For the first time since 2001, the Wisconsin volleyball team won the Big Ten Championship courtesy of a three-set sweep of Purdue at the UW Field House Friday night.
When senior Courtney Thomas delivered the final kill, the Badgers had accomplished something they’d set out to do since the early summer months.
“It’s awesome. You dream of it, you go to bed at night and you’re thinking about it. You’re like ‘What’s it going to be like? What am I going to do when I win this?’ But it’s nothing like the dream, it’s 10 times better and it was amazing with this senior class and our team,” Thomas said. “It’s something you look forward to your whole career and not many people get to experience it so it’s absolutely amazing.”
Wisconsin had claimed at least a share of the title with Penn State Wednesday night when they defeated Rutgers on the road in three sets, but claimed it for themselves with the win against Purdue.
“Who wants to share a Big Ten title?” Thomas said. “When we were at Rutgers and we won, we just didn’t feel like we were the Big Ten champs. It just didn’t feel right after we won. And we’re on the bus and we’re all talking and it was like ‘No, we’re not going to share this thing. We’re playing at home on Friday against Purdue and we’re going to go out there and win this thing outright.'”
The championship comes on the heels of a school-record 19-match winning streak, a run that will last for more than two months by the next time UW takes the court. Their last loss, and lone loss in conference play, came Sept. 24 against Penn State.
In addition to the title-clinching match, the team honored its seven seniors in their final regular season match.
Ellen Chapman, a cornerstone of the highly-touted recruiting class that is now entering its final collegiate matches, had nine kills in the match. The always reliable senior Dominique Thompson had four kills.
Deme Morales, Julie Mikaelsen, Kt Kvas and Caroline Workman were the other four seniors honored in addition to Chapman, Thomas and Thompson.
Thomas led the way for the Badgers with a double-double consisting of a team-high 12 kills and 10 digs. Freshman Kelli Bates killed 10 balls on the night as well.
The Badgers only trailed once the entire match, adjusting to the slow starts to sets that had plagued them at several points throughout the season.
“We jumped on them. Purdue kept battling, and we kept fighting as well,” Sheffield said. “Sometimes when you get out in that early lead, you can relax. I didn’t see that from us. I thought we kept our composure and continued to fight.”
One thing that stood out to Sheffield on this special night was the sellout crowd of 6,012.
“The fans were into it. My goodness, it was 15 degrees outside, and two hours before the match, there was a line outside my office window waiting to get in. We have some crazy Badger fans here,” Sheffield said. “They stuck around for I don’t know how long that ceremony was. The support we’re getting is incredible. Our team absolutely thrives off of it.”
For the Badgers, the title is simply a stepping stone to the next level — a national championship.
“I think that we can soak in this feeling a little bit for about a day, and then Sunday is going to come and we’re going to get locked in again. Just be preparing and getting in the gym and getting better for whoever our first opponent is,” Chapman said. “I think that we can enjoy it a little right now but it’s going to be quick turnaround before we start preparing.”
