, WI Juniors 13-1s.
This is one of the highest level of teams we have played all year so a very appropriate championship match.
The girls came out on fire in both sets. Through some excellent serving and strong defense we were able to get out to big leads. The coach from Wisconsin Juniors said after the match that he hasn't faced as scrappy of a team as ours all season and we noticed we have a very high IQ group of girls. Juniors fought back in set 1 to make it close but in set 2 we kept the lead for the whole match and finished it off with a sweep to finish BRC as 13 Open Champions. To say our coaching staff is proud of this group would be an understatement. It has been an absolute grind but the girls continue to come back each day to learn and grow. I (Jimmy) celebrated a birthday over the weekend and most years I celebrate it over BRC and I can honestly say that there is nowhere else I would rather be than working with these amazing people on a birthday weekend at such a special event.
#Shoutout to our Libero Londyn for being absolutely fantastic and owning her serve receive all weekend
and another shoutout to Chloe for making a selfless position change for the weekend and for the future. I can't wait to see what this team does next! Diggin' in the Dells coming up after some much needed time off!
13 BLACK
IAM 13 Black headed to Badger Region this past weekend! Going into this weekend, we were the only 2s team that qualified for the open division, and it was a learning experience for us! Something that we experienced and learned is how important it is to maintain consistent throughout the game. On our first day during our first match, we had an overpass kill rewarded to Kennedy Bodus. In our next match of the day, coach received two ICE pins during this match. Our last match of the day against Revolution, Jane Mclintyre and Kennedy Bodus our two middles received an overpass kill. Going into day 2, I reminded the girls how important energy and being competitive is. They all have what it takes but it’s all up to them if they want to show up and be the best that they can. They want to be the best for their teammates, their parents, and their coaches. We all come together to make memories and grow as volleyball players, and we need to take advantage of moments/experiences like this so we can learn and grow! Working on building motivation and energy will help the girls understand that going through the motions of the game won’t work all the time. Being able to start and finish the games consistently will be the key to success.
Going into day two we were in the Bronze bracket. The second match of the day was against JAG, our Libero (Emma Timm) this match received 2 pancake pins and 5 aces pin! We also had an overpass kill from Kennedy Bodus, and coach received 2 more ICE pins.
The girls were able to keep up with all the teams this weekend, I’m proud of them for working hard through all the mess-ups and tough competition but because all the games were so close, it shows that this team does belong, and I hope they can continue to work and bounce back from this weekend and use this as fuel for future matches ahead.
Our tournament MVPs for this weekend were given to Emma Timm and Sydney Massart for their outstanding performance and consistency throughout the weekend.
Emma Timm had 43 digs this weekend along with 13 aces. Sydney Massart had 45 digs this weekend along with 8 aces. These two in the back row complement each other! They work together through the seams and crossed with each other, so the ball never drops! These two had huge amounts of energy towards their teammates. They stood up to the challenge this weekend and wanted to show off how good they are! As a coach, we are extremely proud of these two! Having a couple weeks off we are eager to continue working and redeeming ourselves next time!
13 WHITE
13 White went into Badger Championship weekend ready to play! With three pm games scheduled on Saturday, the girls were anxious to get playing. We had a tough pool of 3 - 13-1s teams.. But the girls were up for the challenge. They played some great volleyball, and did put up a fight - causing every match to go into a 3rd set, and even fighting back from a 11-point deficit to win a set. The last match of pool play was a well-deserved win for the team. It was a long afternoon of matches, and their energy was getting low, but they fought their way through another 3 sets to end up victorious! With this win, we ended up in the bronze bracket for Sunday. The girls' spirits were high on Sunday afternoon and there was so much confidence shining. The first match was a tough one - playing against a MUCH larger 13-1s team than us. Though, again, the girls put up a fight to get to a 3rd set. In the end, the opponent took the W, but we learned a ton in this match and played some great defense! In the final match, we took the opponent again into a third set - this time coming out winners!
Coach Matt & Erin are starting to think the girls just want to play more volleyball...
so they purposely took us into 3 sets every.single.match this weekend! There were a total of 6 overpass kill pins awarded, 5 to one of our middles - Destasia, and 1 to our right side - Natalie. We decided to give two MVPs this tournament, one to Tess, and one to Reeve. Tess, one of our setters, stepped up big time on defense, covering so much ground and turning lots of tough passes into successful offensive plays. Tess was also a great communicator with her team, constantly calling for and off our back row players and talking to her hitters! Reeve showed so much grit this weekend, covering so much ground on the court and getting great high passes. She locked in and worked hard to get clean passes to her setter in order to get offense going. Reeve was also a serving machine this weekend, constantly going on runs, and only missing one serve all weekend long. Both girls were true standouts this weekend, and well deserved the MVP pins!
