Badger 2024 Volleyball

[Pokerbrat2000]

This was to be expected, but always good to get confirmation. Both Crawford and Robinson will be back with the Badgers for a 5th year due to the COVID exemption.

The team will be losing the following players due to eligibility expiring: Izzy Ashburn and MJ Hammill, outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara, middle blocker Gabby McCaa, defensive specialist Joslyn Boyer and defensive specialist Sydney Reed. Also, Outside Hitter Ella Wrobel has entered the transfer portal, so she won't be back. She didn't play much and was constantly battling back injuries.

As long as Franklin plays her 5th year, which is expected, the Badgers will have 5 highly experienced seniors in the lineup (Franklin, Crawford, Robinson, Orzol and Smreck). Couple that with Booth, Guctekin and a pretty decent incoming freshman class of 6 and this should be a team competing for another Championship. I also won't be surprised if the Badgers pick up a player or 2 through the portal.

The 6 incoming freshman are below:

* Setters Charlie Fuerbringer from Hermosa Beach, California, and Morgan Van Wie from Waunakee.

* Libero/defensive specialists Lola Schumacher from Carmel, Indiana, and Maile Chan from Portland.

* Outside hitter Trinity Shadd-Ceres from Kitchener, Ontario.

* Middle blocker Tosia Serafinowska from Kierkz, Poland.

Fuerbringer and Schumacher were American Volleyball Coaches Association first-team high school All-Americans. Fuerbringer was part of the Team USA U19 team that won the gold medal at the FIVB World Championships in August.

 

[Voyageur]

I was elated when I read that Robinson and Crawford would be back. We're losing some talent, but it looks like we have some good ones coming in.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I was elated when I read that Robinson and Crawford would be back. We're losing some talent, but it looks like we have some good ones coming in.

Agree. I think the "talent loss" is minimal though.

Temi might be the biggest loss, but her play was erratic and unpredictable all season. Overall, she was a bit of a disappointment to me.

Izzy was a nice backup and yes, they will miss her serving. That said, service and service receive is one area I hope the Badgers improve on. Texas clearly punished the Badgers in both departments.

Hammill is a loss, but again, I think more of a depth loss, that will be absorbed by someone else.


Now Oregon, the team the Badgers beat in the Elite 8, are feeling the hit on graduation. They are loosing 7 players, 6 of which were their starters, now that has to sting!

 

[Voyageur]

Agree. I think the "talent loss" is minimal though.

Temi might be the biggest loss, but her play was erratic and unpredictable all season. Overall, she was a bit of a disappointment to me.

Izzy was a nice backup and yes, they will miss her serving. That said, service and service receive is one area I hope the Badgers improve on. Texas clearly punished the Badgers in both departments.

Hammill is a loss, but again, I think more of a depth loss, that will be absorbed by someone else.


Now Oregon, the team the Badgers beat in the Elite 8, are feeling the hit on graduation. They are loosing 7 players, 6 of which were their starters, now that has to sting!

Nebraska isn't losing anyone, unless the use the portal.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

A big transfer portal pick-up by Bucky.

Montana setter Carly Anderson is transferring to the Badgers. Now she isn't a top setter in the country, but she is a very good server and will give the Badgers much needed starting/back-up at the Setter position. The only other 2 true setters on the team are incoming freshman.

Anderson will only have 1 year of eligibility, but fits perfectly into a 6-2 or 5-1 system.

Wisconsin volleyball: Badgers add Montana setter Carly Anderson as a transfer

Anderson, a graduate transfer from Ontario, will provide depth and experience at setter.

www.buckys5thquarter.com

 

[Voyageur]

Based on the info related to Anderson, she's going to be a very good addition to the team. This could end up being a real valuable portal acquire. If the word on her is even half way correct, she's gonna be a good players to allow others to grow into their roles.

 

[Voyageur]

Not too good of a start to this season. Getting ripped twice, but at least by high ranking teams. There's a few players they're using who need to grow into their roles. When it happens, they should be better. At this point, let's hope it happens, or it will be a long year for what is usually great Badger volleyball.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I'm not too concerned with the start. As you said, 2 top 5 opponents to start the season, 1 being the #1 team and defending back to back Champs.

Kelly is playing with a lot of different looks and rotations. He's experimenting with rotating Liberos, a new rule allows it. This is his usual MO to start the year. He's also very focused on improving on serving, making most of the players serve in the first match. That really hurt them against Louisville, especially in the 2nd set, when they had a ton of service errors.

Freshman Setter Charlie Fuerbringer is going to be a great player.

I will say one thing, I wouldn't mind not seeing Texas and Madisen Skinner again, unless it's in the Championship Game. She is on a level of her own.

 

[El Guapo]

Wouldn't you like to be a Gophers fan this morning....knocking off #1 Texas! Go Gophers

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Wouldn't you like to be a Gophers fan this morning....knocking off #1 Texas! Go Gophers

I didn't watch the Match, but from the Highlights, the Gophers had them on the ropes the entire Match and totally dominated in the 5th Set. Nice win for the Big10 and hopefully a roadmap for other teams on how to beat mighty Texas.

