5 takeaways from Wisconsin volleyball's win over No. 14 Kansas
Some thoughts on the Badgers' top-15 victory over a tough Big 12 foe.
MADISON, Wis. — It was around 9 p.m. when Kelly Sheffield and two of his University of Wisconsin standout middle blockers finally walked into the Kohl Center media room.
It took five sets, but the Badgers tamed some pesky, visiting Jayhawks to kick off the 2025 season.
“Good thing we started this match at 6 p.m.,” Sheffield said. “I think that was close to three hours. You don't see a lot of those anymore, especially with the push and pace of play. Five years ago, that would have been four-hour match there.”
No. 14 Kansas (1-2) came into the Kohl Center and gave No. 8 Wisconsin (1-0) a run for its money in securing wins in the second and fourth sets. But the Badgers ultimately pulled away in the fifth and sealed a 3-2 win in the first match of the Opening Spike Classic.
“Just a great battle between two teams, and that first matchup of the year, and some jitters,” Sheffield said. “We had quite a few people that got in tonight. That was their first college match. And I think early on, you could kind of tell that everybody had a little bit of jitters.”
“Mimi (Colyer) came out of the gates and really kind of announced her presence with authority, and then we just were gritty and gutted it out. I think probably around somewhere in the second set, or maybe early in the third set, had a couple players that were really struggling with cramping, and yet they were still balling out and playing pretty well and wanting to stay in. It was a great, great team effort for us tonight.”
Here are takeaways from Wisconsin’s season-opening victory over Kansas.