With another season now officially in the books, the Wisconsin volleyball team will have to give a final farewell to five seniors who have been some of the most productive and prominent players the program has ever had.
The early ousting from this year's NCAA Tournament was anything but indicative of the careers of middle blocker Taylor Reineke, setter Jackie Simpson, libero Jocelyn Wack and defensive specialists Megan Mills and Amanda Berkley, who put together a 100-29 record over their four years with the Badgers.
As they move on from their final days as members of the UW volleyball team and closer to graduation, the team's five seniors leave here with numerous awards and a multitude of rewritten records in the books.
Taylor Reineke has been at the forefront of the Badger defense since first stepping on the court in 2004, when she saw playing time in 32 matches and got the nod to start in 28 of them. Since then, she has started in all 97 matches during the past three seasons.
A three-time All-Big Ten selection, Reineke topped the conference rankings in blocking during the 2005 and 2006 seasons, averaging 1.72 and 1.62 per game respectively. She currently sits fourth in the conference with 1.54 blocks per game and leads Wisconsin in hitting percentage with .339 for all players with more than 15 kills.
She finishes in second place on the Wisconsin career blocking list with 671 and first overall in blocks per game with an average 1.54 in every set during the past four years.
Jackie Simpson solidified her spot as the starting setter during her freshman campaign, setting for the first-team offense in 28 of the 31 matches she played in her first year and snaring 2004 Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors.
She has since started in 92 matches over the last three years and made a tremendous impact on the offensive side of the ball. She ranks second on the Wisconsin career assists list with 5,235, including a career best 75 assists against Minnesota in 2004.
She has earned All-Big Ten honors the past two years and was named a 2006 AVCA second-team All-American. She was also voted AVCA National Player of the Week on Oct. 31 of last year and Big Ten Player of the Week following her final two matches of conference play last week.
Jocelyn Wack goes down in history as the most dependable player ever to wear a Badger uniform. In the 129 matches and 454 games of her career, she has seen playing time in every single one.
This year, she solidified her place in UW history as the career leader in digs with 2,182 total and 4.78 digs per game. In addition to earning 2006 All-Mideast Regional Honorable Mention honors, Wack established herself as the NCAA record holder for most consecutive matches with 10 or more digs at 64. She was also named a 2005 and 2006 Academic All-Big Ten honoree and to the 2004 and 2005 NCAA Regional All-Tournament team.
Wack became arguably the most prolific libero in Wisconsin history, despite having tremendous offensive skills coming out of high school that could have earned her an outside hitting position on many Division I teams across the country.
Megan Mills and Amanda Berkley were two walk-on players who have been invaluable to the success of the program from the back row.
Though their time usually came off the bench and their statistics were often overshadowed by Wack's performances, Mills and Berkley were a staple for the Badger defense, playing in 24 and 16 matches respectively with one start for Mills.
This year, the two have combined for 349 of the 474 digs accumulated by defensive specialists and a total of seven starts.
Next to Wack's team-best 39 service aces this season, Berkley ties for second best on the team with 21 and Mills sits alone at fourth place on the team with 18. Though their limited play allowed them little opportunity for special recognition over the past two years, Mills was an Academic All-Big Ten honoree in 2005 and 2006, while Berkley eventually earned her way into a scholarship with the volleyball program for a period in her career.
Despite the departure of such accomplished athletes, the Badgers do have a pair of promising recruits lined up for next fall that will attempt to fill the large void these five seniors will leave behind.
Janelle Gabrielson of Menomonee Falls, Wis., is a 6'0' outside hitter/setter who has earned two first-team All-State honors and two state championship All-Tournament team recognitions. She led her high school to the state semifinals as a junior and to the quarterfinals as a senior and will either add to UW's pool of proven underclassmen hitters or compete with redshirt freshman setter Nikki Klingsporn for a shot at leading the offense next year.
Elle Ohlander is a 6'6' middle blocker from Caledonia, Ill., and will become the tallest player ever to put on a Wisconsin volleyball uniform.
She is ranked at No. 28 on PrepVolleyball.com's 100 Senior Aces and was named the Northern Illinois Conference Most Valuable Player in 2007.
She led her high school to a perfect 48-0 conference record over the past three years and led them to a second-place finish in the state championship this year. She has first-team All-Conference accolades from her junior and senior campaigns and will likely be called upon to pick up where Reineke has left off in the Badger defense next fall.
