It is always hard to say goodbye and things are no different for the Wisconsin women's volleyball team, as they will have to bid farewell to their group of seniors once the team's season draws to a close.
Outside hitter Lisa Zukowski, setter Morgan Shields and defensive specialists Jill Maier and Angie Sanger gave it their all while on the team and are nearing the end of their Badger volleyball careers.
\I'm actually sad that it is coming to an end,"" Maier said. ""I really enjoyed playing with my teammates, especially with my fellow seniors. I definitely got some great friendships out of it. It's bittersweet; bitter that it's ending, sweet that we still have a postseason and just trying to do as well as we can.""
""The team is awesome and there has been a lot of really great memories,"" Shields said. ""I'm ready to be done, though; I'm feeling very old now as a fifth-year senior. It's exciting to be done but at the same time I'm really going to miss it, like everybody does when they leave a big program like this.""
Over the years, this group definitely has done its share in contributing to the team. Shields will leave Wisconsin as the team's all-time assists leader in Big Ten matches with her 1,109 assists this season. She also is third-best for total career assists with 3,923. Maier also moved up to second on another UW Big Ten season record with 319 digs. Zukowski also made her mark with 896 career digs which put her at the 12th spot on the UW career list.
Wisconsin Head Coach Pete Waite has worked with this group of seniors since the start and took note of how each fit into the team and developed in different areas during their time with the team.
""They've really improved on the court which has been really great for the whole team to see their level of play go up over the years,"" Waite said. ""Sanger has been the kind of player that really has been a scout team player but has always been pushing the first team and that's always made our teams better when she does that. It's not an easy role to handle but she's done a great job of it. Maier has improved everyday. She's just made huge strides. She's someone where we didn't even expect she might get on the court ever and she became a very very good starter. Shields has done a great job obviously. She has brought great leadership and been an all-Big Ten player for two years so that's been great. And Zukowski, you can't say enough coming off a knee injury and finger dislocations. The heart and drive she has brought has really held our team together and driven them to a higher level.""
Though they are stepping away from the Badger volleyball court, Maier and Shields still have plans to continue their athletic careers. Shields is considering the possibility of playing volleyball overseas, while Maier could perhaps be putting on a different jersey in the spring.
""I'm hopefully going to be running track next semester and next year,"" Maier said. ""The assistant coach called me just a couple months ago and heard about my vertical and just saw some of my numbers and was interested to have me go out there and see if I could run or jump.""
Waite knows that as the seniors sign off, their perseverance and leadership will be missed on the court as well as the laughter they brought off the court.
""It's a nutty group and that's important on a team,"" Waite said. ""The Big Ten is very serious and college athletics can be too serious at times so they were the kind of group that could kind of step back and make it fun in practices, make it fun off the court but at the same time really drive hard when it's time to work hard. It's a group of seniors that puts a lot into everything they do both on the court and off the court and it really energizes everybody all the time.\
