Photo by: Greg Anderson
High hurdle ahead for Badger volleyball
December 11, 2015 | Volleyball, Andy Baggot
Wisconsin faces Florida in NCAA Regional semifinals
AUSTIN, Texas – As far as Wisconsin volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield is concerned, the next hurdle on the NCAA tournament road might be the highest and most dangerous.
The sixth-seeded Badgers (26-6 overall) will face 11th-seeded Florida (24-6) in a regional semifinal Friday at 4:30 p.m. at Gregory Gym.
Before sitting down and pouring over video earlier this week, Sheffield rattled off some nuts-and-bolts details about the Gators that sound ominous.
"Might be as talented of a team (or) the most talented team in the country," he said.
Florida has four players who earned some type of All-America honor last season – middle blocker Simone Antwi, setter Mackenzie Dagostino, right side hitter Alex Holston and middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan – and that doesn't include outside hitter Ziva Recek, who was the National Freshman of the Year three seasons ago.
Sheffield noted that the Gators, a perennial power in the Southeastern Conference, return all their hitters and setters from last season.
"They're balanced. They have a lot of different weapons. They are very experienced," he said.
To say nothing of legendary Florida coach Mary Wise, who's taken her club to seven national semifinals, one NCAA title match and qualified for 25 straight national tournaments during her tenure.
Wise also has a winning percentage of .890 (766-94) with the Gators, putting the former Purdue player among the most successful in the business.
Sheffield is looking forward to his first opportunity to match wits with Wise.
"There are not too many people that have had more success than she has," he said.
"Since early on in my career she's been one of those few coaches that you study and see how they go about things. So the respect runs really, really deep for her.
"She does an unbelievable job recruiting. She gets very big, very physical, extremely athletic players that play very high above the net."
Sheffield believes this is one of the most gifted units Wise – whose top assistant, Dave Boos, attended UW-Oshkosh – has had since she showed up in Gainesville.
"This team is probably right up there towards the top in the types of teams she's had over the years that are physical and high flying," Sheffield said.
The obvious question: How do the Badgers pass this test and move on to the regional final opposite third-seeded Texas (27-2) or 14th-seeded UCLA (25-7)?
For starters, make the Gators hit their second-best shot, whatever those are.
"You try to take away what people want to do," Sheffield said. "When you are playing a team that is really balanced like they are, and they have some players with some physical gifts, you have to make it a little bit by trying to get them to scramble a little bit."
High-grade passing and serving are essential.
"I think if either of the teams are on system for most of the match, the opponent is going to have a really tough time because both teams are very balanced and very capable, so we have to be serving aggressively," Sheffield said.
Preparation and intangibles are key as well. Â
Sheffield said coming out of the rough-and-tumble Big Ten Conference – nine teams qualified for the NCAA tournament – is big because "there won't be a single thing that shocks us."
The Badgers are a confident bunch given their 14-match winning streak, which is the second-longest in the nation.
"Everyone needs to be playing their best volleyball at the end of the season and I think we're doing that," Wisconsin junior setter Lauren Carlini said. "We're all healthy. We're all ready to go. We're all connecting at such a high level."
Mental toughness and poise are must-haves.
"Everything that you go through throughout the season is for postseason," Wisconsin senior libero Taylor Morey said. "This is what we train for. This is what we play for. This is for all the marbles. We're playing for seasons here.
"The most important thing going into it is that we know we've learned the lessons. We've had countless lessons throughout this year and we've been through everything. Not individually, but as a team.
"As a collective unit we know what we have to do and what we expect of ourselves. That's where our energies are being fueled."
                                                      --30--
Â
The sixth-seeded Badgers (26-6 overall) will face 11th-seeded Florida (24-6) in a regional semifinal Friday at 4:30 p.m. at Gregory Gym.
Before sitting down and pouring over video earlier this week, Sheffield rattled off some nuts-and-bolts details about the Gators that sound ominous.
"Might be as talented of a team (or) the most talented team in the country," he said.
Florida has four players who earned some type of All-America honor last season – middle blocker Simone Antwi, setter Mackenzie Dagostino, right side hitter Alex Holston and middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan – and that doesn't include outside hitter Ziva Recek, who was the National Freshman of the Year three seasons ago.
Sheffield noted that the Gators, a perennial power in the Southeastern Conference, return all their hitters and setters from last season.
"They're balanced. They have a lot of different weapons. They are very experienced," he said.
To say nothing of legendary Florida coach Mary Wise, who's taken her club to seven national semifinals, one NCAA title match and qualified for 25 straight national tournaments during her tenure.
Wise also has a winning percentage of .890 (766-94) with the Gators, putting the former Purdue player among the most successful in the business.
Sheffield is looking forward to his first opportunity to match wits with Wise.
"There are not too many people that have had more success than she has," he said.
"Since early on in my career she's been one of those few coaches that you study and see how they go about things. So the respect runs really, really deep for her.
"She does an unbelievable job recruiting. She gets very big, very physical, extremely athletic players that play very high above the net."
Sheffield believes this is one of the most gifted units Wise – whose top assistant, Dave Boos, attended UW-Oshkosh – has had since she showed up in Gainesville.
"This team is probably right up there towards the top in the types of teams she's had over the years that are physical and high flying," Sheffield said.
The obvious question: How do the Badgers pass this test and move on to the regional final opposite third-seeded Texas (27-2) or 14th-seeded UCLA (25-7)?
For starters, make the Gators hit their second-best shot, whatever those are.
"You try to take away what people want to do," Sheffield said. "When you are playing a team that is really balanced like they are, and they have some players with some physical gifts, you have to make it a little bit by trying to get them to scramble a little bit."
High-grade passing and serving are essential.
"I think if either of the teams are on system for most of the match, the opponent is going to have a really tough time because both teams are very balanced and very capable, so we have to be serving aggressively," Sheffield said.
Preparation and intangibles are key as well. Â
Sheffield said coming out of the rough-and-tumble Big Ten Conference – nine teams qualified for the NCAA tournament – is big because "there won't be a single thing that shocks us."
The Badgers are a confident bunch given their 14-match winning streak, which is the second-longest in the nation.
"Everyone needs to be playing their best volleyball at the end of the season and I think we're doing that," Wisconsin junior setter Lauren Carlini said. "We're all healthy. We're all ready to go. We're all connecting at such a high level."
Mental toughness and poise are must-haves.
"Everything that you go through throughout the season is for postseason," Wisconsin senior libero Taylor Morey said. "This is what we train for. This is what we play for. This is for all the marbles. We're playing for seasons here.
"The most important thing going into it is that we know we've learned the lessons. We've had countless lessons throughout this year and we've been through everything. Not individually, but as a team.
"As a collective unit we know what we have to do and what we expect of ourselves. That's where our energies are being fueled."
                                                      --30--
Â
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