Kelly Sheffield has an embarrassment of riches at hitter this next season. The Wisconsin volleyball roster is loaded with some of the top young hitters in the world. Players like Decelise Champion, who is an international star at only 17, Halle Thompson, and Audrey Flanagan, who were top-rated American recruits.
Add in some of the experienced college players like Grace Lopez, Grace Egan, and Eva Travis. There's also Madison Quest, who showed a ton of development last season and was ready to take a starting role this year. Not to mention Kymora Scott, who Sheffield was going to experiment with at either the right side or the middle blocker. This addition of Champion may limit her to depth at middle blocker in her freshman year.
How does it all shake out? How can Sheffield get seven top hitters into the rotation on a consistent basis? Especially when any of the seven could be the featured star at most other programs. It's a good problem to have, but one that Sheffield will have to manage well, or he could have another situation like last season, where his embarrassment of riches at the libero led all but one to transfer after the season.
In many ways, he will have to give them all chances and often will need to ride the hot hand. The hard part with young talent is that sometimes you have to weather the bumps to get to the hot hand. So, managing that will also need to be considered.
Let's do a little projection on how things could look, knowing full well that things could change as the season progresses, and players emerge or steal spots, or injuries, or what have you.
Right Side Hitters
This will be the biggest experiment for Sheffield. He only has one player that is currently listed as a right side (besides Kymora Scott). That's Grace Lopez, who was injured all last season but is coming back for 2026. However, Decelise Champion has played right side and can handle the load there. Grace Egan also filled in for Lopez on the right side last year, so we know she can handle it.
It seems as if the starter will still be Lopez, but with Egan and Champion both being able to play the spot. The wild card is that Lynney Tarnow also played some right side in the spring games. Though it's harder to see this happen with how many hitters Sheffield will have now.
Outside Hitters
This is where the plethora of riches is mostly focused, even with the loss of All-American Mimi Colyer. Wisconsin has Grace Egan, Audrey Flanagan, Madison Quest, Halle Thompson, and Eva Travis all listed as outside hitters right now on the spring roster. Add in the fact that Champion has been playing mostly as an outside hitter for the Puerto Rico team.
Travis looked excellent in the spring games, but the talent ceiling for Flanagan, Thompson, and Quest all may outpace her. There's also the reality that Egan has shown amazing flashes at the position. If push comes to shove, it seems like Egan may get the starting spot there while the others push to take it.
Back row attacker
Let's add in a final spot for these hitters to rotate into and get valuable minutes at: back row attacker. Colyer played this spot a lot last season during rotations to give other hitters a chance, but she was also really valuable back there. Egan also showed she's an excellent back row attacker. Don't be surprised if she spends some good time back there with her ability to receive. There's also a good chance that Quest is a featured player in the back.
There are still a lot of unknowns and probably will be into the season as Sheffield plays with the roster and unleashes potential. Hopefully, this group grows together, and the transfer portal doesn't steal any of the development.
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