6 thoughts from Wisconsin volleyball's Final Four-clinching win vs. Texas
On to Kansas City! Some takeaways from the Badgers' win that once again have the program within striking distance of a national championship.
Carter Booth’s played out of this world for the University of Wisconsin volleyball program in the last six weeks.
And she’ll likely go viral in letting everyone know how, courtesy of the “Worldwide Leader in Sports.”
Booth delivered another strong offensive performance with 11 kills as Wisconsin (28-4) defeated No. 1 seed Texas (26-4) in a four-set victory Sunday to win the Austin regional and move on to the national semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. She’s been on a tear during Wisconsin’s 13-game winning streak that dates back to Nov. 2, but in particular during the four tournament victories where she’s averaged 10 kills per match and has recorded an astronomical .554 hitting percentage.
“Like I told you when we spoke earlier in practice, I refuse to fucking lose,” Booth told an ESPN reporter postmatch. “Sorry guys, but I refuse.
“I refuse, and this team refuses, and I think that’s the mindset that we’ve had going through this tournament.”
Here are a few other thoughts from the Badgers’ upset of the Longhorns, and what’s ahead during the Final Four that begins Thursday.
Wisconsin’s major contributors once again stepped up
The Badgers’ leaders, Booth included, continued to show up and show out. Unanimous first-team All-Big Ten outside hitter Mimi Colyer led the way with 23 kills while hitting .309. It’s now the 13th time this year that she’s registered at least 20 kills in a match.
Sophomore setter and co-captain Charlie Fuerbringer followed up a career performance against Stanford with 57 assists, nine digs and three blocks against Texas. She’s averaging 14 assists per set during the NCAA Tournament.
Una Vajaic’s breakout continues
Vajagic didn’t reach a double-double as she did against Stanford, but she tied a career high with 15 kills and hit a whopping .458 against the Longhorns.
She’s now contributed 40 kills and has a .446 hitting percentage, the latter of which is elite for an outside hitter, during the Badgers’ last three tournament victories.
Grace Egan rebounds from rough offensive outing
Egan, the Ohio State transfer, contributed only four kills and recorded five attacking errors against the Cardinal on Friday. She bounced back two days later with nearly a double-double of nine kills and nine digs to go with two service aces, two assists and one block.
The Badgers weathered a tough stretch in the third and fourth sets
Texas closed on a 5-1 run to claim the third set, and then it started the fourth set up 5-1 before Wisconsin began to crawl back. The Badgers successfully reeled off a couple of 3-0 runs early in that fourth set to nullify that early Longhorns advantage, which is extremely impressive due to the fact it was in front of the Austin homecooking at Gregory Gym.
Wisconsin built up 7-point leads twice during that fourth set and continually fought off Texas from closing the gap. The Longhorns whittled their deficit to 3 points a couple of times, but that was it.
The Badgers are the Big Ten representative in the Final Four
Five Big Ten Conference teams were in the Sweet 16 entering the past week, but the Badgers are the lone program to be heading to Kansas City, Missouri, with a chance to win it all.
Wisconsin will face Kentucky on Thursday night in one of the two national semifinal matchups. Texas A&M, which shocked the world in upsetting No. 1 Nebraska on Sunday, will battle Pittsburgh in the other Final Four contest.
This team can win it all
Wisconsin’s brought in 10 new faces to its roster — five transfers and five freshmen — and weathered adversity during the regular season with significant injuries to Egan and Fuerbringer. But they returned, and the team has peaked at the absolute right time.
That’s led to defeating two prominent volleyball schools in Stanford and Texas this weekend.
There’s plenty the Badgers will have to scout against the Wildcats who, like Wisconsin, are a top-10 team in three key offensive categories. But there’s no reason to think they can’t pull off two more victories, especially with the level they’re performing at.