All there was to see was a sea of red Friday, as Badger fans filed into the Wisconsin Field House to cheer their 4th-ranked volleyball team to a flawless victory in game one of the Hotel Red Invitational against Miami, Florida. With an aggressive start and spectacular defensive plays, the Badgers swept the tournament, increasing their undefeated record to 8-0.
The invite consisted of four teams total, including Missouri State and Ball State.
Much of the team’s prosperity relied on passing. Taylor Morey, the starting libero led the team in digs, with 42 for all three tournament matches. She also completed the first two matches against Miami and Missouri State with perfect passing on serve receives. Morey maintained her unblemished passing start until Saturday night’s match against Ball State, where she made two, due to the aggressive serving performed by the Cardinals, who finished with a 94 percent serving success rate.
“They did a great job of keeping our passers off balance but I thought we grinded. I thought we just kept battling,” head coach Kelly Sheffield said. “I thought our backcourt was good. I thought Taylor Morey was really, really good in the back. She made some very spectacular defensive plays.”
Morey finished the third and final match with 15 digs to add to the impressive weekend total, which included a weekend high of 16 digs against Missouri State Saturday afternoon. Following her with the second most digs was Kelli Bates who had 31, and then Courtney Thomas with 19.
Besides being the third best defensive player of the weekend in terms of digs, Thomas also emerged from the three matches as the most well-rounded teammate, contributing significant totals in multiple statistic categories.
“We came out in front of our home crowd and we’re here to show them what we’re made of,” Thomas said. “We’re trying to play the same every game no matter who we’re playing.”
Thomas did exactly that.
After Saturday night’s triumphant tournament win against Ball State, Thomas, the senior right side hitter was crowned the MVP.
As the winner of the Hotel Red Invitational Most Valuable Player award, Thomas lived up to the standard as the most well-rounded player on the team, delivering whenever her team needed her most, in whichever position she was in whether it was as a hitter, setter or passer.
During the tournament, Thomas smashed a total of 27 kills and completed the weekend with a .434 hitting percentage, one of the highest on the team.
According to sophomore setter, Lauren Carlini, Thomas is her go-to in a close game situation.
“Our middles did a great job of holding the blockers,” Carlini said. “I was setting right over them and Courtney was putting balls down and being really consistent, so I think she’s kind of been our rock this season as far as when we need points, we’re going to go to her.”
Although many people are concerned with how many kills she has, Thomas has also made a significant impact throughout the tournament on serve receive and defensive plays.
“She had a really good match tonight,” Sheffield said. “But on the stats you see her hitting percentage; what you don’t see is the numbers that she is passing. Her numbers this weekend ball control wise were really, really good. She’s turning into a complete player.”
Thomas contributed a total of 19 digs and 33 playable balls off serve-receive with only two errors the entire weekend. On top of that, she had the second most assists on the team with 11 as well as five block-assists.
“She’s improved so much,” Sheffield said. “Fans saw what we’ve seen for a while. She’s a complete player.”
Wisconsin is about to head into tougher matches against ranked teams in the Pac-12 and Big Ten and will need everyone to be at the peak of their game.
“It’s going to be a good challenge for us. It’s really going to determine what our team is all about and if we are going to step up to the challenge, which I think we’re going to do,” Sheffield said.
This week the Badgers head off to Seattle and will face off against No. 6 USC and No. 5 Washington.With some intense matches in store at a quicker pace, it will be intriguing to watch the Badgers battle two top 10 teams, in an attempt to increase their undefeated record as they progress deeper into the season.
