![Florida Gators outside hitter Kennedy Martin (18) spikes the ball through the hands of Florida St. outside hitter Kyleene Filimaua (12) and Florida St. middle blocker Khori Louis (8) in the first set at Exactech Arena at The Stephen C O'Connell Center in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, September 17, 2024 against the Florida State Seminoles. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_2566,h_1443/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/146/01jtp4zh439bd01hq2c0.jpg "Florida Gators outside hitter Kennedy Martin (18) spikes the ball through the hands of Florida St. outside hitter Kyleene Filimaua (12) and Florida St. middle blocker Khori Louis (8) in the first set at Exactech Arena at The Stephen C O'Connell Center in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, September 17, 2024 against the Florida State Seminoles. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]")
Star opposite hitter Kennedy Martin, a transfer out of the University of Florida, announced that she would be transferring to Penn State. It was long assumed that Wisconsin would make a big push to bring in Martin after the injury to Grace Lopez this spring. Kelly Sheffield has stated that he will pursue another opposite hitter in the portal and one of the best in the game (Martin) jumped in.
However, Penn State was able to use its resources to pull her to the Nittany Lions. That has left many Wisconsin fans wondering where Wisconsin turns now in terms of a veteran opposite hitter. The immediate option was Valentina Vaulet, who was an All-Big Ten selection at Michigan last year, but she later that day announced she was transferring to Oregon.
This means that there aren't amazing options in the portal right now. Those two were the best. The rest would be depth pieces more than a plug-and-play starter. Here are the three options Wisconsin could consider:
1. Ava Mehrten - Transfer from Cal
Ava Mehrten is the best opposite hitter available in the portal right now out of Cal. She is the only one who could give Wisconsin a potential starter, but she's not elite. She only started 8 games for Cal, and while she had 46 kills on the season, she had zero aces and only 51 blocks. If Kelly Sheffield is looking simply for a veteran (Mehrten is a senior) to help the younger opposites, maybe this is the move.
2. Sydney Schnichels - Transfer from Minnesota
Sydney Schnichels is a transfer from Minnesota, but she wouldn't be a starter either. She would be more of a development project and probably cycle in as a rotational piece with the other depth opposite hitters.
Minnesota opposite Sydney Schnichels has entered the transfer portal. She has three years remaining after appearing in 8 matches in 2024. The Willmar, Minn. native was ranked No. 20 in the 2023 class by PrepVolleyball and No. 22 overall by PrepDig. pic.twitter.com/eojRVAMJK6
— Lincoln Arneal (@Lincoln_VB) May 5, 2025
3. International Recruiting
The third option is for head coach Kelly Sheffield to look overseas and grab an elite opposite hitter. They are out there. Who are the potential options? That is a good question and hard to find out, it takes both a willingness to come to Wisconsin and play college volleyball and a whole litany of other hurdles. It happens a lot in college volleyball, but figuring out who those players are is nearly impossible without some insider knowledge.
The final and bonus move that Sheffield may do, is just work with the players he already has on his roster. He could move someone into that position or maybe Addy Horner is ready for that level of play. I doubt Sheffield is done but the options are severely limited in the portal.