As the Wisconsin volleyball team gears up in hopes of making
a deep run in its 12th straight NCAA tournament appearance, five seniors'
Badger careers will end in just three short weeks.
Amanda Berkeley, Megan Mills, Jackie Simpson, Taylor Reineke
and Jocelyn Wack have been the core of the volleyball team that has won almost
100 matches over the last four years from day one.
Now, with three weeks at most left in their careers, these
five seniors are beginning to look back at their time as Badgers before they
make one final push toward the Final Four.
"I try not to think about that," Wack said about the thought
of her career as a Badger coming to an end.
"This
is it," Reineke added. "Some of us might not be able get the chance to play
volleyball again. It's just kind of play hard or go home. This is it. This is
all we have left. We are going to work hard and play like we have nothing to
lose."
The early years
For these five seniors, putting on the Wisconsin uniform for
the first time back in 2004 provided them with mixed emotions.
"Just to have that jersey on, and be a Badger and realize
there is so much to come was so exciting," Simpson said.
"I was excited and nervous," Berkeley added. "I've never
played in front of so many people before. I was more excited to be on the team
and be playing at the Field House when I use to watch games here."
However, from the beginning, this senior class hit the ground
running, immediately contributing on the court. Wack earned the starting libero
spot from the get-go and Simpson and Reineke quickly made their way into the
starting lineup as setter and middle blocker, respectively. Mills and Berkeley,
who both walked onto the team freshman year, also contributed as defensive
specialists coming off the bench.
"It's very rare for a class to come in with as many people
as they have and to start right away and to continue on for four years
contributing in such a big way," head coach Pete Waite said. "They clearly
earned their spots as freshmen. You (also) have a situation with two walk-ons
who have contributed in big ways during their careers, which is also very
rare."
It was this experience that was gained during their first
year that the seniors attribute their successes to today.
"Just getting that experience was invaluable," Wack said.
"We've been through everything together on and off the court and that is really
paying off this year."
"It's to the point now where you don't even have to hear
someone or see them to know where they are on the court," Simpson added. "It's
like we are connected on a whole other level. A lot of that has to do with the
chemistry we have off the court. We truly are a family."
Entering their first NCAA tournament, the Badgers were not
expected to make a deep run. However, Wisconsin shocked many in the volleyball
world when it upset No. 2 and undefeated Hawaii in the Sweet 16 before losing
to the eventual champions, Stanford, in the next round.
"The biggest thing I remember from that is how it went back
and forth," Wack said. "I remember Jill Odenthal pulling everybody in the
middle and saying, 'We are going to win this game.' It was just an amazing
feeling to take such a great team like Hawaii and send them back home."
Wisconsin followed up the Hawaii upset with two more upsets
the following year by beating then-No. 2 Minnesota and then a favored Notre
Dame in the Sweet 16.
It is these big upsets early in their careers that gives
this Badger quintet the confidence they can make a deep run in this year's
tournament.
"Once
you get in the tournament, you get faced with these teams that are expected to
win," Mills said. "After we beat Hawaii and all the big matches that followed,
it showed us that we could play up to that level and that we had so much
potential that we could be good. It gave us that extra confidence."
Finally upperclassmen
Entering their junior year, the Badgers were now an
experienced bunch and many expected them to make a run at a Big Ten title.
However, Waite enjoyed the 2006 season because he was able
to see how the group of girls matured during their first two years.
"It was fun to see them go from being kind of frustrated
players earlier in their career, because of the mistakes they might have been
making — the freshmen mistakes," Waite said, "to go to the point where they are
really enjoying the game their junior and senior year because they've made the
corrections, they've worked hard in the offseasons to be better players."
During Halloween weekend, the Badgers pulled off another
upset, sweeping No. 2 Penn State in what the seniors consider one of the
biggest matches of their careers. All five of them contributed in Wisconsin's
dominating performance, as the trio of Wack, Mill and Berkeley combined for 16
digs, while Simpson and Reineke combined for 12 kills and eight blocks.
"It was unbelievable because everybody played flawlessly,"
Wack said of the Penn State match. "That was awesome because it doesn't happen
a whole lot. Sometimes people have off-nights here and there, but everybody on
the team picks it up here and there. That night we couldn't be stopped."
Mills echoed Wack's assessment of the match.
"We were all in the zone," Mills said. "We weren't forcing
it or trying to do anything miraculous. We all worked together really well."
