Kelly Sheffield likes Wisconsin’s confidence, which is ‘greatest drug’
Wisconsin volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield has seen the Badgers’ confidence grow, he said after the team’s third ranked win of November.
- The 10th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers volleyball team swept No. 18 Minnesota to finish their regular season.
- Wisconsin concluded the season with a 24-4 overall record and an undefeated month of November.
- Three players, Mimi Colyer, Una Vajagic, and Carter Booth, each recorded at least 12 kills in the victory.
Wisconsin volleyball can add one more quality win to its résumé ahead of Selection Sunday, and UW earned that win in authoritative fashion.
The 10th-ranked Badgers swept No. 18 Minnesota, 25-18, 25-18, 25-17, on Nov. 28 in Minneapolis to finish the regular season with a 24-4 overall record and 17-3 conference record. It was their eighth consecutive win, capping an undefeated month of November.
Wisconsin won with an especially balanced attack, with three players finishing with at least 12 kills each. Mimi Colyer had 13 kills while Una Vajagic and Carter Booth each finished with 12 kills.
Booth’s season-high 12 kills came without any attack errors as she hit .522. The 6-foot-7 middle blocker has now recorded eight or more kills in six of her last seven matches.
Vajagic, meanwhile, has recorded 10-plus kills in five of her last six matches as the six-foot outside hitter from Serbia has shown improvement in her first college season with playing time.
Wisconsin hit .385 as a whole in a lopsided win in which Minnesota never reached the 20-point mark in any of the three sets. (That was up from .311 in Wisconsin’s previous win against Minnesota, which was before Charlie Fuerbringer’s return from her shoulder injury.)
It would have been even more lopsided if UW did not commit 14 service errors — its most in a three-set match this season. Serving also was a weapon at times for the Badgers, which finished with eight aces. Those eight aces came from six UW players.
The Badgers will learn their NCAA tournament fate on Nov. 30. One of the top 16 overall seeds — the prerequisite for hosting the first two rounds — is extremely likely for Wisconsin, which is No. 11 in RPI.
