The University of Wisconsin Badgers volleyball team is coming to the end of their season. With only one game left in their conference season, it will be a crucial moment for players to demonstrate their ability to rise to the occasion.
In the past several games, redshirt freshman Saige Damrow has shown her adaptability on the court. Her first starting game was Nov. 16 against No. 12 UCLA where she had the most digs of any player on the night with 15. She also was able to add two assists and an ace.
In her next match against No. 7 Minnesota, she got 21 digs for the squad and was diving for every ball possible.
Despite numerous digging errors, her efforts cannot go unnoticed. Damrow was redshirted from injuries last season and required two surgeries. There was a chance she wouldn’t be given the opportunity to play again. Given the opportunity to play again, she has embraced it wholeheartedly, showcasing unwavering dedication on the court.
With defensive specialist, junior Gulce Guctekin out with injuries, freshman Maile Chan came in as a replacement. During her time in the UCLA match, she showed how reliable she can be for her team.
Given that Chan and Darrow are stepping up in these big matches against UCLA and Minnesota, it is safe to say that next season will have a good balance of new and returning players.
All four back-row specialists will be in back for the 2025 season, so there will be no shortage of experienced players and will allow more time for Damrow and Chan to learn from Guctekin once healed.
As for the front row, freshman Charlie Fuerbringer has been starting the entirety of this season as the squad’s setter. Her talent is shown in her numerous assists throughout the season. She recorded 32 assists Nov. 18 against No. 16 Iowa, followed by 38 assists the next day against No. 2 Penn State.
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Fuerbringer hasn’t just been assisting though, coming alive on the defensive side with 25 digs Nov. 20 against Minnesota. Fuerbringer has also mastered the side set overkill, getting five on Sep. 2 against Stanford University.
On the season, Fuerbringer has gotten 987 assists, averaging out to 10.73 assists per set. As well as 54 total kills giving her a 0.308 hitting percentage.
She has shown her strength this season and it will be powerful to have her back next year covering the middle court.
Junior Carter Booth will also be returning to the squad next season as a middle blocker. This season she has maintained a 0.320 hitting percentage with 126 total hits, 88 fewer hits than her previous season with the Badgers, though attributable to the priority that has been placed on outside hitters.
It would be no surprise that without fifth years Sarah Franklin and Devyn Robinson, and seniors Anna Smrek and Julia Orzol as outside hitters, Booth will be a highlighted attacker.
Losing their star hitter, Franklin, will obviously be a hard hit, but being surrounded by underclassmen this season has been a great opportunity for her to relay her knowledge of the game to them.
Freshman Una Vajagic, an outside hitter from Novi Sad, Serbia, is one example of a player who is getting the practice in with starting hitters like Franklin and Robinson. Though she’s seen no playing time as of this season, Vajagic has been able to spend the entire year practicing with these star upperclassmen.
There’s also freshman Trinity Shadd-Ceres, an outside hitter from Ontario, Canada, who has gotten minutes in four games this season. Shadd-Ceres scored 4 kills for the Badgers on Sep. 1 against Texas. The experience she got this season has been enough to show that she has real potential for the Badgers in her following seasons.
It is now up to head coach Kelly Sheffield to recruit a few more outside hitters who can begin to perform for Wisconsin. Defensively, the squad will not change much, but the offensive game will be hit hard from the loss of our great players Franklin, Orzol, Robinson, Smrek, Carly Anderson and CC Crawford.