The sailing has been so smooth for the Badgers during their 14-match win streak that it's easy to forget the rough waters Wisconsin encountered early on as a young team working to establish itself with a nearly-new roster. From those early trials — which began long before UW ever took the court — a toughness was forged that has allowed the Badgers to embrace the challenges of a deep postseason run.  |  From Varsity Magazine
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
If you're compiling a list of reasons why Wisconsin volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield is in such a good mood these days, be advised it has a very specific topper.
The Badgers have advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive season since he took over the program in 2013, but that's not it.
Sixth-seeded Wisconsin (26-6 overall) is riding a 14-match winning streak entering the regional semifinals -- the second-longest in the nation -- but that's not it.
The Badgers are of good health and seem to be playing their best volleyball entering their duel with 11th-seeded Florida (24-6) Friday at the Gregory Gym in Austin, Texas, but that's not it, either.
"I think the thing I'm happiest about with our group," Sheffield said this week, "is just we've really grown into a really, really tough team."
It didn't happen overnight.
It's a process that began in August and involved more angst and exhaustion than anyone on the outside will ever know.
"The fighting spirit wasn't always something that we embraced," senior libero Taylor Morey said.
"As a unit we didn't know how to work hard and there were lessons that had to be learned and consequences that were taken as a result," junior setter Lauren Carlini said.
It's an evolution that was necessary given the transition from a mostly veteran outfit to one with six freshmen -- from Illinois, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin -- and two transfers -- from West Coast powers Southern California and UCLA -- on the 14-person roster.
"It's obviously a learning process because there's so many new people," junior middle blocker Haleigh Nelson said.
"This year we had freshmen coming from everywhere and we had transfers coming in from different programs," Morey said. "So each person knew different things and didn't know what to expect."
It's an exercise that required sacrifice, humility and patience from all involved, top to bottom.
"This was a really, really hard season," Sheffield said. "The first part of it was really hard and it was hard on everybody. But I don't think that scared anybody.
"You get confidence when you work. When things go tough, there are some people that will run the other way and hide. They won't even look at the mailbox when the bills come. And there are other people that are not afraid of things being tough."
"When things go tough, there are some people that will run the other way and hide. They won't even look at the mailbox when the bills come," Sheffield said. "And there are other people that are not afraid of things being tough."
With the Badgers two victories away from reaching the NCAA semifinals for the third time in program history -- third-seeded Texas (27-2) faces 14th-seeded UCLA (25-7) in the other regional semifinal match -- it's helpful to have a sense of how far this team has come.
Seven seniors went out the door following a 2014 regional final loss to eventual NCAA champion Penn State, giving way to a heightened sense of curiosity and wonder.
"I think you get a lot better as a coaching staff (by) realizing how individuals respond in certain situations," Sheffield said. "The first part of the season we'll try a lot of different things with different kids and then sit back and watch how they respond.
"We might jump on somebody. We might give them a lot of praise. We might give them information. We might put some barriers up there at different times. Then we'll say, 'All right, how did they respond to this?'"
A year removed from finishing 31-3 overall and winning the Big Ten Conference title, the Badgers got an instant wake-up call. They lost the season-opening match to Western Kentucky in the annual HotelRED Invitational at the Field House.
Just like that, they'd had equaled the number of home losses from 2014 (14-1). Eight straight victories would follow, but there were issues disguised as growing pains.
"We were still trying to find our identity as a team and trying to find wins while we were having some internal battles with our own team," Nelson said. "We were figuring out who we were and what kind of volleyball we wanted to play."
Over here were the newcomers, their heads spinning with new details and responsibilities.
Over there were the appointed leaders, co-captains Carlini, Morey and Nelson, trying to figure out when to transition from sympathetic big sister to stern den mother.
Morey said expectations were laid out during a lengthy team meeting at the start of the season. It was thought that would be it and everyone would be on the same page, but multiple get-togethers were needed to address issues.
They weren't big problems, Morey stressed. She offered an example whereby someone didn't communicate that they wouldn't be able to make a meeting with their academic advisor.
"It's natural to have to learn those things," she said. "You come in out of high school where typically your parents are telling you when you have practice. You have food in your house and you have all these things.
"But when you get to college it's your first time being independent, so it's natural to learn different things and struggle with learning (about) culture."
Those impromptu talks are no longer needed.
"We know what to expect and we're on the same page," Morey said. "It's awesome to see our team grow as much as we've grown."
Carlini, Morey and Nelson talked privately and with Sheffield about their approach to leadership.
"At first it was kind of a struggle within ourselves," Nelson said. "What does the team need? What do our teammates need from us at certain times, like when drills are getting tough?"
You mean the week when Sheffield had everyone run sprints as a part of each practice?
