A large portion of Badger volleyball’s success over the past two years can be attributed to sophomore All-American setter Charlie Fuerbringer.
This season, the Wisconsin volleyball team has gotten off to a 15-3 start, including a 10-game winning streak where the Badgers won 30/31 sets. This comes after a great 2024, when Wisconsin finished 26-7 despite an 0-3 start to the season.
Fuerbringer turned heads nationwide last year with her outstanding freshman season. She was the AVCA All-Region Freshman of the Year and earned AVCA All-American Third-Team honors, in addition to being named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team and All-Big Ten Second Team. She carried that momentum over to 2025, averaging a whopping 11.23 assists per set — second in the nation. The Badgers were hot and Fuerbringer had been a driver of their success.
The timing for a setback couldn’t have been worse.
Early in the first set of their matchup against Michigan on Oct. 5, Fuerbringer went up to the net for a joust — a routine play she’s done countless times this season — and immediately clutched her right shoulder in pain as she came down. She exited the game and did not return to action. She later came back to the bench with a sling and an ice pack. Head coach Kelly Sheffield did not have an optimistic prognosis for Fuerbringer.
“We still don’t know,” Sheffield said during his weekly press conference the day after the Michigan game. “Hopefully we’re talking weeks and not months, but we’ll see.”
On Oct. 20, Sheffield still didn’t have an exact timeline for when Fuerbringer could return to play for the Badgers. “She’s trying to get herself back, do everything she can to get back on the court this year. Hopefully, that can happen,” Sheffield said.
It’s the kind of injury that can be deflating for a student athlete, both physically and mentally. But for a player like Fuerbringer, it’s clear her confidence, perspective and drive extend far beyond the court.
“Leaning on my teammates, coaches and family has helped me throughout this injury,” Fuerbringer said. “It’s honestly been super super hard, but my close ones are always here for me which helps me out so much.”
This isn’t the first time Fuerbringer dealt with difficult situations in her life. She lost both her cousin and a friend from home, which she said “put life into perspective.” Still, she’s found ways to remind herself to stay positive through it all.
“This one, the feather, I got with my mom,” she said, pointing to a tattoo on her hand. “So I really struggled sophomore year of high school. [It] was pretty bad, mentally and stuff. My mom [and I] got this tattoo as a reminder to keep things light.”
Family has always been central to Fuerbringer’s life. Fuerbringer said she plays for her grandparents who are “always there" for her.
“My whole family's my biggest supporters. They're watching every game,” Fuerbringer said. “They don't care if I do bad or good, they just wanna see me work hard. So that's the mentality I go into every game.”
To say the Fuerbringers are a volleyball family would be an understatement. Her dad was a four-time All-American at Stanford, won a national championship in 1997 and represented the United States in the Association of Volleyball Professionals. Her mom was an All-American setter at Long Beach State University, won a national championship in 1993 and is now the head coach at her alma mater. Volleyball was more than a sport in the Fuerbringer household — it was a way of life.
“I was just constantly surrounded by volleyball and people who knew so much about the sport, and it's not even like we talked about it a lot, but just always being around it,” Fuerbringer said.
That lifelong immersion in the game along with her outstanding talent made her decision to play at the college level seem inevitable. It was just a matter of where. When she was narrowing down schools, Wisconsin stood out amongst the rest.
“The year before I had committed or had been able to get recruited, Wisconsin had won the national championship, and I watched that game,” Fuerbringer said. “I wanna be a part of a program that's not gonna let me off the hook, that's gonna push me to do the things that I wanna do, and that's gonna make me the best version of myself.”
Fuerbringer’s competitiveness and drive for greatness is evident. Her relentless mentality shows up every time she steps on the court, and her teammates notice. Morgan Van-Wie, a fellow setter for the Badgers, recognizes the importance of her presence on the court and in the locker room.
