By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
For volleyball teams with an eye on making noise across the state, there isn’t any better early-season gauge than the annual Joust Invitational.
And once again, the East Troy High School girls squad held its own with some of the best.
The Trojans posted a 4-3 record last weekend, won the Bronze bracket and finished ninth overall.
“Overall, I was pleased with how we played,” East Troy coach Jeremy Weis said. “This tourney gave us a really good look at what we need to address as a team if we are going to win state this year.
“It also showed us what we are capable of playing like as well. Our last five matches went to three sets.”
And nothing beats matching skills with the top teams in any division, Weis added.
“That’s one of the main reasons why we love this tournament,” he said. “Most of the best teams in the state are here.
“It doesn’t matter to us if they are Division 1 teams that we are playing. We need to play against the best teams in order for us to get better.”
East Troy posted victories over Germantown (2-0), Kimberly (2-0), Arrowhead (2-1) and Nicolet (2-1). The Trojans dropped 2-1 decisions to Arrowhead, Burlington and Greendale.
There wasn’t much of a difference between the wins and the losses, Weis said – a good indicator his team battled to the end.
“The difference is that we just played at a higher level (in the wins) for a longer time than in the losses,” he said. “We showed signs of being a good team. Now the key is to play at a higher level more consistently.”
One area that Weis wants to focus his team on moving forward is keeping its mental edge from beginning to end.
“As a coach, you know that can be fixed,” he said. “We will be ramping up our practices to address this issue. We don’t play (again) until (Sept.) 8, so that should give us a good start.”
Statistical leaders included M.E. Dodge with 98 kills and 53 digs; Brianna Scuric with 46 kills and 13 aces; Chloe Jakscht with 156 assists; Carly Atchison with 50 digs; and Katrina Santos with 10.5 blocks.
Scuric, just a freshman, gives the Trojans yet another weapon, Weis said.
“So far, she has been holding her own opposite M.E.,” he said. “That is huge for us this year. We have way more offensive threats than we did last year. Teams cannot sit on M.E. all day. They will have to respect more players than just her.”
East Troy opens Rock Valley Conference play next Tuesday, Sept. 8, when it hosts Evansville at 6:30 p.m.
That match signals the start of the pursuit of the first goal – a sixth straight conference title.
“The keys to conference this year is simple,” Weis said. “(We need to) keep making strides to improve in the areas that we are focusing on in practice.
“If we can become more consistent, we should do well in conference.”
