3 things that stood out in No. 6 Wisconsin volleyball's winless start (2024)

MILWAUKEE— The University of Wisconsin volleyball team might be 0-3 in the record book, but the way the Badgers are looking at it, they’re 3-0 in learning opportunities.

The No. 6 Badgers lost for the third time in as many tries to a national power on Monday, falling to No. 5 Stanford 24-26, 25-18, 22-25, 22-25 in the State Farm Volleyball Showcase at Fiserv Forum.

While 0-3 clearly was not the start the Badgers intended when they set up this daunting schedule that saw them take on now-No. 4 Louisville, No. 1 Texas and the No. 5 Cardinal that just might be the most challenging start to a season ever, neither is it the end of the world in their minds.

What jumps out to coach Kelly Sheffield is that his team is showing progress, even as it has struggled against elite Final Four-level competition.

“Nobody in our locker room is real happy that we’re 0-3 to start the season,” Sheffield said. “But each match we’ve gotten better and as a coach and as a team, those are the things that you are hunting. Can we continue to move on the right path?

“This tournament, heavyweights. We’ve seen three big-time teams. Today was another of them. The fact that we hit .341 and lost the match is not something that happens very often. Four hitting errors for us through the first three sets. And they were doing that as well. For the first week, a lot of really high-level stuff was happening on both sides of the net.”

A measure of the competitiveness of the match is that the Cardinal outscored the Badgers by one point cumulatively over the four sets.

Sarah Franklin led the Badgers with 18 kills and 11 digs, while Devyn Robinson added 10 kills as she shifted from middle blocker to the right side.

So how are the Badgers holding up under this early season adversity?

“I don’t like the phrasing, ‘Holding up under it’,” junior middle blocker Carter Booth said. “It’s not something that we are on the verge of cracking from. The sky is not falling and we know that. We are all competitors and we know that it takes time. We haven’t had the time to work some of these things out.

“I recently did an interview going into the Louisville match and said this will be a great learning opportunity. That is what we’ve been approaching every match with, that it’s an opportunity to learn, an opportunity to get better. We’re not hanging our heads. We’re not beating ourselves up over it. We’re not contemplating quitting and disbanding as a team. We’re not ‘holding up’. We’re just fine. We’re excited to learn. We’re excited to get back in the gym and improve on this.”

And what are the biggest lessons that jump out after this third loss?

“That we are best when we are on the attack,” Booth said. “That we are the best when we are aggressive. And now it’s about learning how to get that out of us consistently and keep that and sustain it throughout ends of sets.”

Booth relayed a conversation she recently had with her dad, Calvin Booth, a former NBA player and current general manager of the Denver Nuggets. He told her that losing is easy; winning is hard.

“Losing and winning is not just about the match that happens out there,” Booth said. “It’s about our mindset within that match. Our mindset after, how we attack the gym after. It’s easy to lose. It’s easy for us to hang our heads and just say, well, shucks, we suck. And that’s it and not get better.

“It’s hard to win that battle. It’s hard to want to get back in that gym. It’s hard to keep our heads held high and still have hope for this team. I feel like this team is doing the hard thing. We like hard things. So even if we’re not winning out on the court right now, we’re winning the battles that come after in practice, the mindset that comes after a loss.”

Here are three things that stood out from the match.

Badgers struggling in end-game situations

As in each of their first two matches, the Badgers suffered from a couple late meltdowns in sets that helped seal their fate. They controlled much of the first set and got to set point at 24-21 only to see the Cardinal finish on a 5-0 run, closing out the set with a service ace.

After an impressive set 2 win, the third set was tied at 21 before Stanford closed out with a 4-1 run that included two Wisconsin service errors and a reception error.

The Badgers were down most of the fourth set but clawed back to within one point at 20-19 before the Cardinal responded with a 3-0 run and closed out the match.

While disappointing, those situations provide useful learning opportunities and things that can be addressed in practice, Sheffield said.

“There are connections that happen throughout the course of practice that we just haven’t done enough,” he said. “And when you’re playing against a team that is really, really good and is pressing you, then some of those errors are going to happen.

“Here’s what I loved. We’ve all seen plenty of teams coming back. We’ve done that to people, others have done that to us. That’s one of the beauties of our game, no lead is too big. It’s going to happen to you just like you’re going to do that to somebody else. What I want to see is how do we respond in those situations? I loved how we responded on a team that really can bring an avalanche of pressure on you. I thought we did a really good job of responding.”

Caroline Crawford moved into the starting lineup with Anna Smrek on the bench

Sheffield made his first starting lineup adjustment with Caroline Crawford starting in the middle, Robinson shifting back to the right side where she played the past couple years and Anna Smrek watching from the sidelines.

Rather than any kind of permanent move, Sheffield said it was the kind of adjustment that is likely to be made throughout the season as he tries to utilize four starting-quality middles and right sides with just three spots available.

“Certainly, we’re trying to win every match,” Sheffield said. “But there are matches after this, so some of the decisions that are made are based off of health and continuing to progress our players and everybody moving forward. It’s one of the cool things about being able to coach some of these players. You have a player like Anna Smrek who didn’t even get into the match. And yesterday we played a match that CC Crawford barely got into the match. Those things are going to happen if we’re healthy, especially at the middle and right side positions.”

Sheffield also made a move during the match as Julia Orzol, who had been playing just the back row as she eased her way back from an ankle injury, took over for six rotations as freshman Trinity Shadd-Ceres struggled in serve receive.

“Trinity has had her moments,” Sheffield said. “She’s fighting like crazy to keep her head above water right now. I think the biggest crowd she had ever played in front of was seven. These are some pretty big stages against some pretty big teams.”

Stanford stars played like stars

The Cardinal (3-0) was led by junior outside hitter Elia Rubin with 20 kills (.349), three aces and 15 digs.

“Great players know how to compete and she’s an exceptional player,” coach Kevin Hambly said of Rubin, who also was recruited by the Badgers. “We’ve known that since she was a freshman or sophom*ore in high school. She’s a baller.”

Senior setter Kami Miner seconded that.

“She’s incredible,” Miner said. “She makes my job so much easier because she takes out all the garbage. I know in big moments she wants the ball and she makes big plays.”

Much the same could be said about Miner, regarded as the top setter in college and a contender to set for the U.S. Olympic team in 2028. What makes her so special?

“Besides locating the ball and playing great defense, having a very good serve and being able to block?” Hambly asked rhetorically. “She’s also developed into a tremendous leader and a calm center of the universe for us. Great setters are like that.”

Stanford 26 18 25 25

Wisconsin 24 25 22 22

STANFORD (kills-digs-blocks) — Miner 3-12-1, Pringle 0-0-0, Beaven 0-3-0, Harvey 7-1-0, Oglivie 0-14-0, Andrew 6-0-1, Rubin 20-15-0, Cawa 0-3-0, Kurt 16-2-0, Francis 8-0-1, Yu 0-3-0. Totals 60-53-2.

WISCONSIN (kills-digs-blocks) — Damrow 0-3-0, Shadd-Ceres 1-2-1, Crawford 8-4-4, Robinson 10-4-3, Franklin 18-11-1, Guctekin 0-8-0, Orzol 4-5-1, Fuerbringer 5-6-1, Schumacher 0-6-0, Booth 5-0-3. Totals 51-49-7.

Hitting percentage — S .316, W .341. Aces — S 10 (Harvey 4), W 7 (Robinson, Orzol 3). Assists — S 55 (Miner 47) W 45 (Fuerbringer 39). Att. – 8,213.