While the Badgers rode the high of the win to more
conference wins, for the third-straight year their season ended in
disappointment.
After making it to the Elite Eight in their freshmen and
sophomore year, the quintet was stopped short of their goal of making the Final
Four when they lost to Texas in the Sweet 16. The seniors have used that loss
to motivate them to finish strong this year.
"We
kind of had a chip on our shoulder, and we knew this year we wanted to do a lot
better and we didn't want it to end there," Reineke said about the Texas loss.
"It made us work a lot harder this season."
One last push
After their most successful campaign, the seniors are now
ready to make their final push at making it to the Final Four.
"Sometimes our staff has been spoiled and our fans have been
spoiled by the level of play they have brought to us and the effort they have
given us," Waite said. "It has been a great jolt, and now as we enter the
tournament, they're eager to play great and make a deep run. I know they have
set high goals, and they are going to give everything they can to the program
now."
While none of the seniors wanted to think about the fact that
their careers could be all over Friday, the realization that their time as Badgers
is winding down is beginning to set in as the quintet signed the hitting boxes
they use in practice Tuesday, a Wisconsin tradition.
However, the seniors were excited to find out they will not
have to leave Madison again unless they make it to the Final Four, which would
be welcomed by all.
"It was nice for the seniors," Mills said about finding out
Wisconsin would host the first four rounds. "Either we make it to the Final
Four, or we lose at home. We are definitely striving for the Final Four, but if
we don't make it, there is no place to end like home."
Because the Badgers are hosting the first four rounds, the
seniors feel their last shot at making to the Final Four is their best.
"This is just a great place to play," Simpson said of the
Field House. "The energy level is just up another notch. When you have all
those people cheering for you want to bring your game up to another level. I
know as our season as gotten closer and closer to the end, we have all started
stepping it up."
However, whenever Wisconsin's run in the tournament comes to
an end — whether Friday or as national champions — the seniors will begin to go
their own ways as the finish up their education and peruse other ventures like
graduate school and playing overseas. But no matter how far they end up away from
each other, they all agreed that no one could take away the bond they developed
over the last four years.
"We
kind of like each other," Wack joked. "We are like sisters. We see each other
every day. We talk about the stupidest things all the time. We are just there
for each other for anything. I think we going to be life friends, and that is
something we are going to take away forever."
Legacy and future
Regardless of how far Wisconsin makes it in this year's
tournament, the senior class will go down as one of the most decorated in UW
history.
In four years they amassed a 99-28 record overall and 61-19
in the Big Ten, pulled off numerous upsets, brought record numbers of fans to
the Field House and had strong showings in the NCAA tournament.
They have also accumulated numerous personal achievements. A
look in the Badger volleyball record books, and you would see the seniors all
over the page.
Wack is not only Wisconsin's all-time dig leader but also
holds an NCAA record with an 80-match streak of at least 10 digs or more.
Reineke is a three-time member of the All-Big Ten team and ranks second in
blocks in UW history. Simpson was a second-team All-American last season and
also ranks second in assists.
"I think if you were to ask any player on this team, it's
all about the team," Simpson said. "Any personal accolades that any of us have
earned, we would trade it in a heartbeat to have a Big Ten title. That's what
volleyball is all about. It's a team sport. It's a puzzle, and if you're
missing any single piece at any given moment, it's not going to be complete.
It's a very unique sport in that matter."
Now as the seniors get ready to leave the program, they are
confident they are leaving the team in great shape.
"It's Wisconsin volleyball. With or without us, it is always
going to be Wisconsin volleyball," Simpson said. "Had we not come here, it
still would have been a top 10 team with great recruits coming through. It is
one of the best places to play in the country. That is a huge reason why people
come here. The girls next year are going to be awesome. It is a bright future
for Wisconsin."
"I think it will keep getting better and better," Berkeley
added. "We are always a top-notch team so I think it will continue to be that
way."
Even though the foundation is set for Wisconsin to continue
it success, Waite knows replacing this class will be one of the toughest things
he has had to do in a long time.
"It will be very tough," Waite said. "We'll miss them for
the level of play they bring, for the effort they give in the classroom and on
the court, and just for the people they are. They enjoy this game and have
great passion for playing it. They have been great role models for the
returning players.
"I think that is something they will pass on to the group
for next year, how hard you need to work to be good and how much fun you can
have by giving everything you can to the team every day."
