The 2012 Wisconsin women’s volleyball team is no longer a team of freshmen without any college experience.
The Badgers (5-1) are a year older and are looking to build on last season’s team that finished with a 16-16 overall record, going 8-12 in the Big Ten. The young Badgers showed flashes of great volleyball last season, including their upset of sixth-ranked Big Ten powerhouse Penn State.
However, the Badgers struggled in most close matches, going just 1-3 in matches decided in five sets. Many pointed to Wisconsin’s inexperience for those close losses. But as head coach Pete Waite puts it, inexperience is no longer an excuse.
“We talked a lot about our youth last year and we can’t talk about that anymore,” Waite said. “We’re more experienced. We’re looking to build the team chemistry, competitiveness and sustainability of quality play throughout the match.”
The Badgers bring back athleticism in the middle of the court with the return of senior middle blocker Alexis Mitchell. Mitchell, already a two-time All-Big Ten honorable mention selection in her career at Wisconsin, will look to continue to be the Badgers’ spark plug with her high-intensity play.
Two other notable returning starters for the Badgers are sophomores Courtney Thomas and Ellen Chapman. Thomas, a setter, and Chapman, an outsider hitter, both made the Big Ten All-Freshman team in 2011 and the duo’s return will be crucial to building team chemistry.
“We’re really focusing on working and being a better team and being good teammates,” Mitchell said. “It’s getting better every day in practice, and we’re really making an effort to work on that in practice so when we’re on the court and playing in matches, it’s natural for us.”
The Badgers’ chemistry will have to form early if they want to be able to be competitive in a Big Ten loaded with talented teams. Nebraska and Penn State are picked to be atop the conference once again and are ranked No. 1 and No. 4 in the nation, respectively, in the early part of the 2012 season.
Wisconsin was the underdog in most of its matches last season, but hopes to be more competitive this season, especially against the top teams.
“It’s a tough conference, but I think we can match up with anyone,” Thomas said. “If we play as hard as we can, we can beat anyone.”
The Badgers kicked off their season Aug. 24 when they played in the South Florida Invitational. The Badgers went 2-1 while Thomas and Chapman were named to the all-tournament team.
UW returns home for the annual Inntowner Invitational at the Field House beginning Sept. 7. Other notable games on the schedule include home games against both Penn State and Nebraska Sept. 28 and Nov. 18, respectively. When the Badgers travel to Penn State Nov. 4, the match will be aired live on ESPN2.
But Wisconsin will rely on contributions from its role players if they want to stay competitive in these challenging match-ups. Waite said that they have already seen contributions from many of the young players.
“I think somebody who’s been stepping up already is [junior outside hitter] Julie Mikaelsen,” Waite said. “She has played a role in past years but she has really stepped up her game and made improvements in the spring and the summer. [Sophomore defensive specialist] Deme Morales is doing more in the ball handling role than she did last year, so that means we’re more solid there. And [sophomore outside hitter] Crystal Graff is out there after knee surgery, so she’s … trying to get back to the level she was before the injury.”
With additional experience comes higher expectations, and with higher expectations come bigger goals. Junior libero Annemarie Hickey is confident the team can build on its success last season:
“I know we work really hard in practice and our team is going to do a lot of great things,” Hickey said. “We have a lot of confidence in each other and I think that’s a good start for us.”
“We’ve got to build on last year,” Waite said. “We were .500 last year, so we want to get above .500 and make the [NCAA] tournament. That’s always our goal. It’s going to take a change of culture in the gym, but I like the intensity that our coaches and players have brought so far.”