“Charlie is extremely driven, and gives everything she can to our team,” Van-Wie said. “I think Charlie being a captain is a perfect example of how much our team recognizes how special she is and also exemplifies the amount of respect we have for the type of player and person she is.”
Van-Wie’s words reflect not only the respect her teammates have for her, but also the tight bond the group shares off the court.
“I think I have the best teammates in the world,” Fuerbringer said. “Everyone knows their role, and everyone has bought in on this team, which is what we need to be a championship team. So I'm super grateful that we have so many hardworking people… We're all very, silly, funny girls who make each other laugh all the time.”
For Fuerbringer, that camaraderie extends far beyond the Wisconsin Field House. Being part of Wisconsin volleyball means representing a tradition that’s lasted for decades. When Fuerbringer and the rest of the team delivered tickets to season ticket holders last season, she was surprised to find some 35-year ticket holders.
“I just think that's crazy that this program just has so much love. And it doesn't just start with us. It just starts with all the people that have come before us. And recognizing and learning more about all of the alumni and past coaches, and how much our coaches now have put into this program just makes me super grateful for everything that we have,” Fuerbringer said.
Fuerbringer’s passion for this program runs deep, but her passion for her country runs deeper. She hopes to one day represent the United States on the Olympic stage, and to play on a court with much larger stakes than the Field House. When asked what it would mean to play for Team USA, Fuerbringer didn’t hesitate.
“Everything,” she said. “I mean, I think it's become more meaningful over time, for sure, too. But I think that would be the coolest thing in the whole world. That's something I've always thought about, probably something I wrote in second grade on my, ‘what I wanna be when I grow up: an Olympian.'”
That dream isn’t far-fetched for Fuerbringer. She’s already represented the United States on the international stage, playing in the U19 World Championships in 2023. She was one of 12 girls out of 20 to make the cut after training, and then went off with the team to Osijek, Croatia. Fuerbringer said expectations for the team weren’t the highest coming into the tournament.
“We are underdogs. Our coach is telling us we probably won’t make it out of pool,” she said. “And we have the youngest team because the older girls couldn’t make it because they’re in college, so we had a very young team compared to the rest of the world’s teams.”
And then something remarkable happened — they started competing and they kept winning. Despite not starting for most of this win streak, Fuerbringer cheered her teammates on from the bench, soaking in the moment. At long last, Team USA reached the finals, and it was on the biggest stage of the tournament where Fuerbringer finally got her shot.
“We reached the finals and we’re down 0-2 against Turkey,” she said. “And then I got a little Cinderella moment, got to come in and help our team come back and win the second women’s World Championships in history.”
For Fuerbringer, this was more than just a victory. It was a culmination of all her hard work and determination, even when she wasn’t on the court competing.
“That was a really special moment. Literally cried after, because that was the coolest thing ever for me. I was just really proud of myself for not complaining about not playing,” she said. “I think that gave me a little motivation for the rest of my career, that if I just keep putting in the work, everything works out.”
Now an All-American athlete for the Badgers, Fuerbringer has found a few ways to unwind away from volleyball.
“I've been DJing for a couple months now, so that's been cool. I play the ukulele. And hot yoga is a big thing for me,” she said. “I feel like, more recently, I've been trying to pick up things that are outside of volleyball to try and keep my life going.”
Music has been one of those outlets.
“I like Mau P, that’s my fav,” she said with a big smile. “I’m making a mix for our pregame, like what they play in the Field House.”
Even when she’s sidelined due to injury, that mix of creativity and energy continues to define her. Her fun-loving, easygoing personality is one of her trademarks and is part of what makes her so universally loved among teammates, coaches and fans alike.
Don’t let the goofy personality fool you, though. Fuerbringer is a fierce competitor, and she is determined to be back in uniform again this season.
“I am so hungry and ready to be back out there,” she said. “I’m doing everything in my power to get my shoulder healthy and be back on the court.”
For now, she’ll keep doing what she’s always done — keeping things light, staying grateful and trusting that everything will work out.
