The volleyball season has arrived. On Friday, August 21, the first game of the season for the Badgers may end up being one of the biggest tests of the entire year. No. 6 Wisconsin will be taking on No. 3 Kentucky in a rematch that knocked the Badgers out of the Final Four last season and sent the Wildcats to the National Championship game.
Kelly Sheffield joined Jon Arias on "The Kelly Sheffield Show" and talked all sorts of "before the season" things. It's an interview worth listening to for any Badger volleyball fan. One of the big takeaways was his thoughts on Kentucky; he identified what he sees as the key to knocking off the Wildcats. Some of it has to do with the fact that Kentucky doesn't know who Wisconsin is this year, and how the Badgers will attack them.
"They lost one player. Now, that’s a significant player in [Eva] Hudson, but they picked up a really, really nice big-time transfer from Notre Dame who’s going to fit right back in." Sheffield told Arias, "So it’s much the same lineup as what we saw in the Final Four. The team that they’ll see is very, very different and wired differently."
Sheffield said that Kentucky won't have a real idea what Wisconsin's starting lineup and rotation will be, and then joked that he's not quite sure either. This highlights one of the keys to the AVCA First Serve for Sheffield. The depth of his team will help him a ton with the turnaround. He even said he's considering having Kristen Simon start one game at libero and Anna Bardaro the other. Or maybe he will find a way to use them both.
He was intentionally coy about his plans. When Arias was asking for more specifics, Sheffield said that he wasn't going to reveal much and that the fact that the opponents don't know what to expect is good for the Badgers.
Sheffield went on to speak about the Wildcats because just having deception with the starting lineup won't be enough. He identifies Brooklyn DeLeye, Kassie O'Brien, and the middles. However, the kicker for Wisconsin is not what Kentucky is throwing at them, but how they play together.
The key for Wisconsin against Kentucky has more to do with the Badgers than the Wildcats
Related: 2026 AVCA First Serve: Full Schedule, How to Watch Wisconsin, Teams and More
"And, you know, what is the key? I’ve always thought on Week 1, the teams that have been playing together have a huge advantage over the teams that have not." Sheffield explains, "A lot of times early out of the gate, there’s a lot more errors from all teams. And so who can kind of play a little bit cleaner and who can move on to the next play?"
This actually may not bode well for the Badgers, who, as Sheffield admits, have a really new team this season, and Kentucky has a ton of returners. So, is Sheffield hedging himself a little bit before the big contest? Maybe, but he does seem to be talking about how these teams have been playing lately together, how they respond to mistakes, and how they rally to keep things going.
"It’s going to be a heck of a challenge for us. Heck of an opportunity. Certainly, I think everybody with our team and our program is pretty excited about it." Sheffield concludes.
Wisconsin fans can't wait for the match to arrive; 8 pm CT can't come soon enough, as volleyball season has finally arrived.
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