Wisconsin went on a road trip to Michigan State and Illinois and walked away with six straight sets. They were dominant in all facets of the game, and head coach Kelly Sheffield sees the Badgers as surging and creating momentum at the right time as they head into a match against No. 9 Purdue. He was in awe of the "massive numbers" his team and players put up on the road trip.
Arguably, the most important player for the Badgers is star setter Charlie Fuerbringer, and having her back has dramatically helped this team perform at elite levels. Yet, when Sheffield specifically called out these "massive numbers" certain players are putting up, he named five other players rising to the elite level (or at least maintaining that elite play).
Kelly Sheffield gives shoutout to five different Badgers after impressive play over the weekend
Sheffield had high praise for Mimi Colyer, "I think Mimi is averaging 7.5 kills per set, hitting over .350. I don't know if there have been many times I've seen somebody put up those types of weekend numbers." Colyer has been amazing for the Badgers, but it seems she's hit a new gear over the last weekend against Michigan State and Illinois.
He went on to talk about Carter Booth, "averaging 2.5 kills per set and hitting over .450 and over two blocks per set. I mean that's a huge, huge week."
Una Vajagic, the Serbian outside hitter, was the next to get high praises from Sheffield, "Hitting over .500 and about 3.5 kills per set. I think it was probably her best weekend of the year." That's three players back-to-back-to-back that Sheffield has mentioned have been hitting their stride at the right time. However, he wasn't done dishing up praise for his players.
"In fact, our team was over four blocks per set. Those are just some really, really big time numbers that our players put out there. I think the fact that we had three sets that we went the distance and were decided within two points, two of them going way past 25. I just love seeing how we were able to finish sets with our backs against the wall. "Kelly Sheffield
Freshman Aniya Warren also got a shoutout, "coming in the second set against Michigan State and really giving us a lift at that position, it was just really fantastic to see."
Finally, he concluded his high praise about his players with Kristen Simon, "It was a tough start to the match for Kristen Simon and then how she responded the next day, she showed a lot of her heart and her character and her toughness being able to have the match that she did at Illinois, putting up massive numbers, passing numbers, because they tested her right out of the gate, which we knew they would."
He said all this to heap praise on his team but also to show that they are really primed for the top-10 match against Purdue. It won't be easy, but momentum is hitting at the right time for Wisconsin, and there's a lot of excitement building for Sheffield as his team is gaining momentum at the right time.