Wisconsin volleyball has had six matches this season. All of them have been against top teams in college volleyball. Five of them were against ranked teams, four of them against top-10 teams, and three against top-5 teams. It's been a wild ride this season; somehow, someway, Wisconsin is sitting at 3-2. Wisconsin has had to do all this with a revolving lineup. There have been six different starting units in six different matches.
This article is going to look at each lineup and offer some thoughts on the units. It's not as simple as saying, "Well, they won with these three but lost with those two...so three are good, and two are bad." For Sheffield, he has said he will use lineups based on the teams they are playing and situational matchups.
Also, you will note that the starting lineups below are seven players, not six. This is because the libero is announced as the seventh player (starter). It's just how college volleyball works. Whether the libero starts on the court. in the first set or not (usually they do).
First, let's just look at each starting unit and then at the bottom offer some thoughts.
Starting unit against Kentucky:
Setter: Charlie Fuerbringer
Right Side: Grace Egan
Right Side: Grace Lopez
Outside Hitter: Audrey Flanagan
Outside Hitter: Eva Travis
Middle Blocker: Jaela Auguste
Libero: Kristen Simon
Starting unit against Louisville:
Setter: Charlie Fuerbringer
Right Side: Grace Egan
Outside Hitter: Audrey Flanagan
Outside Hitter: Eva Travis
Middle Blocker: Lynney Tarnow
Middle Blocker: Jaela Auguste
Libero: Anna Bardaro
Starting unit against Stanford:
Setter: Charlie Fuerbringer
Right Side: Grace Egan
Outside Hitter: Audrey Flanagan
Outside Hitter: Eva Travis
Middle Blocker: Lynney Tarnow
Middle Blocker: Natalie Wardlow
Libero: Anna Bardaro
Starting unit against Pitt:
Setter: Charlie Fuerbringer
Right Side: Grace Lopez
Outside Hitter: Audrey Flanagan
Outside Hitter: Halle Thompson
Middle Blocker: Lynney Tarnow
Middle Blocker: Natalie Wardlow
Libero: Anna Bardaro
Starting unit against Florida:
Setter: Charlie Fuerbringer
Right Side: Grace Egan
Outside Hitter: Audrey Flanagan
Outside Hitter: Eva Travis
Middle Blocker: Lynney Tarnow
Middle Blocker: Kymora Scott
Libero: Anna Bardaro
Starting unit against Auburn:
Setter: Charlie Fuerbringer
Right Side: Madison Quest
Outside Hitter: Audrey Flanagan
Outside Hitter: Halle Thompson
Middle Blocker: Lynney Tarnow
Middle Blocker: Natalie Wardlow
Libero: Anna Bardaro (Alyssa Konrad)
5 thoughts on the above units:
1. Charlie Fuerbringer and Audrey Flanagan are the only mainstays
Fuerbringer and Flanagan are the only players to appear in every single announced starting lineup. Fuerbringer is not a surprise; as long as she's healthy, she will be in as much as possible. While Isabelle Hoppe has provided some juice as a true freshman, Fuerbringer is the best setter in the nation. Flanagan was a bit of a surprise, but no longer; she's a star and deserves to take as many swings as the game plan dictates.
2. Anna Bardaro seems to have fully secured the libero starting spot
Kristen Simon started against Kentucky and Bardaro rotated in. It's been Bardaro the rest of the way. This isn't to say that Simon hasn't played, she's still been a big key to plenty of sets and matches. She's been a good server and still showing up in big moments but she's slid mostly into a defensive specialist role. She hasn't even always worn the libero jersey in matches.
Bardaro has started in five of six, that's a good sign that Sheffield has given her the keys.
3. Freshmen are leading the way
If there's been a theme this season, it's been how many true freshmen are asked to step into big roles and into the starting lineup. Not a normal occurrence at a volleyball superpower like Wisconsin. Sure, there may be a freshman or two that cracks the lineup, but not usually this many. Four different freshmen have been starters this season.
4. The problem with the right side
Kelly Sheffield has had to get really creative with how to use his opposite. There's only one true opposite on this team: Grace Lopez. She's clearly still not fully ready to explode off the bounce. She's only had one match where she spent time in the front row. Grace Egan was the backup to her last season and thus spent all of last season as the starter there. She is also banged up and dealing with an "undisclosed injury."
What's the solution there? There's no real answer until Lopez is ready to rock, or at least Egan can continue to fill in. Quest is great, but she's not a true opposite and is more comfortable playing outside.
5. There isn't a perfect solution yet
Ok, so there are some mainstays coming out of these lineups. We see Fuerbringer, Flanagan, Bardaro, Egan, and Tarnow playing a ton out of the starting lineup. You can assume that Auguste will be fully back in the lineup when she's healthy, and the same goes for Lopez. However, the mix-and-match has worked with varying levels of success. Madison Quest, Natalie Wardlow, Halle Thompson, Kymora Scott, Eva Travis, and Kristen Simon have all had their moments.
Until every one is healthy it's hard to figure out the chemistry or the ideal rotation. Of course, some will continue to be based on matchups but there will at some point be a more consistent group starting the match.
6. How much will a healthy team change all this?
Jaela Auguste, Grace Lopez, and Grace Egan will all be healthy again at some point; how will that change this team? Will there be more consistency in the rotation? Do players like Thompson and Quest go back to being more of a pop off the bench? How does it work when Decelise Champion is ready to go? There are still so many chances, and Texas and Texas A&M are looming before Big Ten play.
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