Varsity - The Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics

Varsity - April 17, 2022

Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.

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43 cute?" 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 after dagger after 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," Car- lini 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 competitive spirit that helped drive Wisconsin, the No. 12 seed, to the NCAA cham- pionship 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 matter 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, Shef- field dialed up a conversation 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 setting your sights a little bit higher because I think we can do more than that," replied Sheffield. "I hear you," she told him. "But I've never experi- enced it and I can't leave here without that." Sheffield got fired up just recalling the brief ex- change 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 title or a national 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." • • • • "Whenever someone reaches the final four, a surprising team, then the target is on them the next year," Carlini said. "We're definitely going to have higher expectations. People are going to ex- pect that we should win the Big Ten or at least be in the running for it."

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