Journey’s not over as Badgers rally for ‘heavyweight’ NCAA victory
December 09, 2016 | Volleyball, Andy Baggot
Passionate timeout speech by senior Haleigh Nelson sparks Wisconsin’s fiery comeback against Ohio State
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — The task before the Wisconsin volleyball team Friday afternoon came with some ominous questions attached. Can you beat a Big Ten Conference rival three times in 77 days?
Can you do so while ending its season, a difficult, emotional chore regardless of the foe?
Can you do so facing an underdog opponent that needs two wins to play in the NCAA national semifinals in its home building?
The Badgers answered those questions with the same reply — yes — but not before making a lot of hearts pound and a lot of hairs grow gray inside the warm and raucous UW Field House.
Wisconsin fought its way out of a deep, precarious hole to claim a five-set win — 25-15, 22-25, 29-31, 25-22, 15-13 — and advance to an Elite Eight date with Stanford on Saturday at 5 p.m.
"A legendary match," Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said.
The Badgers (28-4 overall) were down two sets to one and trailing 19-14 in the third set against a dogged, familiar opponent that didn't play like it had been swept in previous meetings in late September and early November.
The Buckeyes (22-13) came into the matinee confident and determined to be participating when the national semifinals are staged Dec. 15 and 17 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Two wily veterans, senior setter Lauren Carlini and senior middle blocker Haleigh Nelson, and two youngsters, sophomore defensive specialist Amber MacDonald and freshman outside hitter Molly Haggerty, showed UW the way.
"We made it about us," Nelson said of the rematch with the Buckeyes, one of eight Big Ten schools to make the 64-team field. "This is our journey. "We knew they were going to come in with everything they had and we were going to have to want this match more."
It was an impassioned speech by Nelson during a timeout that set the stage for the comeback. The Badgers trailed 16-12 when Sheffield summoned his players to the bench area and Nelson, a co-captain, spoke in the raspy voice of someone fighting a cold, which she is.
'She got into the team in a way that captains and leaders do," Sheffield said. "The strength and confidence and how she communicated is exactly what our team needed. The team followed her."
Asked to re-enact the speech, Nelson said her memory was fuzzy, but she latched onto some highlights nonetheless.
"The road wasn't going to end for us tonight there," she said. "This wasn't going to be the last match that I've played with these people that I love so much. I just wanted them to know that.
"We were going to take the momentum back and we were going to win that match whether it was going to take us diving into the stands — whatever it was going to take — I knew we were going to come back and I just wanted my teammates to know that I believe in each and every one of them."
Nelson's teammates listened calmly, but intently.
"We've been in that situation before," Haggerty said. "I think that's the key. Look each other in the eyes and just have confidence in each other and know that were going to battle and get out of it."
When it became 19-14, the Field House was quiet and restless.
"It's hard being down that far," Sheffield said. "You're just a few points out from your season's over."
UW trailed 19-16 in the fourth set when MacDonald stepped in and held serve until it was 20-20.
"She really pulled us up there," Carlini said.
"Moving the ball around and really keeping them off guard," Sheffield said of MacDonald. "She gave us a huge lift."
Haggerty led the Badgers with 22 kills and added 14 digs, while Carlini, the other co-captain, had a team-best 16 digs.
Carlini said Nelson and Haggerty wanted the ball in pressure moments and she did her best to accommodate. It was Nelson, on a set from Carlini, who closed things out in the fifth set.
"I knew she was going to get a kill," Carlini said of Nelson.
Fears that the made-for-TV start time of 1 p.m. would compromise the crowd size were unfounded. Sheffield offered to buy tickets for students and free pizza was provided to the early birds, but the 11th sellout of the season (6,012) came to life.
"A lot of people called in sick or skipped work or class or whatever to get in here," Sheffield said.
Carlini, who has played 133 career matches for the Badgers, said she's never heard the Field House louder.
"I'm not sure we do that without the fans and how they were," Sheffield said. "That was incredible."
At one point in the third set, Sheffield made his way to the nearest edge of the court and began flapping his arms, trying to get the crowd to rise and be energized.
Does he do that often?
"Here and there," Carlini said with a smirk.
"It's like he was stirring up trouble over there," Nelson said, smiling.
"If I'm going to pay for some of these guys to come to the Field House, they better be getting off their rear end and say something," Sheffield said through a grin.
The Badgers will face Stanford (24-7) for the first time since 2004 when they lost in the Elite Eight. They will do so emboldened by their dramatic comeback.
"I thought we responded with strength and unity and confidence and execution," Sheffield said. "Those are things we've talked about all year long. I'm so glad I get at least one more day with these guys."
UW is trying to get back to the NCAA national semifinals for the first time since 2013 and is seeking its first national championship.
"You get to this point in the tournament and every team is so legit," Sheffield said. "They are really good and you're getting their absolute best shot."
That was the case against Ohio State, which finished tied for seventh in the Big Ten regular season.
"That was a heavyweight match there," Sheffield said. "No doubt about it. It's two studly teams that were just punching each other and just making incredible effort plays and just no fear going back and forth.
"That's what it's all about."
