The Wisconsin Badgers were able to hold off the No. 15 Indiana Hoosiers in the UW Field House in five sets. It was a nail-biter in those last few sets, and yet, it didn't have to be. Wisconsin head coach Kelly Sheffield started tinkering with the lineup, and things began to unravel for him, and it took the Badgers a while to regain any sort of momentum or rhythm.
It's hard for Sheffield because he wants to give players playing time, and he also wants to help his players learn lessons when they aren't in sync or doing what needs to be done. Yet, as soon as the tinkering began, the Badgers began to lose, and Indiana found a ton of openings.
Wisconsin cruised to a two-set to zero lead against the Hoosiers. While the Hoosiers were a challenge, it wasn't stressful. Wisconsin won set one 25-19 and set two 25-14. It looked all but put away, and then the Hoosiers stormed back in set three, winning 25-22, and set four, 25-20.It took set three and a Decelise Champion hot streak, with Anna Bardaro serving, to get the win.
It never had to be that stressful. So what happened? Well, Indiana had a plan for the kills of Champion and was holding her to a very low hitting percentage. She finished the game with only .100 in hitting, four kills, and three errors. It wasn't a great start through two sets, and since Wisconsin was cruising, Sheffield worked in Grace Lopez and others. We even saw appearances from Madison Quest and Halle Thompson.
Sheffield didn't go deep into his bench against Purdue because the Badgers were "crushing" them. He should have let his young freshman figure it out live, since, once again, Wisconsin was cruising against a Big Ten foe.
Kelly Sheffield had to gamble with his lineup and it changed the whole match
Related: Kelly Sheffield settled into a rotation because Wisconsin was "crushing" Purdue
None of them were bad; in fact, Lopez was getting some good kills from the back row. But the dynamic changed. The passing got a little sloppier; the blocking wasn't as tight. And then it changed Indiana's strategy. The Hoosiers switched their focus from Champion, who was no longer in, to Flanagan, and then she was getting a bit bottled up.
Champion wasn't the only one struggling early on; Eva Travis was also having a tough time getting her motor going. She actually ended the match with a negative hitting percentage of -.056...five errors with only four kills will do that to a player.
So Sheffield was forced to get creative, and yet it was a gamble that didn't work. Travis did move away from her and didn't really return to her, but Champion had to get back in the match. It wasn't the same without her. Even though her kills weren't there in the first couple of sets, her presence on the block changed the dynamic of the game.
Sheffield goes Champion back towards the end, and he was able to save himself and Wisconsin from the reverse sweep. Champion basically ended up being the hero in the end. Her block alone caused some overhits, and she was able to swoop in for the final kill.
The Hoosiers are a good team, but Sheffield is trying to find playing time, and benching a struggling player too early almost cost him.
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