Kelly Sheffield Media Conference || Wisconsin Volleyball || April 15, 2024

Intro We've been in team workouts for a few weeks now. We've got two spring opportunities. The first one is in this, this Friday against Illinois Chicago (UIC). We've got a lot of talent coming back, but not a lot of numbers right now in the gym. We've got nine, nine returning players. The, the the number of players we've had on a given day have, has kind of fluctuated a little bit as people are making their way back from from some different surgeries and health things and, and stuff. But trying to grow and, and, and get a little bit stronger growing our game individually until some of the newcomers get here. And we'll have a large class that we'll be getting here sprinkled out at different parts through, through the summer and, and then ready to get going that I think it was we, we just got approved a couple days ago. We, we will be a part of a, a week zero match or, or tournament. And I think the details of that is, will be announced at a later date. But we will we'll start our, our season a little bit sooner than, than most of the rest of the people. And then I think on Friday we just got approved to have a, a preseason that goes from 17 to to 22 days which is a little bit longer runway than what, than what we've had the past couple years. Still not long enough. But that's kind of where the, the state of the union is right now. Injuries Kelly, you talked about the injuries. Can we get a general status update on some of the girls and what those surgeries looked like? The off season? Yeah. The you know, Saige Damrow has been out for a, a good portion. I mean, the, the surgeries that she's had to have you know, pretty long as, as we know pretty long and, and hard rehabs. And she's just now starting to do a little bit of volleyball activities right now, which is, you know, which is fantastic. Her spirit has been really, really high the past, you know, week as she's been able to do a little bit more encore stuff. And so, you know, we're really happy with the progress. She's, she's, she's on right now, but we're still probably a little bit ways away for, for her. You know, we're hoping that we're, you know, by the time the season gets here that we're, you know, we're, we're off and running with, with Saige and Caroline Crawford had had a hip surgery after, after the season. And you know, it's feeling really good. Not sure she'll play this weekend, but she's but she's been doing about everything in practice has been really good, feeling great. She's feeling better than she has in a long, long time, certainly trending that way. Those have been the big, the big nuggets, things that they've already commented on. So I mean, they've already you know it you know, and then just, just little things here and there, but, you know, it's not enough people to play six on six, so we haven't done any of that. So that's one of the, one of the things that we're excited about on this Friday is the opportunity to play , you know, where, where the ball's actually flowing back and forth, and being able to to get into a rally and to be able to defend and, and all that. We've, we've done zero of, of, of that. So that, that part might be a little bit rough and but that's, that's all right. Spring Matches Obviously there's such a big layoff between mid-December when, you know, the season ends to August whenever the regular season starts. So how important are these spring match-ups to be able to get just an eye test of your team and kind of a gauge of, of where you're at? I don't know if it's an ... the spring matches are to gauge where we're at is so much, I think just mentally just feels good to go out there and compete against somebody, you know, especially when you're just grinding away, you know, we're, these guys are in the, in the weight room, 6, 6:30 in, in the morning, four days a week. And and you know, we're practicing right now four days a week on top of that. Then most of these, most of these guys are, are coming in on their own for additional work kind of peppered throughout the week. So, I mean, it's, it's, so this is, this is the time of the year, you know, about every sport, especially the fall sports that are just, you're doing it without, without cameras, without, you know, fans, you know, without competition. It's just, it's hard. It's just, it's where you, it's where you put the work in during the right to, to, you know, to to be where you want to go. And you know, I think a little bit, when you get a little fans in there and you get some you get a, a scoreboard and another team over there, man, it just feels good. It just, you can let loose a little bit. So it's, it's more, it's almost more mentally than it is about anything else. So I, I know it, it, this time of year, you could care less who's on the other side of the net if you're a player, I would guess. And so, you know, who we're playing, probably doesn't matter one iota, just the fact that they'll open up the