There's a growing worry among Wisconsin volleyball fans about the 2026 roster. It's not the talent; this may be one of the most talented Badger teams in a long time (especially in regards to ceiling). It's the fact that the roster is loaded with young talent. In the transfer era world, that is a legitimate problem. Young talent, if not played, showcased, and given the opportunity to see how they fit into the team, will transfer.
Kelly Sheffield isn't worried about it, in an interview with Jon Arias on the podcast "JonCast." Sheffield calms the fears of the Badger fans, "We don't worry about that right now. That's a non-factor. It figures itself out."
It happened to Wisconsin last season, when the season started with three freshmen liberos, all former high school stars. Only one ended up getting any real playing time: Kristen Simon, as she beat out the others for the starting job. The other two, Maile Chan and Aniya Warren, quickly jumped into the transfer portal when the season ended. It created a depth chart problem for the Badgers, and it seemed to even surprise head coach Kelly Sheffield.
Kelly Sheffield says playing time issues will figure itself out, down the line
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Will the same happen to all the young hitters on this team? Wisconsin has an incoming freshman class of seven players. Two international stars (Decelise Champion and Anna Bardaro) and four of the top-10 high school recruits from last season (Audrey Flanagan, Hallen Thompson, Lynney Tarnow, and Isabelle Hoppe). Not to mention another player who Sheffield has been high on, who flew under the radar (Kymora Scott).
There's just not a world in which all of them can play a ton next season. Add in the reality that there are already top players on the roster. You think Eva Travis doesn't know she has to beat out freshmen for the hitter spot? Or Kristen Simon realizing a star libero from overseas is coming in?
Speaking of both of those, Sheffield speaks about both players in the interview. "Kristen Simon is going into her sophomore year, and I don't think anyone is putting more time in the gymn right now than her. And she's finding her voice. She's finding a different strength, but knows that someone super talented is coming in and she wants to be out on the court."
He also said Eva Travis is also working on a different level than she's ever worked before. This is all great, and the whole point of bringing in a ton of talent, it pushes everyone to work harder and get better. "What you don't want is to bring in people who are just going to lie down because of the challenges in front of them. You want them to rise up, and because they rise up, they get stronger, they get better, and they get more confident in themselves. If you can have that across the board, that's when it gets really, really fun."
Everybody is being pushed, rising to the latest challenge of other talented players on the roster
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Sheffield loves that they are all looking around and noticing the increased level of talent, and knows that it's pushing everyone. He isn't worried about the playing time at all: "Playing time gets figured out down the line."
He's also confident that this group can play together for a "long time." Which seems to be his main retention plan right now, is to sell this group on that. It looks like working together for a common goal, pushing each other the whole way.
There's a lot of talent on this roster, and if Sheffield isn't stressed about it, neither should Wisconsin fans. Sit back, enjoy the ride.
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