14 RED
Pool play day 1 of BRC had us matched up against Wisconsin Elite 14 Elite, SWVBC 14 blue and WI Jrs. 14-1. Our first match of the weekend against WI Elite was no walk in the park. The match was tight throughout, but we closed it out with the win in 2, 25-22 and 25-20. Little did we know, they would end up the eventual champions on Sunday! We took care of business against SWVBC 25-12 & 25-18 and then beat WI Jrs. 15-7 in the 3rd set to win our pool!!
Next stop, gold challenge round on Sunday!
Day 2 we faced 414-14 Elite in the challenge round! We played our best volleyball of the weekend winning in 2, 25-15 and 25-10. It was a true team effort! On to the semifinals to take on Milwaukee Jrs. 14-1. Unfortunately, we didn’t continue to play our best and lost in 2 close sets 20-25 and 23-25. Next up, a WI Ice team we had split with earlier this season. They were the more aggressive team that day beating us 25-19, 20-25 and 10-15. Hopefully we get another crack at them later this year!
Shoutout to Scarlett Van Harpen for earning MVP leading us in blocks and kills on the weekend!
14 BLACK
14 Black enjoyed a weekend downtown at the Badger Region Championships. We set a few goals to execute skills we had worked on in practice, including tightening up the execution of our freeball offense. We had a great start to the day as the girls were doing all the things asked of them. Serving was aggressive, defense was unrelenting and offense was on fire.
Feeling pretty good we started the first match much the same, then a twisted ankle gave us a wonderful opportunity to try out a new and exciting line up - AND practice our mental and physical toughness. (Shout out to Eloise and Sofia for changing their role and becoming more confident with each play in that new role.) We lost the first set, stormed back to win the second set and fought hard but lost the 3rd. Third and final match we got to give special bragging rights to Coach Jamie - as we beat the team coached by her daughter. Bragging rights for at least a week over family dinners.
Sunday we played a very tough defensive team in our first match of the day. we played very well, the defensive and hustle plays were huge all match to keep us alive. Unfortunately we could not finish out the win.
The next two matches we continued to play well. Aggressive serves from Abby, Addy, Eloise kept opponents out of system. Two wins to take the Copper bracket championships. While it may not be Gold, or Silver...
I think the teamwork, camaraderie and general awesomeness is a sign of a great team.
While we obviously would rather have played with our whole team; the way the entire group rallied around each other to support and encourage and never losing faith was quite impressive.
Outstanding work from all:
Addy and Grace to anchor the back row.
Set by set improvements on the block positioning. Ava, Kiley and Sophia worked hard to get closed to the Pins.
Continued attacking improvements by the pins - Reagan with the push, Zoe with the hard cut shots and Haley with the deep corner. Keep building that tool kit ladies.
Abby and Eloise are always dishing butter and now hitting shots and sneaky tips from the right side.
Some cool numbers from the weekend:
Over 100 Digs, 54 Aces, 97 Kills.
12 Overpass Kill pins (Sophia-7,Abby, Reagan, Ava-2, Zoe)
5 Ace pins (Addy-2, Reagon-2, Abby)
.....and we got to finish with a bit of team feeding. What a weekend!
14 WHITE
14 White had yet another winning weekend on the courts. This time at the Badger Region Championships. Saturday started fast with the girls making quick work of Madtown 14-3 Select with scores of 25-7 and 25-22. They would stumble a little in the first set against North Star VBC U14 Select Blue and drop the first set 16-25 but like they have done all season they rebounded quickly and won set two 25-19 and then a thriller of a third set 18-16. The three set match took a lot out of 14 White and they just didn't have enough in the tank to finish either set against 14 Rally losing in straight sets 16-25 and 23-25. Day two say another good start with 14 White winning their first match 25-12 and 25-18 against Infinity 14 Blue. In the copper semi-final 14 White couldn't overcome too many errors and while they battled ended up falling to FC Elite 14 Black 19-25 in both sets. Katie Weeden showed great improvement as she led the team in kills on the weekend and earned the MVP pin. Kierstyn West was best from the line and led the team with 8 aces on the weekend. 14 White's super record goes to 28-11 on the year with the conclusion of Badger Power League and a hopefully a rematch with OVC on the horizon.
14 GOLD
14 Gold had a good time playing in Badger Region Qualifier. We took third in Titanium. Special thanks to Eve Wille filling into the middle position. Libero Peyton Trushinsky had a great showing in both serve receive and defense. Kiley Wall led the team with kills. Carolyn Crowley, Ireland Galvin, and Brooklyn Weber had some impressive service runs. The whole team did a great job cheering each other on and having fun playing the game.
