The 2019 class of the UW Athletic Hall of Fame has been selected and one new member will be announced each day from June 25 - July 6.
Visit UWBadgers.com each day to celebrate each new member of this distinguished and historic class of Badgers!
MADISON, Wis. — Kelly (Kennedy) Saurer answered her cell phone in the midst of two distinct challenges.
One was shepherding her young family — four children, ages 9 to 14 — around the vast Disney World complex in Orlando, Florida, during a family vacation.
The other was finding cover from a pop-up thunderstorm passing on an otherwise sunny, steamy June day.
Saurer laughed as she described finding a large outdoor table umbrella for her gang to duck under.
"It's all right," she said at one point. "How much time do you need?"
Saurer had the kind of career with the Wisconsin volleyball team that requires more than a few minutes.
It was good enough that she'll be one of 12 inductees in the University of Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame on Sept. 6. The group will be honored during a banquet at Union South, followed by introductions at the football home opener Sept. 7 at Camp Randall Stadium.
It was distinctive enough that two former teammates are already in the hall — middle blocker Sherisa Livingston was inducted in 2007 and setter Lizzy Fitzgerald in 2015 — and six others — Amy Lee, Heather Dordaro, Sheila Shaw, Erin Byrd, Jenny Maastricht and Marisa Mackey — still rank among the top 20 in career kills.
Saurer was a middle blocker for the Badgers from 1996-99 who twice earned second-team All-America accolades, the first UW player to earn two honors, and who was named to the All-Big Ten Conference first team three times.
She led Wisconsin in blocks two times and in kills once. For her career, Saurer ranks sixth in program history in kills with 1,406, sixth in blocks with 555, fifth in average blocks per set at 1.28 and third in hitting percentage at .339.
Gallery: (6/26/2019) Hall of Fame 2019: Kelly Kennedy Saurer
Colleen (Neels) Bayer was a standout setter for the Badgers from 1995-98. She said the 6-foot-4 Saurer was an immediate force.
"She had to have been the tallest (player) in the Big Ten," Bayer said of Saurer. "At that time, she was probably the tallest in our program history, I'm guessing. She was just so much bigger than anybody we'd ever played with before."
Having Saurer and the 6-2 Livingston patrolling the middle of the court made Wisconsin dangerous.
"She moved so well for her size," Bayer said of Saurer. "She was incredibly agile for someone that big. She was a big threat just with her offensive ability, but also blocking because she moved so well."
The 1990s were a time of sadness, evolution and transition for the Badgers. The decade began with them winning their first Big Ten championship and qualifying for their first NCAA tournament berth, but that gave way to the death of coach Steve Lowe to lung cancer in 1991.
Enter John Cook, who built Wisconsin from a club that won 14 matches his first year to a Big Ten title in 1997 and consecutive 30-win seasons in 1997 and 1998.
But Cook left to take over the program at Nebraska and Pete Waite debuted with a 22-10 showing in 1999.
"That whole transition was just really hard," Bayer said.
The Badgers were 107-26 (.805) during Saurer's career, which came to an end a year before Wisconsin advanced all the way to the NCAA title match where, in an ironic twist, it fell to Cook and Nebraska.
Saurer acknowledged that her career didn't finish on the highest of notes, but she looks back on it with fondness.
"I loved my whole experience there," she said.
Saurer and her husband, Kevin, met as Wisconsin students and currently live in Elgin, Illinois. After a stint in the pro ranks, her life revolves around caring for their four sons: Kyle 14, Kaden 13, Kolby 10 and Kellen 9.
Bayer described Saurer as "super energetic" who brought a great attitude, perspective and passion to the operation.
"As someone who is (6-4), especially as a young person, you stand out when you're that tall as a female," Bayer said. "But she owned it. She was not shy.
"She was fun to be around. She was always happy. You never came into the locker room and saw Kelly down in the dumps about something. She just wasn't like that at all."
Saurer, 41, said one of her career highlights was having her parents, Patricia and William, travel from their home in Barrington, Illinois, to attend all her matches home and away.
Saurer got word of her Hall of Fame nomination from Barry Alvarez, the Wisconsin director of athletics, calling it "surreal, but cool."
In addition to Livingston and Fitzgerald, three other volleyball entities are in the UW Athletic Hall of Fame: Lowe (2014), Lisa Boyd-Piekarski (2000) and Megan Scott (2008).
"I'm definitely honored to be a part of all the amazing athletes to come through the program," Saurer said.
During her time with the Badgers, Saurer worked alongside the program's all-time leader in kills (Livingston), points (Livingston), assists (Laura Abbinante) and total blocks (Dodaro).
"The year that I came in there was just so much talent with me," Saurer said. "I really enjoyed my time, all the players I had as teammates."
In addition to her numerous entries in the Wisconsin record book, Saurer was a co-captain in 1999 and, as an education major, was Academic All-Big Ten in 1997.
Saurer was surprised by her Hall of Fame selection. Bayer was not.
"She's got all the numbers in the record book," Bayer said of her friend. "She was consistent. It wasn't like Kelly had one or two good years. She had four consistent good years. She contributed a lot to Wisconsin."
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UW Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2019