Or the time Sheffield called for the 5-3-1 drill and it took an entire session to complete?
"Basically you play five points and whoever loses has to do one suicide," Carlini explained. "Then you play three points and whoever loses that has to do three suicides and then you play one point out and (the loser) has to do five suicides. And you have to (finish the suicide) in a certain amount of time."
Suicides?
"You start on the end line and go to the 10-foot line, come back, then to the mid-line, come back, to the other 10-foot line and back," Carlini said. "Lots of running."
The same team lost all three rounds.
"Some people, they couldn't make it in the time so we just kept going," Carlini said.
The point of the exercise?
"It's just teaching you how to work hard and that nothing's given to you easily," Carlini said. "You have to work for it."
In a span of eight days in September the Badgers dropped as many matches as they did all last season. A non-conference loss to Arkansas ushered in the Big Ten season and consecutive setbacks on the road to then-top-ranked Penn State and then-12th-rated Ohio State.
Never mind that a cancelled flight forced the Wisconsin entourage to arrive at Penn State on the day of the match.
"At the beginning (of the Big Ten season) I don't think we were really ready for what that level of competition is," Nelson said.
Carlini noted that the losses to Arkansas on Sept. 19 and Ohio State on Sept. 27 were five-set grinders.
"In the beginning of the year we couldn't withstand pressure situations," she said. "We'd just crumble when that pressure was on. We didn't know how to handle that."
Changes were afoot.
"There was that transition period where we were trying to help them out -- trying to be that big sister-type of role, very caring and nurturing -- but then we got to that point in the season where we had a couples losses and we weren't getting it done in the gym," Carlini said. "That's when we became the not-so-nice captains."
A turning point was a home match vs. then-No. 7 Illinois on Sept. 30. The Badgers prevailed in four sets.
"We embraced the moment," Carlini said.
Who had the bigger adjustment, the leaders or the followers?
"The toughest thing was us finding what they needed because they respond great," Nelson said of her younger teammates.
"It's a little uncomfortable at first, but everyone knows we still love each other at the end of the day and that we're doing what's for the betterment of the team," Carlini said. "It's not to rag on people or be mean. We're trying to help you get better as a unit."
"I don't want to be the only senior on a team where they're talking about next year," Morey said. "It's about here and it's about now and that's important to me. I want to leave my mark on Wisconsin volleyball."
In addition to the discombobulated trip to Penn State, the Badgers had to deal with a leaking roof at Rutgers on Oct. 9 that resulted in a one-hour rain delay.
"A lot of curveballs thrown our way," Nelson said. "Those experiences have made us more confident in the chaos. When things do start to go wrong, our response is more controlled and calm rather than spastic."
Morey is the only senior on the roster, which puts her in a unique position. On multiple occasions this season Sheffield has come up to her and gushed about how good this team is going to be … next season.
There is a method to his madness and a clear message.
"When he had those conversations with me, it's (like) you either get these people on board or this year's going to hurt for you," Morey said.
"It's recognizing that I'm falling short and I need to be better. I don't want to be the only senior on a team where they're talking about next year. It's about here and it's about now and that's important to me. I want to leave my mark on Wisconsin volleyball. I want to leave my mark on my teammates as a really good leader.
"I know that Kelly trusts me as a leader and that's why we have conversations like that. He knows ways to motivate me, and that is a perfect way."
Morey, admittedly impatient by nature, said she's learned to embrace the process each season. The latest journey has produced a close-knit product that's found its inner warrior.
"When you progress through a season that's something that's so important because you have matches that go to 25-23, 29-27 and you have to learn to just get down and get after it," she said. "That's something we struggled with as a unit. It takes all of us to win those types of matches and it takes all of us to excel at the highest level. So as a collective unit, we had to get tougher."
That toughness has inspired trust.
"At the beginning of the year we weren't connecting as a team," Carlini said. "We weren't has tight-knit as we are today. Every day we gain trust with each other."
Those aren't individuals stepping out on the court for the Badgers. That's a unit.
"Nobody worries about someone else on the court and that's kind of what was going on earlier," Morey said. "Someone would struggle and we'd worry, and someone else would struggle and we'd worry.
"But it was a matter of being able to string together better performances back to back to back. That's what we started doing and that's how the toughness has grown. We embrace every struggle that we have now.
"It's special to be on a team where you look at each other and you just know that nobody's worried and we'll get through this."
Why is Sheffield in such a good mood?
"I think we're starting to round into being a team that has the mentality that I think all elite teams have," he said.
Translation: It has a hard-earned toughness.
"I've never seen a team in any sport that was elite that was soft, so I think that's really big," Sheffield said.
Let's see how far it carries them.
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