3 keys to success for Wisconsin volleyball this season

That will happen when you keep adding trophies to the trophy case and banners to the ceiling at the UW Field House. The Badgers are the only team to finish each of the past five seasons ranked in the top five. They won four consecutive Big Ten Conference titles — a streak that was snapped last season by Nebraska — advanced to the NCAA Final Four four times and captured their first national championship in 2021.

It’s the kind of track record that has lifted the program to a lofty level, a tier that includes Texas, Nebraska and perhaps one or two others when it comes to expectations.

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It’s rarefied air that coach Kelly Sheffield and his players are more than happy to breathe in. That’s true even if an otherwise largely successful season like 2023 in which they compiled a 30-4 record — with two of those losses coming by two points in the fifth set — and made it to the Final Four in Tampa leaves something of a bitter taste in their mouths.

“This group has accomplished a lot,” Sheffield said about his team that returns the core of last season’s squad. “With that said, there's also been a lot of disappointing finishes where we haven't played our best volleyball at the end of the season when our best volleyball is required.

"So we have a lot of players that are driven to rewrite the script, if you will, or change it a little bit going into this year.”

Count Sarah Franklin among that group of super motivated players. Despite earning just about every accolade available, including Big Ten and National Player of the Year, Franklin can’t help but focus on the absence of trophies to accompany all that.

“To be Wisconsin and not have a Big Ten championship or something to see at the end, it’s definitely on our horizon,” Franklin said. “That is the end goal. We are always striving to be the best. We are always striving to win those types of things.

“We’ve always been a team that has wanted to win and strive for the best. This year we just have that extra edge because for so many of us it’s going to be our last season. We are leaving absolutely nothing to chance.”

Here are three keys for the Badgers to be able to make those aspirations reality.

Settle on the system that best fits this team

One of the first defining decisions for Sheffield is whether to return to a 5-1 system used by most teams, including the last 21 national champions, or stay with the 6-2 system the Badgers played the past two seasons.

There’s a case to be made for both approaches. The argument for going back to a one-setter lineup with the 5-1 can be made with two words: Charlie Fuerbringer. Arguably the top player in her class is the heir to the setter legacy of Lauren Carlini and Sydney Hilley, both of whom took hold of the position as a freshman. One difference is both of them joined the program at a time when expectations weren’t quite so high, Carlini coming in on the ground floor of Sheffield’s building project and Hilley as the centerpiece of a freshman class that would form the foundation of the ultimate championship team.

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Sheffield has said using the 5-1 lineup is the most likely choice, and it’s worth noting that the two teams that played for the NCAA title last season had freshman setters — Texas’ Ella Swindle and Nebraska’s Reilly Bergen. Texas interestingly might be switching to a 6-2 after bringing in junior transfer setter Averi Carlson from Baylor.

Sheffield said he did a study a number of years ago that showed almost no freshmen setters in the NCAA Tournament and the few teams that used one did not advance far.

“It was really, really rare to see freshman setters in the NCAA Tournament,” he said. “Now it’s not uncommon at all and two of them were playing for a championship. I think it’s a real tribute to some really good club coaching and the focus and development of USA giving international opportunities for some of these kids coming up.”

He said another advantage for young players is the ability to watch college setters play on TV most every night of the week, something that wasn’t available a few years ago.

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A couple advantages with the 5-1 is that it’s easier for the setter to develop connections with her hitters and also opens more opportunities for back row attacks.

Perhaps the biggest argument for the 6-2 is that it opens one more spot for a front row attacker. Last year's Badgers were able to play both Anna Smrek and Devyn Robinson on the right side, while Carter Booth and CC Crawford played the middle. With a 5-1, there’s only room for three of those, although Sheffield said that he probably would utilize all of them in some sort of situational rotation.

The other necessity in a 6-2 is to have a second competent setter, and the arrival of fifth-year transfer Carly Anderson from Montana fills that bill.

Get off to a good start against tough early schedule

One of the beauties of college volleyball is that the top programs aren’t afraid to play each other in the nonconference season. The Badgers are taking that to an extreme this season, opening with a murderer’s row of Louisville, Texas and Stanford — all likely to be top five teams. That may not be an ideal start for working through some early season issues, and there’s a real chance of coming away with losses that could impact tournament seeding.

But Sheffield couldn’t back away from the challenge as one of the leading advocates for putting the sport on the biggest stage possible.

“We want to have the mentality that we will play anyone anywhere anytime,” Sheffield said. “We want to recruit players that want to be a part of big stuff. I can’t be vocal about media and not be willing to give them a good product and be a part of things that are compelling.”

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He also believes that playing against top competition will help reveal weaknesses that need to be addressed that might not show up against weaker foes.

“We’ve got a lot of experience attacking but very new setters and we need to learn as much as we can on what we need to get better at,” he said. “There are some opponents where you’re going to learn more about yourself than others and we want to learn as much as we possibly can so we can get back in here and get to work. It’s how this team is. They want to play these types of matches.”

Count Franklin as one of those.

“Having an easy preseason is a joke to me,” she said. “There is no learning there. There is no challenge. You need to have a tough preseason to get you to the end of the road. I just think it’s exciting. I don’t like the games that are easy to win. They’re no fun. You need to have a little bit of a challenge, something that you’re proud that you went through.”

Improve the serving

When the Badgers gave up 11 service aces in their national semifinal loss to Texas, much of the attention was focused on their sometimes erratic passing. But upon reflection, Sheffield credits the Longhorns’ powerful serving game, which they demonstrated a few days later with 12 aces in a sweep of Nebraska, regarded as the best passing team in the country.

“I almost think more important than us just being a steady or passing team in that area, we've got to be a better serving team to put that same amount of pressure on our opponents because our serving has actually been worse in my mind than our passing has been in those matches,” he said.

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So a big priority in the spring and early practices has been serving, with an emphasis on putting more pace on the ball and worrying a little less about service errors. Among the most impressive servers early in practice have been Fuerbringer, Booth, Robinson and Smrek.

Franklin said improving her serve has been a big focus for her. She used a topspin jump serve at Michigan State but had trouble controlling it when she first joined the Badgers, so she switched to a float serve with inconsistent results.

“I know my serve has not been where I want it to be and I’ve taken the entire spring and summer to smooth that over,” she said. “I feel like my serve has gotten to a great spot to where I am really accelerating through the ball so that I can get it to drop a little bit, to drive a little bit and just get it really flat. I’m excited to showcase that this season. That’s something I’m very proud that I’ve gotten better at.”