doors, they'll sell some concessions, they'll play a little bit music, the, the video board will be up there and there'll be a little bit of extra juice in the Field House that they'll be fired up by that. Carly Anderson Oh, coach, can you just give us what you've seen from, from Carly Anderson so far, and, you know, with such with not being able to play six on six, you know, what can a setter get out of, you know, this time of year? Man, c Carly is better than what I, and how she's approached things than what I would've even have thought or hoped for. That she is, she is here for a purpose. You can tell that every, and it's, it is about ... the kid's, a gym rat. She want, she's in there all the time. You constantly, you know, I get, I go to lunch and I see her with, with somebody just, you know, after a morning practice, here, let me set you a few balls. I I leave later on at night, and she's back here with somebody else, you know, serving at a, at a, at a passer. She loves being in the gym. She soaks up information. She's just constantly looking for, for things to get better. She's I think she's an easy player to play for. She's just, you know, she wants to be really good for her teammates. She doesn't shy away from, from where she's at, who, who she's with. I mean, she's, she's probably has as much setting experiences, anybody in the country, you know, the number of matches that she's played. I think she started every match for four years. And so she comes in with a lot of self-confidence, self-belief a lot of maturity. She's fit right on in. I mean, it's a, she hasn't, she hasn't blinked. She doesn't flinch. Olympic Picture A number of badger teams have athletes, both current and alumni preparing for various Olympic trials. What's the Olympic picture look like for our volleyball alumni? Hmm. Well, there's a lot going on right now. You've got Dana Rettke is playing for a Champions League title coming up in the next couple weeks. So she's playing on one of the, probably one of the top two, three teams in the entire world right now. And they're playing for basically their Super Bowl the first week in May. Lauren Carlini is currently in Anaheim training with the national team. They will be she'll be trying to make that Olympic roster along with, with Rettke. And that'll probably be decided sometime in early June. They'll be heading off to volleyball nations league to, to train. Rettke will be joining them after she's done with Champions League. Then we've got a lot of people playing pro right now. Sidney Hilley and Grace Loberg and Daniel Hart, Temi, Thomas-Ailara, all of them are playing for PVF (Pro Volleyball Federation). And I think Danielle has been out with a concussion for a while. I think her season is done. But the other three have been playing quite a bit. The so there's, there, there's, there's a lot going on with with a lot of the pro stuff. And then you've got you know, League One Volleyball, "Love" (LOVB) volleyball, that's starting a, a, a league in November, and we'll have a might have some Badgers playing on this team as well. So they're, we, we've got 'em going every direction, and hopefully we'll have a couple Badgers there in Paris. You know, I, I plan on being there with my family and, and rooting on anybody that's, that's, that's gonna be performing there. And then we've got, we've got an incomer that is coming in Trinity Shadd-Ceres that it will be at the Olympic trials for Canada for track and field. And I think they feel like that she's got a really good chance of making the roster in, in, in the long jump. So hopefully she'll, she'll be there in a, in another discipline. Reflection Kelly, it's obviously been a few months since we've all seen you in this kind of setting, so what have the past few months been like for you from a reflection standpoint? I mean, how do you treat those, you know, months between the end of the season in December and, and once spring volleyball gets going? It's a I mean, there's a lot, right? I mean, you've got team stuff and you've got the stuff that's outside the team. You've got recruiting, you know, and then you high high school recruiting and, you know, and a little bit of the portal stuff as, as well. So there's right now we're at a phase where we're traveling a lot, you know, this past weekend and in Salt Lake City and, and Louisville recruiting tournaments at both of those. We're at a, we're at a high club, club mat club practices all the time trying to help our team grow as well, you know, being here for early morning workouts. So this is a we had a lot of people that graduated from our team, but, but a lot of our significant people that touched first contact and third contacts, we got a ton of that almost all of them returning. We've got as much, much experience as anybody in the country, as much as I've ever had that that's coming back. And I know they're hungry. We're trying to figure out you know, leadership and we're trying to you know, make sure that we're all on the same