15 RED
We hoped in the car and drove down to St. Louis for the MidEast Qualifier (MEQ). This is our first time at this tournament as coaches and we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. We played in the Liberty Division looking for a higher bid than our American Bid we earned at the Badger Region Qualifier. Walking in with a 5 seed with over 100 teams in our division
was some mad respect! It's pretty cool goin to these tournaments and playing teams you've never seen or heard of before. Trying figure out what state they are from and we always get asked where we are from too.
The clipping game was strong at this tournament with players, coaches, and referees getting clipped. No one was safe!
Day one we played Oly Reign 15 Gold, Cyclones 15B, and M2 Volleyball 15E2. All fun matches! Here are some highlights from the day...
Ana with 7 aces vs Oly Reign and picking up two blue checks (IYKYK)
Malia with nearly back-to-back Overpass Kills vs M2
Ana with an Overpass Kill vs Cyclones.
Nora with 6 aces for the day getting at least one per match
Day two we had 4 matches in the day. We needed to be top two to have a crossover for the Gold Bracket. In Pool we faced SKEVA 15 Blue, Rockwood Thunder 15 Black, AZ Sky 15N1. This pool consisted of teams that paced 1st or 2nd yesterday. We went 3 with SKEVA and Rockwood but in the sets we lost, we only lost by two! Playing 3-set matches in a long day makes that day even longer!
Here are some highlights from day two...
Liberty with 5 aces vs Rockwood, 4 of those in set 2
Charlotte closing out our crossover match with 3 straight aces!
Gold Bracket Sunday, 16 teams, long road ahead! Match one we faced a team that was masterful with tipping, SA Lightning 15-1. Soft touches, tools off the block, and then they mixed up some hard driven balls. They had a style of play that w are not used to. We had to crawl our way back in set one as we were making adjustments on the fly. We take it 25-23. Game two we recalibrated and took control winning 25-17.
Now we are in the quarterfinals. We need to win this to just to claim our incoming 5 seed. We played our new friends from Madfrog 15N White. Learning new slang words and meeting two very nice and outgoing coaches. Their clipping game was good too!
This match required a blood sacrifice so we offered up Ella Miller's nose.
On an overpass mid-rally, we left one of their players wide up and she smoked it and fearless Ella took one for the team. This caused a small nose bleed that dripped to the floor. A cleaning crew had to come out and sanitize the floor. This allowed time for Ella to run to the bathroom and plug her nose. Running back with two thumbs up she didn't miss a beat! We won both sets 25-20, and 25-18.
Semifinals vs New WAVE 15 Tsunami. We cruised through set one 25-18. Had a poor showing in set 2 losing 16-25. and Game 3 we left it all out there but some bad timed errors and a few calls not fall our way, we lost 10-15.
We still took home some hardware around our necks and a piece for the trophy case! 3rd PLACE, What a weekend! We are lucky to have this group of caring girls and supportive parents take this journey with us. Hopefully we will continue to prove ourselves and create more memories before it's over.
#Shoutout to MVP Liberty Wiskirchen. Consistent leader on the court all weekend long!
15 WHITE
15 White was back in action this weekend with a one day tournament at the Sting center. It was a smaller tournament, where we saw lots of good competition. We have had the tendency to take almost all of our games ever played to 3 sets! We started off the day with not playing so hot against Heat 16, but were able to turn it around in our second match of the day against MWP. The girls had played such good volleyball that first set and it was so exciting to see them not start off the game slow after a loss! We were able to put a lot of pressure on the other team with aggressive serving and really good serve receive. It started to not go that way towards the end of the game, resulting in us taking them to 3, but we were able to come out with a win! We then went on immediately to play I AM 16 White which we were really able to compete with them, unfortunately we lost in 3, but it was really good competition.
#Shoutout to Nyah for winning a joust and for us to be able to give out or first joust pin of the year!
We then went on to play a 4th match in a row! By this time of day, these girls were exhausted, we didn’t perform the best due to that, but were still able to have fun and play volleyball! Overall, the weekend wasn’t the way we wanted it to go, but there were still many positives overall and takeaways that we will be able to change this week. We are excited to get back into it again this weekend at Badger Region Championship!
16 RED
This weekend 16 red took a trip to St. Louis to play in the Nike MEQ Liberty division. Day 1 the team went 3-0 dominating against all of the teams. We were in the dome, so the girls had some fun sending some sky balls to the other teams. Later that night the team went to Chicken and Pickle to play some pickle ball for team bonding. We had a bad storm and ending up doing more team bonding in the hotel while a tornado passed by 😬🌪️. Day 2 we started to see more competition. This team had a fast start this morning flying by the first two games. The third game was more challenging, facing taller and stronger players. We came out victorious playing some amazing, nail-biting volleyball winning 26-24 and 25-23.
