Volleyball Ticket Ordering Guide 2014

The peak was within reach during a remarkable run to the NCAA championship match last season, but Kelly Sheffield's focus is moving his volleyball team on to the next mountain BY MIKE LUCAS • UWBadgers.com W isconsin volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield called up his players a er an early morning spring prac ce that was punctuated at the end by serving drills; nonstop, repe ous serving. Standing next to a large white dry-erase board that reflected individual results, Sheffield, the 2013 Na onal Coach of the Year by Volleyball Magazine, delivered a message to his team, the NCAA runner-up. "My defini on of mental toughness," he said, "is moving on to the next serve quickly or the next play quickly or the next set quickly or the next match quickly. "Some of our kids, when they were going back there and serving, were having some errors and they were carrying with them to the line." He equated volleyball's serving line to basketball's free throw line. "When people are approaching the free throw line at the end of games," he said, "look at their eyes and their body language. You can tell who's ready for the moment and who's not." It may have greater applica on a er a missed free throw. What are the eyes and body language saying then? "The great ones are locked in," Sheffield said. "That was the message in prac ce." In December, the UW players learned a painful lesson on how costly service errors can be when Penn State capitalized on most of them and won the NCAA championship match, 3-1. "When your best is called for, are you able to execute?" Sheffield posed. "One team was able to execute ― a great serve when a great serve was needed ― and one team wasn't." Penn State's Micha Hancock served up dagger a er dagger a er dagger. "When she gets hot," said Wisconsin freshman Lauren Carlini, "she's unstoppable." Sheffield has called Hancock's serve the biggest weapon in college volleyball. "Penn State was able to keep their serves in," Carlini said, "and that was the deal breaker." Hancock is back for her senior year and the Big Ten Conference should be tougher than ever. "I wouldn't have it any other way," Carlini said with a smile. It was that type of compe ve spirit that helped drive Wisconsin, the No. 12 seed, to the NCAA championship semifinals where it stunned No. 1 Texas, 25-19, 25-18, 26-28, 25-23. "I didn't want people saying Texas lost because they played bad," said Carlini. "I wanted people to say, 'Wow, the Badgers know how to fight, they know how to win, no ma er who the other team is."' They may be saying that today, but Sheffield doesn't want to hear it. "We have 13 kids in the gym right now," Sheffield pointed out Monday in the UW Field House. "For seven of them, over half of our team, this is their last year. What I want to see is some urgency." Singling out Annemarie Hickey, the tough-minded, senior catalyst on the NCAA runner-up team, Sheffield dialed up a conversa on that they had going into last season. "I have to get to the NCAA tournament this year," she told him. "I have to." "I hope you're se ng your sights a li le bit higher because I think we can do more than that," replied Sheffield. "I hear you," she told him. "But I've never experienced it and I can't leave here without that." Sheffield got fired up just recalling the brief exchange and Hickey's urgency. "I want our seniors to say, 'What do we have to do? What has to happen?"' he said. "Everybody wants to win. But some people need to win, whether it's a Big Ten tle or a na onal championship." That led to another message from Sheffield on what they need to do. "Let's see some consistency with your effort," he said, "that shows that you're headed somewhere." • • • • T he Badgers were a terrific underdog story in 2013. "But that's definitely gone," Carlini said. "Whenever someone reaches the final four, a surprising team, then the target is on them the next year. "We're definitely going to have higher expecta ons. People are going to expect that we should win the Big Ten or at least be in the running for it." Whenever someone reaches the final four, a surprising team, then the target is on them the next year. We're definitely going to have higher expecta ons. CLIMBING PAST COMPLACENCY 4 5 WISCONSIN ATHLETIC TICKET OFFICE Kellner Hall // 1440 Monroe Street // Madison, WI 53711 608.262.1440 // 1.800.GO.BADGERS www.UWBadgers.com // ckets@UWBadgers.com CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

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