No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers Prepare For Unusual NCAA Volleyball Tournament

It hasn’t been a normal year for the University of Wisconsin-Madison women’s volleyball team, and it won’t be a typical NCAA tournament either.

The Badgers finished the regular season undefeated for the first time ever — running the table as the country’s No. 1 team. But the year was also plagued with canceled matches. The team even paused activities for two weeks midseason due to COVID-19. Now the Badgers are preparing to enter the NCAA tournament bubble.

The format is different this year — there are 48 teams instead of 64. That means the Badgers get a bye, before opening tournament play against either Weber State or Bowling Green on April 15. Both are solid opponents, said Wisconsin head coach Kelly Sheffield, who’s leading the Badgers to their eighth consecutive tournament appearance.

Normally, the tournament wouldn’t shift to a neutral site until the Final Four. But with this year’s bubble, all four dozen teams are heading to Omaha, Nebraska, where they’ll play at a convention center with eight practice courts and four game courts.

“A lot of bouncing around. You throw the testing in there as well, it’s going to be interesting,” Sheffield said.

He also expressed frustration that early round matches will be streamed without commentary.

“I really hope that they take a closer look at that because I have a feeling that that could blow up as much as what the weight room stuff did in women’s basketball,” he said.

Last year, Wisconsin reached the national title match, losing to Stanford. It’ll provide motivation this time around, said senior middle blocker Dana Rettke.

“I don’t think it has ever left any of our minds. It’s definitely something that we have been able to sit on for a very long time now,” she said.

Wisconsin’s quest for redemption got a late start. Volleyball season was delayed due to the pandemic, and it hasn’t exactly gone smoothly. The Badgers had matches canceled against Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern and Penn State during the regular season.

Wisconsin will have played just three matches in two months, including their bout next week, Sheffield said.

“Our sport is such a rhythm sport,” he said. “When teams are playing, well there’s a rhythm to it. You can’t stop and hold the ball and organize in the middle of a rally.”

Despite this season’s stops and starts, Wisconsin has looked good in recent practices, he said. The Badgers have faced a lot of adversity this year. Sheffield said he’s most proud that his players haven’t given up.

It’s all been worth it, said senior setter Sydney Hilley. Players haven’t eaten with their families or seen their partners without masks, she said. But now the Badgers are in position to make a national title run.

“If you’re not there, it’s so hard to explain what this stuff means to the players,” she said. “We come into this program wanting to win a Big Ten championship and wanting to win a national championship, and we’ve faced so much adversity this year just trying to stay in rhythm and having that connection with each other that it’s hard to explain if you’re not in it.”

Seven Wisconsin players were named to All Big Ten teams this season, a Badgers record.