Wisconsin volleyball’s magical season ended Thursday night, as the Badgers fell in the NCAA National Semifinals to Kentucky, the final one seed in the tournament. Wisconsin fought hard in a game that went a full five sets, and multiple players made season or career best records, but the Badgers ultimately fell just short of reaching their first NCAA final since 2021.
Wisconsin ended the season with an overall record of 28-5, losing only three conference games. Their tournament run was historic, defeating No. 2 Stanford before punching their ticket to the Final Four against No. 1 Texas’ home advantage. Before Wisconsin’s loss to Kentucky, the Badgers were riding a 13 game winning streak.
“I feel like this is one of the most successful seasons that I have ever been a part of,” said head coach Kelly Sheffield. “You can hurt, but you can also be proud.”
Wisconsin began the season with ten new players, and were forced to work around major injuries to key starters, including Grace Lopez and Charlie Fuerbringer.
The final match
Wisconsin came out against Kentucky with fire, and thoroughly dominated the first set. Outside hitter Mimi Colyer and middle blocker Carter Booth attacked the kill game, pushing the Badgers ahead 8-2 out of the gate.
Throughout the rest of the set, the Badgers continued their successful offensive play. Setter Charlie Fuerbringer recorded 13 assists, finding Booth and Colyer seven times each for 14 kills between those two Wisconsin players.
Behind this offensive precision, the Badgers wrapped up set one quickly, outplaying Kentucky on every level, 25-12.
Wisconsin started set two much slower, largely in part to six serving errors. With Kentucky increasing their success in blocking or returning Wisconsin’s hits, especially from Booth and Colyer, Wisconsin lost their offensive rhythm, and trailed the Wildcats for the first half of the set.
Fuerbringer, however, kept Wisconsin close, bringing some spark with two points off of second-touch dumps. Then the Badgers went on a three point run off of two solo blocks and a kill. With those points, Wisconsin pushed out ahead of Kentucky, 10-9.
When the Badgers fell behind by a point, Sheffield called a challenge on a questionable Kentucky save. Officials overturned the original call and awarded Wisconsin the point, pushing them ahead of Kentucky by one.
Kentucky then went on a six-point run late in the set, pulling ahead of the Badgers 24-20. Fuerbringer and middle blocker Alicia Andrew eventually threw Kentucky off with a block to break the point streak, but it wasn’t enough to secure the set for Wisconsin. Kentucky won set two, 25-22.
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In set three, the Badgers fell under pressure midway through when libero Kristen Simon took a hard fall on her hip. Simon, who has been instrumental for Wisconsin, received some support from the Wisconsin staff, but continued to play the rest of the game, favoring her right side.
Wisconsin stayed a few points ahead of Kentucky for the entirety of the third set, looking more like that first set team. Toward the end, the Badgers led 20-16, before Kentucky went on to score four of the next five points, closing the gap to 21-20.
Sheffield won a second challenge down the stretch, overturning a no touch call to give the Badgers a two point lead. The Badgers went on to win the next three points, taking the game into the set four with Wisconsin leading two sets to one.
With a chance to close out the game and head to the NCAA final, Wisconsin managed four point and three point runs to jump out ahead of Kentucky, 9-7. But after those points, the Badgers offense slowed significantly, losing an edge that would be hard to regain.
With the rest of the offense struggling to get through Kentucky’s blocks, Fuerbringer and Booth continued to be the scorers Wisconsin needed. Fuerbringer recorded another dump point, and the duo made a block together to tie up the game, 13-13.
Down by three toward the end of the set, Wisconsin subbed in outside hitter Trinity Shadd-Ceres who contributed a kill to a three point run for the Badgers. Booth also recorded another kill here, lighting the Wisconsin crowd up.
Unfortunately for the traveling Badger fans, Kentucky grabbed the final two points, winning set four 26-24.
Wisconsin’s offensive downslide continued in the fifth set. Kentucky seized on a slow start from the Badgers, and went on a five point run to start the set, quickly leading Wisconsin 6-1.
Wisconsin battled back with a 3-0 run of their own to eventually make the score 9-6 Kentucky.
The Badgers continued to fight, clawing within one off a pair of kills from Colyer. But Wisconsin’s offensive push wasn’t enough, and Wisconsin fell to Kentucky in the final set, 15-13.
Aside from set two, Wisconsin’s hitting percentage remained high for the season. Both Booth and Colyer recorded career best hitting nights. Booth grabbed 21 kills and Colyer recorded 32 in their final collegiate game.
But Booth and Colyer weren’t the only ones with big-time plays against Kentucky or other opponents this season.
Libero Simon finished the season with 375 digs and 121 assists, and setter Fuerbringer moves her sets strategically around the court because Wisconsin has so many capable hitters. Starters Alicia Andrew, Grace Egan and Una Vajagic recorded 665 kills collectively, including 19 of the 77 against Kentucky. Freshman Natalie Wardlow continuously provided Wisconsin with serving support, ending the season with 25 service aces.
The combination of Wisconsin’s talented offensive players created an environment where the players wanted to win for their team, Colyer said.
“It’s stuff like that that I think was really setting us apart this season,” Colyer said, “[It’s] why we were so successful, the amount of courage that we had and the no backing down. We had so much trust in each other to pass the next ball, to set, to kill.”
While the season ended earlier than wanted for Wisconsin, it certainly wasn’t a disappointing run. After starting over with an almost entirely new team and facing multiple injury setbacks, Wisconsin’s ability to come out in the top four in the nation showcased the serious dedication to the sport from Sheffield and his players.
“It’s a match that stays with you for a long time,” Sheffield said. “But it’s also something that you can be deeply proud of the journey that you’ve traveled individually and as a group.”
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