Michigan State came in ready to upset the Wisconsin Badgers in the Field House on Thursday. They fought their way to a first set win and put Wisconsin fully on their heels. It wasn't pretty for the Badgers, but they found a way to keep fighting, pushing, and stealing momentum to get the next three sets and walk away with another match. However, there's a lot to hate and yet love after the scrappy win.
Kelly Sheffield is encouraged by what he saw from the Badgers, even if the night was statistically pretty terrible. The Badgers hit a .199 as a team with 26 attacking errors. It simply wasn't good, and yet somehow they fought their way to victory.
"The body language stayed strong," Sheffield said after the match. "We stayed connected. We continued to find ways and play through the rallies, the points, the sets, and the match. It's a really good win."
Jaela Auguste seemed to get that she had to be better after not playing in the last match due to the coach's decision. She was one of the few attackers who were ultra-efficient and a woman on a mission. She led the way in hitting percentage with .542 and had 14 kills with only one error.
Decelise Champion had a night to forget but Kelly Sheffield loved how she responded
It was Decelise Champion who had the most kills with 17, but she had to fight through the most adversity of her young career in this game. She hit a terrible .100 with 12 total errors. It was a game she simply wasn't at her best, and yet Charlie Fuerbringer kept feeding her to get her to work her way through it.
Sheffield actually loved that too. He said this about Champion after the match: "She took some mighty big swings in some really key moments there. That's what you look for: do people have the mentality in those moments, that they're wanting the ball, and are they just playing it safe, or are they just going up there and trusting themselves and getting on it?"
Champion did not lose her composure, didn't play scared, continued to take the balls that Fuerbringer kept feeding her, and pummelled them with the same tenacity she always has. She was key to winning a couple of those sets when Michigan was either close to winning or was trying to mount a comeback.
All in all, Sheffield is still trying to figure out this team, how they work, how to succeed and overcome. This is a win that doesn't look pretty on the box score but is full of the type of stuff you actually need to win throughout the NCAA Tournament: grit to find a victory even when you don't have your best stuff. You have to beat the opponent and whatever box score stats your brain is telling you to worry about.
Whether it was Auguste having a night off and coming back with vengeance, Champion battling through 12 attack errors, or even as a team dropping the first set, this team continued to fight for the win, and they got it. That's how volleyball works: the teams that don't give up on long rallies win the point. The teams that don't give up in a frustrating match will often win it.
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