Bison busters: UW's win in
North Dakota included taking
down No. 17 Louisville.
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mom, Kelly Thomas. Her dad, Jaceson, passed away
when Courtney was 13 and "my mom has been my
rock," she said.
"I couldn't have done it without my mom," she
continued. "Playing on a club team that was an hour
away from my home, she drove me there every day. I
couldn't have done anything without her.
"If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here today."
Thomas was seated in the Field House bleachers
before Tuesday's practice. Jaceson Thomas, she related, got her involved in sports at a young age. "We
were always outside doing something," she said.
In fact, it was his love of hockey that prompted an
interesting answer from Thomas to a biographical
question, "What's your fantasy job/career?" She replied, "Sports broadcaster for the NHL or NFL."
She was serious. Just ask her. "Honestly, my dad
loved hockey, so I ended up watching hockey," she
said. "I would love to do something in sports (broadcasting). I don't think it's a joke."
You learn quickly how competitive Thomas is ―
making her a perfect fit with Sheffield.
Ask her about the UW's NCAA tournament
drought and she says, "We're going to get there."
Ask her about the lack of respect in the Big Ten
Conference and she says, "They're going to respect
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VARSITY September 12, 2013
us."
Sheffield could not have said it better. He's always
demanding that the players "bring it" to practices
and matches, and Thomas does. At the same time,
she credited Sheffield's presence.
"He cares so much about volleyball and our
program and he's only been here for six or seven
months," Thomas said. "It's amazing how he can
come in and you feel like he has been here forever.
"He's an extremely good motivator and I think
that's the key in our sport. As long as these seasons
go and with as much as we're putting into school,
we still need to be motivated on the court.
"He's really good at that. He keeps us excited to
come to practice. If you're not excited to practice,
you're not going to get much better. And we want to
be in the gym as much as we can."
Sheffield's motivational resources were tested after the Badgers lost the first two sets to Northern
Iowa in the opening round of the NDSU Classic last
Friday night.
"Who would have thought we would come back
and win that match?" Thomas posed. "In previous
years, Wisconsin would fall. But it was the confidence Kelly brought between the sets."
Sheffield has a theory about such things. He calls
