No. 3 seeded Wisconsin volleyball advanced to the NCAA Volleyball Final Four after two four-set wins against No. 2 Stanford on Dec. 12 and No. 3 Texas on Dec. 14. This marks Wisconsin’s seventh Final Four appearance in program history and their sixth under head coach Kelly Sheffield.
This long of a tournament run seemed unlikely for the Badgers after injuries from crucial players, including the midseason loss of setter Charlie Fuerbringer and a preseason injury for right side Grace Lopez. Sheffield has been able to adapt lineups and rotate younger players into games to increase Wisconsin’s bench depth.
The Badgers will head to Kansas City and the NCAA National Championship Semifinals game in a bout against No. 1 Kentucky on Thursday.
Texas
Heading into the matchup against No. 1 Texas, Wisconsin stared down a team with a 25-4 record, including a sweep against Wisconsin earlier in the season. The Badgers needed to show a lot of growth in this game to even be competitive against the Longhorns.
In a game determined by runs, Wisconsin avenged their loss against Texas, even with most of the crowd inside the Gregory Gymnasium favoring Texas.
Set one showed how resilient Texas was, a trait that would be seen throughout the night. Wisconsin was able to advance ahead of Texas early on, but the Longhorns came storming back.
The Badgers tied the game up at 10, with Colyer’s second kill of the night. The outside hitter went on to hit .309 with 23 kills.
Wisconsin and Texas traded points down the middle stretch of the game, with neither team pulling too far ahead of the other.
After Wisconsin took a commanding 24-17 lead off a kill from Booth, Texas rallied a five-point run to push the game within two points at 24-22. The Longhorn faithful were persistent in their support, erupting after each point that chipped away at the Badger lead.
As she has all season long, Colyer rose to the occasion and netted the final point with a kill to secure set one 25-22.
The Badgers’ offense improved significantly in the second set. Vajagic stood out for Wisconsin during this set, tallying four kills and hitting .458 on the night.
A three-point run from Wisconsin was highlighted by Booth, who recorded two kills. With serves from Wardlow, Wisconsin pulled away from Texas by five points.
Outside hitter Alicia Andrew helped the Badgers advance even further ahead of the Longhorns. Andrew recorded a kill and block assist back-to-back, putting Wisconsin up 22-16. This Badger block encouraged the few traveling Wisconsin fans to chant, “Let’s go Badgers!”
Mirroring the first set, Wisconsin allowed Texas to go on another run down the final stretch. After being as close as three points from each other, the Badgers grabbed the second set 25-21.
In between sets two and three, head coach Kelly Sheffield gathered his team in the huddle and focused on keeping their foot on the gas pedal. “We’ve got to come out there with that same intensity, that same drive,” Sheffield said.
Colyer kicked off the third sit with a multi-rally kill, but the Longhorns continued to keep the score close. Texas made a four-point run to gain their first lead since set one.
After Texas took the advantage early on, Colyer swung momentum back to the Badgers with three straight kills. The Longhorns recorded a point, and then Colyer put another one down on Texas’ side of the court.
Wisconsin errors, including multiple serving miscues, led to Texas winning their first set of the night, 25-20.
Texas carried that momentum into the fourth set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead and showing no signs of slowing down. The Badgers collected themselves well, regaining the lead at 7-6 after a 6-1 run that saw Colyer collect two kills and a service ace. With the crowd settled down and the game once again in their favor, Wisconsin didn’t look back. The Badgers recorded a 4-0 run in the middle of the set, highlighted by a service ace from Egan which put Wisconsin ahead 13-8.
Texas continued to push the Badgers throughout set four, but Vajagic and Colyer recorded back-to-back points to create Wisconsin’s largest win of the night. They finished ahead of the Longhorns 25-19, following Colyer’s kill that sent the Badgers back to the Final Four.
The bench rushed to the Wisconsin side of the court, taking pictures in celebration and posing with the NCAA Bracket that showed Wisconsin, once again, moving onto the next round.
Colyer and Booth were to the side being interviewed by ESPN, and Booth didn’t mince words when asked about her mentality going into the game against Texas.
“Like I told you when we spoke earlier in practice, I refuse to fucking lose.” Booth said.
Sheffield was candid in his postgame response to how this team differs from his other Final Four bids. “I told these guys afterwards that, my dad passed away a few months ago, he would’ve loved watching this team. He would’ve loved watching this team.”
Wisconsin will look to continue its magical tournament run on Thursday, taking on Kentucky at 8:00 p.m. inside the T-Mobile Center with a spot in the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship game on the line.
Stanford
Wisconsin defeated Stanford 3-1 to move onto the Regional Finals Friday night in Austin, Texas.
Set one was Wisconsin’s most dominant showing of the evening, surging past Stanford 25-17. Fuerbringer was able to scatter the court with points, tallying 19 assists in the first set.
Wisconsin’s only set loss came in the second set, when they fell 25-21 to the Cardinals. Stanford recorded three separate 3-0 runs to knock the Badgers out of their scoring rhythm and secure the set.
The Badgers recovered strong in the third set, recording kills around the court and getting back into their offensive momentum.
“I think it was just coming into the match with the mentality that we’re on the attack,” middle blocker Carter Booth said. “It was really an emphasis for us to always be the ones throwing punches, not the ones taking them.”
Booth had a .700 hitting percentage from a season-best 14 kills against Stanford, four of those coming in the third set.
Wisconsin and Stanford fought back and forth throughout the set, with Stanford finally pulling ahead slightly with a 17-14 advantage. Freshman Natalie Wardlow then came off the bench for the Badgers and provided three-straight service aces to put Wisconsin up 18-17. The Badgers went on to win this set 25-23 off of a kill from Grace Egan.
Outside hitter Una Vajagic recorded four kills in the fourth and final set of the game, tallying two points that helped advance the Badgers 10-6. Colyer then moved in to score six more points, securing the game for Wisconsin.
“I want to get in these big games and be competitive and play with a group of girls that want to win and need to win,” Colyer said. “I think we’re gelling at the right time and I think we’re gaining so much momentum.”
Colyer surpassed 2,000 career kills in this game after tallying a match-high 27 kills.