I know, another tough team in the Big10, but the Gophers were usually in the top tier anyway.

Maybe the only lowlight of the Match, the small crowd.....yikes. Had then been WI VS Texas in the finals, it would have been packed!

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[El Guapo]

Maybe the only lowlight of the Match, the small crowd.....yikes. Had then been WI VS Texas in the finals, it would have been packed!

Not surprising since it was played in Milwaukee, Labor Day, and the closing weekend of the Minnesota State Fair.

I turned the game on at the end of the second set. The Gophers played well except that Texas really battled back in the 4th. When the outcome of that set was known, I switched back to the football game and then came back to watch the 5th set.

Last season Minnesota transitioned from their longtime coach, Hugh McCutcheon. It seems like they are finding their groove again going into the new coach's second season. Like at many of the Big Ten schools, Minnesota has a lot of support and a strong foundation at the high school level. Home games are usually sold out.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Not surprising since it was played in Milwaukee, Labor Day, and the closing weekend of the Minnesota State Fair.

I turned the game on at the end of the second set. The Gophers played well except that Texas really battled back in the 4th. When the outcome of that set was known, I switched back to the football game and then came back to watch the 5th set.

Last season Minnesota transitioned from their longtime coach, Hugh McCutcheon. It seems like they are finding their groove again going into the new coach's second season. Like at many of the Big Ten schools, Minnesota has a lot of support and a strong foundation at the high school level. Home games are usually sold out.

At least we got 6' 7" Carter Booth from the Gophers last year. She was such a solid player her Freshman year in MN. While she hasn't played poorly at WI, she hasn't progressed a ton.

This isn't a knock against HC Kelly Sheffield, because he is a super well respected coach in Volleyball, but is it just me or does it seem that some of the players reach a level of play and just stay there, not really progressing much past it? Again, that is really hard for me to even type out, because Sheffield is responsible from taking a bad program into a top 5 one. Specific players where I think this applies are Franklin, Robinson, Smrek, Orzol and Booth. All 5 of them didn't seem to improve a lot last season and in their 1st 2 Matches this season, kind of the same.

Maybe I am just used to football, basketball and hockey where players seem to improve each season of play. Again, Sheffield is a great coach and he puts a lot of emphasis on "winning off the court" with his players, so its hard to even suggest that his players aren't improving past a certain level.

 

[El Guapo]

In every sport you have players that plateau so I don't think that it's unique to volleyball. It's tough to gauge how a college athlete is going to mature and progress in the pros, let alone high schoolers.

I'll give a good example from Minnesota's football program. As we all know, we are not a top tier (or even second tier where Wisconsin, Iowa, and Penn State reside) school for recruiting the best players. Years ago we lured Tim Brewster from Texas. He was the tight ends coach but also a big part of Mack Brown's recruiting department. He then recruited a much better crop of players at Minnesota but had no idea how to coach them. We'd get 4-star players that never seemed to improve. The Gophers sucked...as usual.

We finally got wise and pushed Brewster to the curb and brought in Jerry Kill. That was the perfect fit for a third-tier Big Ten program like the Gophers. Kill knew how to coach the passed-over guys that had the desire but not the immediately-identifiable skills to be 3- and 4-star recruits. Those players improved dramatically. Smaller schools need the coaching mentality that draws more out of players. Georgia and Ohio State just need to figure out how to get 100 high school all-stars to play together like a team. Those players are going to get better because they already have the drive within them.

My point is that sometimes it's the players and sometimes it's the coaching staff. I think that the Badgers volleyball team has demonstrated many times that it can develop good talent. Sometimes the talent fails, either because they rode their talent without putting in the work or other factors (life, school, relationships, etc.).

 

[Voyageur]

I love the patience we see with the Badgers coaching staff. The way they've worked with Charlie, helping her to learn how to fit her game in with the rest of the team is amazing. At almost every break in action, Kelly is there, talking to her, and giving her information to process, while the other coaches are dealing with the nuts and bolts of their games, as a whole. In the case of the Badgers, having the complete coaching staff that works as a unit, and Kelly trusting their coaching judgement is what brings the whole show together.

I have a hunch we're going to see some solid transfers coming in next year as well, to bolster what will already be a strong lineup.

Despite 0-3, this team is still one of the top teams in the nation, and before the season is over, they could avenge all these early losses in the NCAA tournament. I still think they have the players and coaches, to go all the way to the championship.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Yeah, I'm not worried about the 0-3 start. If anything, it might serve as motivation for the players and coaches. Also, have to keep in mind who they lost those 3 games to. Would be like the Notre Dame Football Team opening their schedule up by playing Georgia, Ohio State and Alabama.

I think the most disappointing aspect of the last 2 losses was just the fact they were in front of a "home crowd" and big ones at that, in Milwaukee.

They now enter into the softer part of their schedule, before play against BIG10 opponents start. Time to regain some confidence and work on getting this team to be more consistent. Odds are, at the end of the season, 1 or more of those 3 teams that beat them, will be in their direct path for another National Title, lots of work to do.

 

[El Guapo]

The Badgers will be fine.