5 high school volleyball stars of the week: Sept. 10 edition (2024)

The WiscNews will recognize the accomplishments of five girls volleyball players from our coverage area each week.

The efforts may not be the greatest statistically but are notable. We then invite readers to vote for the Supernova, the performance that most stood out to you.

Here are this week’s honorees.

Alexa Schultz notched her 1,000th career assist

Alexa Schultz has been the starting setter for Fall River the previous two seasons. She reached 1,000 career assists in her senior season at the Friendship Tournament at Just-A-Game Fieldhouse on Aug. 30-31.

"What is impressive about Alexa is her dedication to being the best setter she can be,” Fall River coach Laura Trautmann said. “She puts a lot of work in the offseason and continues to work hard during the season.”

She had 28 assists against Princeton/Green Lake and 24 assists against Cambria-Friesland and has led the Pirates to a 12-3 start.

“Having her as our setter has been instrumental in our team’s success,” Trautmann said. “It definitely helps to be surrounded by talented hitters and players who also have put time into their game.”

Tessa Reed reached career milestone against rival

Tessa Reed has directed the Randolph volleyball offense for awhile. She's only a sophomore but with 27 assists in a sweep of Trailways West Conference rival Pardeeville on Sept. 5, Reed was up to 1,021 assists.

(It's) is pretty amazing,”Randolph coach Jeff Kohlbeck said. “To get it against a conference rival is pretty sweet. We played a lot of good volleyball and a lot of it has to do with her. She’s one of our steady influences out there. She’s got a bright career.”

Kohlbeck believes that as long as she stays healthy, Reed will break Randolph’s school record of 2,052 held by Maddy Kohn. Reed is fifth in Randolph’s record books.

Reed needed 122 assists to reach the milestone when the season started and has played in 12 matches so far this season.

“She knows the game really well,” Kohlbeck said. “She’s able to consistently hit her marks that she’s supposed to. She’s still in a learning process.”

Sade Partlow shines at Friendship Tournament

Sade Partlow showcased her abilities with 37 kills, 46 digs and 16 service aces as Wisconsin Dells volleyball at the Friendship Tournament on Aug. 30-31. The Chiefs finished sixth out of 24 teams with a 5-2 record.

“She was very aggressive and effective from the endline with her serves,” Dells coach Taylor Preston said. “We push aggressive serves and those are going to come with some errors. Usually, even if she missed, the next time she’d come back and keep that aggressiveness and get a couple aces. She was consistent and reliable player this weekend. She delivered.”

The Chiefs defeated Wausau West in two sets, where Partlow had 13 digs, five kills and three aces.

“Overall, she was really successful in all three of those areas for us,” Preston said.

Audrey Sanders comes up big for Waupun

Audrey Sanders is a sophomore defensive specialist for Waupun and she was a “big reason” why Waupun defeated Mayville 25-15, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22 on Sept. 3 according to coach Chris Harmsen.

Sanders finished with 17 digs and two aces. Harmsen said she had nine digs and two aces in the fourth set and kept the Cardinals “out of system during that stretch” of aces.

“We were going back and fourth with them, and we’re down a few points and she went on a six- or seven-point run where her serves consistently had Mayville out of system,” Harmsen said. “She was also playing amazing coverage defense and got some balls up that most defensive specialists wouldn’t have a chance at.”

Harmsen said Sanders has been a major reason why serve receive has been a strength for the team.

“Audrey has a natural platform to be a passer and gets balls up that many can’t,” he said.

Fayth Hesselberg gets it done against Capitol North rival

Junior Libero had 12 digs and five service aces to help Lodi volleyball sweep Capitol North Conference rival Poynette 25-9, 25-10, 25-6 on Sept. 5.

“Fayth brings a lot of energy to the team,” Lodi coach Adam Buss said. "She is very good defensively ... She also is a leader offensively with her passing. She has a good serve that accounts for a lot of the opposing team errors.”

Buss said Hesselberg has good footwork and can read the opposing team’s attacks well to record an abundance of digs for the Blue Devils. Couple that with good court awareness and coverage skills as the reason why he believes she’s a top-rated libero in the Capitol North.

“She continually looks to improve her game,” Buss said.

Supernova voting

Vote for your favorite performance to be the WiscNews supernova below. Check back next week to find out who won.