The Wisconsin Badgers volleyball season is just around the corner, and the intrigue for what this season will bring is palpable. Last week, it was the Wisconsin roster that added some interesting things to the discussion, but it may be the schedule that has even more intrigue. There are really five storylines that pop out to me.
1. Sink or Swim start
This team has nine freshmen, and many of them will have featured roles this season. The floor of this team will be seen at times, but so will the ceiling. The talent level is insane, but it's going to come with rookie mistakes. The start of the season isn't a soft launch. The Badgers are literally going to sink or swim at the beginning of the season.
The season kicks off with a bang in Milwaukee for the AVCA First Serve. 10 of the top volleyball programs in the nation will arrive to play each other. For the Badgers, it's two games against Kentucky and Louisville. Kentucky finished last season ranked No. 2 (AVCA), and Louisville was No. 9.
It would be great to say it gets easier, but the Badgers then jump into the Opening Spike Classic and have to face off against Stanford and Pitt, who were ranked No. 7 and No. 4, respectively, last season.
The Badgers could truly go 0-4, 4-0, or more likely some combo in between. It's going to be a wild start to the season. Hang on, and buckle up; we have freshmen driving the bus.
2. Jaela Auguste rematch
Next on the schedule that offers some fun intrigue is when Jaela Auguste gets to face off against her former team, the Florida Gators, on September 2. It's part of the Big Ten vs. SEC challenge. Wisconsin will take on Florida and Auburn in that challenge to try to earn the Big Ten the crown for the top volleyball conference. Auguste transferred away last season to Wisconsin, and the Gators will be looking to prove her wrong.
Florida is no slouch of a program either, with a final ranking last season of No. 34 in the RPI. It's a reloaded roster and a roster that can take down an unsuspecting team.
3. The Texas roadtrip
The schedule doesn't get much easier as the Badgers then head to Texas for a road trip, taking on the Texas Longhorns and the defending national champions, the Texas A&M Aggies. Both programs are juggernauts and won't be walks in the park. In fact, mark this road trip as one of the toughest two-game stretches of the season. The Longhorns finished at No. 6, and A&M closed at No. 1 (champions).
There's also the reality that Wisconsin has a couple of players from Texas: Jaela Auguste and Halle Thompson.
4. A single Nebraska match and it's in Omaha
The team that Wisconsin fans often look for first on the Big Ten docket is Nebraska. This year, the Badgers will only see the Cornhuskers once in the regular season, but it happens to be in Omaha. A tough road game in a hostile environment for presumably conference champion implications. It's in October, so the Big Ten standings won't matter as much at the time, but it will certainly be a game you look back on at the end of the season.
5. Lighter Big Ten schedule
The rest of the Big Ten is not as daunting this season. While it's still a premier volleyball conference and no match or team should be taken for granted, Wisconsin has a decent draw. Sure, there's the road game in Omaha, but the other road games are Purdue, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, USC, UCLA, Rutgers, and Ohio State. There's no PNW road trip and only one cross-country jog to Los Angeles.
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