Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

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Volleyball well-tested but heads into tough stretch of schedule

Badgers head to West Coast this weekend to take on two top-10 teams

Coming off an exciting weekend with a sweep off the Hotel Red Invitational on its home court, the Wisconsin volleyball team has a tough schedule ahead.

At his press conference Monday, head coach Kelly Sheffield spoke on the team’s past successes this season, with an 8-0 record, and also touched upon areas that need improvement.

“Ball control continues to get better and better,” Sheffield said, speaking on the passers’ improving abilities in the back row. This weekend’s accomplishments can also be attributed to the middles who got “more involved offensively” than usual.

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He also praised outside hitter Courtney Thomas for her big role in the weekend’s victories. Thomas won the MVP of the entire weekend with her kill count of 27 and a .434 hitting percentage for the tournament’s three games.

Sheffield not only reflected on this past weekend, but also the challenging away games coming up this weekend. The Badgers will face No. 6 USC and No. 5 Washington in Seattle this Thursday and Friday as a part of the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge.

“I think when you’re talking about two historic programs like Washington and Southern Cal, teams that have won national championships, two of the best coaches in the game; our players, everybody in our program knows what those two teams have done,” Sheffield said.

While the defensive players have stepped up their game a lot in recent weeks, they will face a big opponent in Samantha Bricio, an outside hitter for USC. Sheffield pointed to Bricio as one of the top servers in the nation and called her style a “hybrid serve,” meaning that it will be a hard one for Wisconsin passers to get up, with the probability that Bricio will work most of the court.

The defense for UW has not always been at its peak, but as Sheffield pointed out, when it is locked in defensively, the Badgers can outperform even the toughest of opponents. Wisconsin’s passing system is different than the one used by last year’s team, and players have had the job of adjusting and transitioning to a new system, a transition that has already been shown to be a good improvement for the team.

While obviously there are some nerves when facing two of the nation’s top-ranked teams, Wisconsin itself is ranked fourth and Sheffield and the Badgers are not about to back down.

“We’ve got some things that they are going to have to handle as well,” Sheffield said.

Because of the intensity of facing these two highly ranked teams, UW is getting good practice in for when the real challenge comes: the Big Ten season. Wisconsin is coming off a second place finish in the NCAA tournament last year, so expectations are high for when conference play begins. As there is not a lot of turnaround time between non-conference games and upcoming Big Ten play, players must take the time and opportunities they are given now to hone in and fine-tune their skills.

Even with Wisconsin off to a strong start, Sheffield said the record is hardly the most important aspect of the team.

“We don’t talk a lot about winning and losing, we try to talk about, you know, being prepared, executing that, having the right mindset and then playing well. We think that if we play well on our side then the wins and losses will take care of themselves,” Sheffield said.

Looking ahead to Wisconsin’s schedule, one may notice that tough opponents are on the horizon, both Big Ten and not. Expectations will continue to be high for this well-tested and ready team. However, Sheffield’s Badgers are willing and prepared to make their season a historic one.

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