We have commitment news; some old (sorry) and some new! Sting 18 Black player Lauren Hintze (Menomonee Falls HS) will be staying close to home and will be wearing a UW-Milwuakee Panthers jersey next season. Three of Lauren's teammates have also made commitments. Courtney Larson (Hartland Arrowhead) has committed to Truman State in Kirksville, MO where she will become a Bulldog and Heather Merfeld is heading to Beumont, TX to join the Cardinals at Lamar University. Ashley Shields also of Sting 18 Black has committed. Ashley will be heading in the opposite direction and will travel north next season rather than south where she will be playing for the St. Cloud State Huskies in St. Cloud, MN. Finally, Sting 18 Gold player Karli Koralewski (Thomas More) will be packing things up to become a Patriot at Francis Marion University located in Florence, SC. Congratulations players!

Things didn't end with a State Championship and the immediate honors that followed. Future Badger and current Sting 18 Gold player, Allison Wack (Westosha) has recently been named as the Gatorade Player of the Year for Wisconsin. That's not all for Allison. Every year Volleyball Magazine also names their All-American lists. This year, Allison has been added to the 2006 Mizuno/Volleyball Magazine 2nd Team All-American team. Great job Allison and congratulations for those two great honors!

The competition season has begun and so far much of the news is very good. Our younger teams began especially strong this season. Sting 11 Gold took the floor for the first time this season in the Badger Tour 12's event where they took over the 6th seed overall by going 3-1. Sting 12 Black began their season with a second place at the Sting Open. They too took the floor for the Badger Tour where they went undefeated for the first play date. Things are also clicking along with Sting 12 Gold. So far they have been playing up an age level and managed a 5th place at the Sting Open 13's event and also went 3-1 at the 13's level for the Badger Tour.

In their first outings both Sting 13 Black and Sting 13 White finished 3rd at the Sting Open 13's. 13 White rolled through their first play date in the Badger Tour going undefeated. 13 Black is playing up an age level in the Tour and went 2-2 on the first date. Meanwhile, Sting 13 Gold has only played one tournament so far this season. They dropped one game on the day en route to a Whitewater 14's Championship victory. They will be testing the waters against 15 year olds this coming weekend. A number of our younger athletes also took part in the first indoor sand event hosted by the Badger Region. Annie Kunes and Hannah Picel of 13 Gold won the 13's doubles. Morganne Longoria and Kacey Shebenek of 12 Gold took 2nd. 12 Gold member Elyse Keating and her partner took 3rd place. At the 14's level Sara Blaiser and Claire Raddatz of 13 Gold took 3rd. Of course there were only three teams but who is keeping track…..?

At the 14's level Sting 14 White took the court for the Badger Tour and finished the day at 2-2. Sting 14 Black has been a little busier so far having played two events at the 15's level. They took 2nd in the Whitewater 15's tournament and went 3-1 in the Badger Tour. Sting 14 Gold has only played one event. They went undefeated at the Midwest Penguin Classic 16's tournament.

In the world of 15's, Sting 15 White took to the Badger Tour going 2-2. Sting 15 Black has a couple of events under their collective belt. They first headed to the Whitewater Open in the 16's division. They kicked the season into a strong start by taking 2nd place. They continued their great run to begin the season by going 4-0 at the first leg of the Badger Tour. For Sting 15 Gold, the season began with an early season road trip. They traveled to Minneapolis, MN for the MLK Elite Series scrimmage where only they know how they did since nobody has told us anything about the scrimmage. They do however have some play date scores in the books. They are also playing in the Badger Tour 16's division. They went 4-0 for the first day of play placing them in 1st place overall for the Tour.

Great start of the season teams! Congratulations to everyone.

[Editor's Note: Thank you to the Woodford family for the images of 15 Black]