Freshmen usually learn the hard way what it takes to compete at highest level of collegiate athletics, but one new face on the Wisconsin volleyball team has stepped onto campus and taken the conference by storm.

Standing at 6-foot-2, freshman sensation Tionna Williams is an imposing threat that strikes fear into the eyes of her opponents. Those that have attempted to challenge her this season have seen little success, and she is one of the major reasons why Wisconsin is looking to make another deep NCAA tournament run.

With two Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week awards already under her belt, Williams ranks third in the conference in blocks, averaging 1.4 per set, and is the focal point of a Wisconsin freshman class looking to set the foundation of the program over the next four seasons.

Coming in as a top-ten recruit, Williams is aware of the hope the Badger nation has thrust upon her shoulders.

“There is definitely some pressure [on being the highest ranked recruit] but there is pressure on everyone here,” Williams said. “I don’t necessarily view it that way because we all have important roles on the team.”

If the pressure is mounting, no one has noticed, and that pressure may be turning her into a diamond that the Badgers will look upon come tournament time.

“I wouldn’t say I expected to have success, it was definitely a process though,” Williams said. “I knew it came with hard work and competing every day on the court so I wasn’t really expecting it.”

And that work has paid dividends.

As most freshmen seem to hit the proverbial “wall” this time of year, Williams is only getting stronger as the season moves along. She has recorded five or more blocks in ten of her last eleven matches and has improved to 1.52 blocks per set during conference play. During that time, she has also recorded a career-high seven blocks, four separate times.

Head coach Kelly Sheffield has noticed her sustained performance.

“She is getting better as the second half of the season is coming along,” Sheffield said. “She is getting stronger when a lot of people her age start wearing down at this time and I don’t see that at all from her.”

Her increased productivity on the defensive end has also opened opportunities for her to become more of a force on the offensive side of the ball. Williams has averaged 2.11 kills per set.

The Badgers have increasingly been looking to attack through the middle as conference play wears on, Williams said.

“We have been emphasizing a lot on our defense and we are taking care of the ball really well and passing it really well,” Williams said. “Because of that, we are able to run the middles more often and that opens up all of the hitters along the net too.”

Williams was a highly-touted recruit out of Concordia Lutheran in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Sheffield began recruiting her back when he was the coach at Dayton, a process that started during Williams’ freshman year of high school.

Expectations were high, and despite the slow start, her partner in the middle, junior Haleigh Nelson, never wavered in her confidence of the young freshman.

“Tionna got off to a rough start,” Nelson said. “But I always knew she had the confidence and competitiveness to grow into a powerful hitter. I never really worried about her.”

This relationship between the pair of middle blockers has instilled a sense of confidence amongst the Wisconsin front line and has opened a variety of options for the offense to flex its muscle.

But Williams knows she shines brightest sending balls back from where they came from.

“It’s definitely important [leading the conference in blocks], it’s not my main goal…but individually it is my goal to lead in that because I take a lot of pride in blocking,” Williams said.

Whether or not she becomes one of the only freshman in history to lead the conference in blocking, Sheffield knows that the freshman will be a gem on the court for years to come.

“She has the ability to lead the league in blocking as a freshman,” Sheffield said. “That is pretty cool in this league and she is not too far off of it. The exciting thing with her is that she is capable of having a bigger impact, even this year. The middle position is really hard in this league. The offenses are really fast and you have so many things coming at you.”