Everyone knows about the football team, but there are plenty of other sports that take place in the fall. Herald Sports gives you an introduction into four other teams and some of their top athletes that are ready to kick off their seasons in the upcoming weeks.

Volleyball

As fall approaches in Madison, a new season springs into action for the Wisconsin volleyball team.

The Badgers, who lost five seniors, including three starters, at the conclusion of last season are looking to build on last year’s success after finishing second in the Big Ten and 14th in nation. This year’s players, led by All-American outside hitter Brittney Dolgner, will look to fill the shoes of those who came before them.

“It’s different because that last core was starting since their freshman year,” head coach Pete Waite said. “So they really were doing some great things for us, but this new group is excited. It’s their turn to step up, and they have been working hard in the spring and the summer to ready to go for this season.”

Along with Dolgner, the Badgers welcome a top-10 recruiting class to Madison this fall. The class includes Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year Janelle Gabrielsen and two-time Wisconsin Defensive Player Award winner Sally Shumaker.

This summer, along with their offseason training, Morgan Salow and Nikki Klingsporn have helped coach local club teams in Madison. Waite believes the skills they learned on the sidelines will help them gain a better understanding of the game and improve their skills.

“They really do learn what it takes for a player on the court and what the coaches are looking for,” Waite said. “They’ve found themselves coaching their team with the same techniques and skills and comments that they hear from our staff. So it makes them think when they get on the court what they need to do, and it really makes them aware of their surroundings more and their own game.”

The Badgers will begin practice the week of Aug. 10 and their season kicks off on the road in the Kentucky Classic on Aug. 29 in Lexington, Ky.

Cross Country

Coming off a Big Ten title and a fifth place finish at the 2007 NCAA Championships, this year’s UW men’s cross country team should make another run at a few more trophies.

Head coach Jerry Schumacher has had great success in his nine years with the program, including the NCAA team title in 2005. But he will be replaced by Mick Byrne, who was the head men’s and women’s cross country coach at Iona since 1990.

With 13 letter-winners returning from last season, the veteran leadership and experience should help this year’s squad transition between coaches.

The men’s team will be led by a pair of seniors, Matt Withrow and Stu Eagon. Both were All-Americans in 2007, and Withrow claimed the Big Ten individual title. They will have plenty of help from some of their younger teammates, particularly from Brandon Bethke and Andrew Lacy, both of whom earned second-team All-Big Ten last season.

Wisconsin opens its season at the Pioneer Invitational at Carroll College, an event the team won in 2007.

The women’s team did not see quite the success their male counterparts did last year, placing sixth at the Big Ten tournament and 20th at the NCAA Championship.

Junior Hanna Grinaker was one of the bright spots for UW last season, as she finished 25th at the NCAAs, the best of anyone on the team. Senior Gwen Jorgensen, a Waukesha native, is another runner to keep an eye on for Wisconsin. She posted the second-best time of any Badger at the NCAAs behind Grinaker and was named to the U.S. Track and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic team in the offseason.

Golf

Although last season may not have been all the UW men’s golf team had hoped for, nearly all of the players will have a chance to top last year’s performance. The Badgers will welcome back all but one member from 2007’s squad, losing senior Jeff Kaiser.

A talented set of incoming seniors is led by Dan Woltman and Danny Zimmerman. Tyler Obermueller and Patrick Duffy are the other two seniors and are both looking to improve on last season’s finish.

Woltman, a native of Beaver Dam, had perhaps the best individual performance of anyone on the team, as he was the only member to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

Woltman’s season ended before the final cut, though, as his three-round total of 230 wasn’t quite enough to get him to the fourth and final round. He was the first UW golfer, however, to qualify for back-to-back NCAA Championships as an individual competitor.

Like the men, the women’s team will be losing just one senior from last season in Katie Elliot. They will miss Elliot, who led the Badgers in scoring average the last three years. She was on the Second Team All-Big Ten in 2007 and earned the conference’s Sportsmanship Award as well.

Carly Werwie showed plenty of potential last season as a freshman, who finished tops among any UW golfer at the Big Ten Championships in the spring.

The women open their season in Charleston, S.C. at the Cougar Classic Sept. 14-16, and host their only home tournament — the Badger Invitational — on Sept. 27 at University Ridge.

Tennis

For the second consecutive season — and the fourth time in school history — the men’s tennis team earned a trip to the NCAA tournament as an at-large bid. After defeating the Washington Huskies in the first round, the Badgers’ run ended after encountering No. 3 UCLA, who beat UW 4-0 in Los Angeles.

Moritz Baumann was the lone member of the team to make the NCAAs in singles play. The native of Germany did not last long, however, losing in straight sets to Travis Helgeson of Georgia.

Highlighting their 2008-09 schedule are matches against in-state rival Marquette and the Big Ten singles tournament, which will be held in Madison at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

The women’s team loses a valuable duo of seniors in Morgan Tuttle and Chelsea Nusslock.

In his first year as head coach, Brian Fleishman’s team failed to make the NCAA Tournament after losing in the second round of the Big Tens.

Returning for Fleishman’s squad will be senior Elizabeth Carpenter, who solidified herself in the top singles spot last season. Freshman Jessica Seyferth showed signs of promise in her rookie year, as she moved from the No. 2 through No. 4 singles positions.

The women’s team begins its season Sept. 19-21 at the Milwaukee Classic and will then travel to California for the ITA All-America Championship the following week.