page as not to say that, you know oh, they haven't been on the same page, that's not it. But every year you've gotta, you know, let's, let's figure out where we're going and how we're getting there. And, you know, and you know, we've got some different voices in the room that are being utilized differently than what we've had in the past. We've had some good leaders that just, that just left the program. So there, there's a little bit of a, a, a shift that's, that's kind of happening that is natural. But it's fun. This, this, this group's, this group's really hungry. I mean, it's the last hour of their season last year wasn't very good. And and that's, it was a fantastic season. It was one of the best seasons in, in program history, but but then an hour that wasn't very good. And and that's, that's a hard pill to swallow. It's, it's hard to, to leave that. And and what was, and the, the endings are usually hard. You know, the previous year that was pretty, pretty tough. But you you circle the wagons and, and you try to come up with a plan to give yourself every opportunity as possible together to, to, to try to get to the top of the mountain. And we're we're, we're in the mud right now in, in a good way, trying to try to dig and, and try to, try to grow and, and and, and try to get to where a lot of these guys have never been to and where some of 'em have been to and try to try to get that taste again. Trinity Trinity Your mention of Trinity, Trinity made me wonder now is obviously she's here for, gonna be here for volleyball. Has there been any discussion or has she expressed any ? Well, you know where I'm going. Yeah, I know where you're going. Expressed any interest in dual. Sport athlete, right? Right. It's a I mean, she's capable of doing that. It's a she, she's not shown an interest in doing that. And it's amazing the talent that she has for a sport that she says she doesn't particularly enjoy that much. I think she really enjoys the ... but it's amazing. She, you know, her mom was an amazing, amazing track athlete, and this kid is, is a really, really, really special track athlete. I think her, that was one of the things we, you know, we had to figure out while we were going through the recruiting process. Kid loves volleyball. That's where she's, her heart is right now. And, and she's got, she's got talent to be pretty special. We've gotta get her up to speed. She's gotta get used to the speed and the power of the college game. And but she's she's, her ceiling is, is, is awfully, awfully special. And we're hoping that she's, she misses the first few days of, of preseason where she's, she's still over there in Paris. Is, is kind of the hope, but if she's not able to make that, and she'll get in here a little bit sooner and, and get around Kevin, our strength coach and, and all those guys, but she might be a little bit later arrival. Question. I have one quick. Clarification. Week Zero Tournament The week, the week zero tournament you were mentioning that hasn't been officially announced yet. So week zero in essence, like we got the that's gonna be the weekend essentially before Labor Day weekend, or is that earlier than, than that? I think it's scheduled to be a midweek match going into the opening weekend. And this was something that was on, it's been on the books for a long time. It used to be called the AVCA Showcase and but I don't think they've really done it in probably 15, 20 years probably. It, it's just, you know, it's just rising up from the dead, I guess, if you will. It's a I think we see there's an opportunity and, and you've got some of the top teams in the country that have agreed to be a part of this. I think this is a year one thing that they are hoping to make a lot bigger moving forward, but they just got approval like within days of, of being able to some of the in the format that they're wanting to do it and you know, and get the, hopefully some TV partners and location, all those things. So it's, it's a it's been discussed for a while and it's just coming together, just finalizing, and I think they're probably pretty close to announcing a where and who but it's something I'm really excited about and I think Badger fans the competition coming into the fall is just gonna be, you know really, really good. Our, that, that one match, it'll be one match for that week zero. I think people will totally be willing to travel to go watch that and be a part of that. And then our first weekend over there at the Fiserv (Forum), you know, against Texas and Stanford, it's I think both those matches I think will be on Fox and I, you know, totally expecting that to be sold out. Like our match was against Marquette there I, you know, and then you go on right into the Baylor and TCU, and then I, it just, I'm really excited about the competition that, that our players are gonna get and, and our young players are gonna be able to experience right outta the gate and, and the crowds and, and fans that they're gonna be a part of.