WE MADE IT TO THE GOLD BRACKET👏⭐️.
Day 3 brought some challenge. This team was here to fight today no matter what was thrown at us. First game of the day we had a fast start in the first set, then the opponent stepped it up a notch forcing our team to be craftier and smarter. The second game of the day was against HP St. Louis, this team brought some big hitters and a great libero, however we took them to 3 sets proving that we can compete with anyone and push through adversity. This brought us to the semifinals; we played ATHENA from Oregon. Both teams were beginning to get tired having to dig deep for some extra energy. We won the first set 25-23, having some amazing saves and great serves. We fell short the second (22-25) and third set(15-8). The scores do not reflect how hard the girls worked in this entire game, the other team was bring some heat and we battled right there with them making the opponent worry about winning.
This entire weekend the girls proved that they belong with the top teams and can compete at a high level. They faced tough situations and proved that they have the determination to push through them. This weekend proved that it was beyond skill, we are not a team that falls apart when we face push back from a team and that is because of the chemistry and connection. Each person stepped up when needed, played their role, and brought some fantastic energy. Us coaches talked about how there is not a single person who could be named MVP because each day a different player stepped up and they each brought amazing things to the game. We finished 3rd out 112 teams, learning so much and preparing us for Nationals. Next stop Badger Region Championships!!
#Shoutout Emmalee for some solo blocks
#Shoutout Grace for stepping up when other teammates weren’t feeling great
#Shoutout Milli for consistent, aggressive serves
16 BLACK
Over the course of three action-packed days at the Mideast Qualifier tournament in St Louis, 16 Black showcased exceptional skill, determination, and teamwork. Our hard work paid off as we finished 3rd out of 32 teams!
Our players were consistently strong on both offense and defense, with multiple serving runs. Ava Peterson and Maddie Katte were a dynamite blocking duo. Amary Dione continues to raise her setter IQ, running the court, and moving the ball around strategically. Abby Barthelemy showcased her skills with some clutch saves.
Our stand-out athlete of the weekend was Sierra Hoeft. She never let off the gas pedal, leading the team with high energy and positivity. She went on several long serving runs, frequently bringing us back in the game or giving us a comfortable lead. Sierra covered tips flawlessly, was strategic in reading the defense and running creative plays, and communicated effectively, earning her MVP of the tournament.
Our blocking was solid, and we adjusted seamlessly to each team we faced, ensuring we played smart, strategic volleyball. One of the highlights of the tournament was our serving performance—over the three days, we recorded an impressive 82 aces, proving our dominance from the service line. Despite the tough competition in our final match, our team fought hard, stayed focused, and demonstrated resilience, taking the final match to three sets. Overall for the weekend, we went 7-1 (15-3 for sets).
It was an incredible tournament that highlighted our ability to perform under pressure and adapt to any situation. We're proud of our performance and are looking forward to Badger Region Championships next!
16 WHITE
It was a good week for 16White! It started during practice, winning the championship belt from 15 Red, and carried over to a solid 2nd place finish at the Sting Center on Saturday, going 4-1 for the day.
Saturday had a lot of tough battles, with 3 of our pool-play matches going 3 sets. I was really impressed with how the girls elevated their serve and pass game when it mattered most. Offensively it wasn't our best day and we ran out of gas in the championship match, but I loved how the girls kept fighting through struggles all-day and found ways to win.
Next week is Badger Region Champs. We'll be short-handed but I think confidence is high and I'm excited to see what we can do!
17 BLACK
Our team headed to the Badger Region Championships this weekend ready to tackle the Club division. We started Saturday with a great team win over Madtown 172s in three sets. Then we played a new opponent in Crossfire 17 Blaze. They were a scrappy team with a tough block, and we lost in two. We ended the day on a high with a decisive two set win over a familiar foe in Milwaukee Juniors 17s. Ending the day 2nd in our pool, we headed to the Silver bracket.
Sunday’s first matchup featured Lakes Juniors 17s. We took them to 31-29 in the first game and knew we had our work cut out for us. Unfortunately, we lost the second set as well. Determined to win the last match of the weekend, we played an awesome game against North Star 17s. This was a team we had lost to last tournament, but this time we stayed cool and edged them out in a two set match.
These girls had a great weekend and we are seeing tons of improvement!
#Shoutout goes to Alayna for leading us in BOTH kills and digs for the tournament!
The backbone of our team was our setters, Molly and Sam, who consistently worked their butts off to keep our offense running smoothly. We are looking forward to a great weekend in Indy this upcoming weekend!
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