Volleyball
The University of Wisconsin women’s volleyball team has its two second-team All American players, senior libero Taylor Morey and junior setter Lauren Carlini, returning for the 2015 season. In addition to these two starters, UW has landed six of the “Fab 50” recruits as named by Volleyball Magazine.
Head coach Kelly Sheffield’s six incoming recruits ties the record for most players coming from the “Fab 50” list, and two of the recruits have been ranked in the top 10 from prepvolleyball.com’s list. The no. 6 recruit, Tionna Williams, is a middle blocker from Fort Wayne, Ind., and the no. 9 recruit, Madison Duello, is an outside hitter from Kansas City, Mo.
“Tionna and I go back almost four years since I’ve known her and her family since her freshman year,” Sheffield said. “She is an incredible athlete with elite quickness and athleticism.”
These two additions, along with the four other new recruits will fill the spots for the five graduated seniors from the 2014 season.
The solo returning senior, Morey, was named to the U.S. Collegiate National Team as one of the liberos on the team. Morey and the team will tour China in mid-June.
Along with Morey, the team will be lead by Carlini, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, working as the setter with an incredibly diverse skill-set. It will be up to these two to facilitate the team’s elevation to one of the nation’s top programs.
—Colleen Degnan
Men’s Hockey
The 2014-15 season of UW men’s hockey was by far the worst in program history, at least in terms of record. The squad finished the season at 4-26-5, with a loss in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. At the season’s end, many were wondering if head coach Mike Eaves would stick around for another year. He did, but it was at the expense of assistant coaches Matt Walsh and Gary Shuchuk.
The Badgers were by far the lowest scoring team in the Big Ten last season, and with the loss of senior forward Joseph LaBate to graduation and sophomore Morgan Zulinick to family issues, UW will begin next season without two of its top three point scorers. When you add the loss of starting goalie senior Joel Rumpel and his backup senior Landon Peterson, as well as crucial defensive cog senior Chase Drake, Wisconsin has plenty of holes to fill on both sides of the rink.
On the bright side, the team returns its top scorer, sophomore forward Grant Besse as well as a cast of freshmen whose inexperience took the blame throughout the season for the down year. In terms of replacing the seniors, Wisconsin nabbed six highly touted recruits, including forward Luke Kunin, the captain of the U.S. under-18 team.
Assuming the youngsters learn from last year and develop into more polished, experienced players, the team may see improvement from last year. However, the Badger faithfuls’ hopes shouldn’t be too high because next year won’t feature the type of championship-caliber team Wisconsin hockey fans have grown to expect.
—Andrew Tucker
Women’s Hockey
The Badgers’ 2014-’15 campaign ended at the hands of rival Minnesota in the first game of the Frozen Four. Nonetheless, it was a successful season for Wisconsin, as they took home the WCHA Tournament crown on their way to a 29-7-4 record.
The Cardinal and White will graduate team leaders Blayre Turnbull, Brittany Ammerman, and Karley Sylvester. It will also lose defenseman Katarina Zgraja and forward Katy Josephs, who played on the third line. The departure of Turnbull, who had the second most goals on the team, and Sylvester, who led the team in assists, will no doubt hurt the Badgers. However, one of Wisconsin’s strengths this season was combining veteran leadership with young talent.
Annie Pankowski will begin her sophomore year after leading the team in both points and goals. Barring a sophomore slump, which is unlikely for this talented skater and shooter, Pankowski will be the offensive leader for Wisconsin.
The Badgers will also return one of their most underrated players in rising junior Sarah Nurse. She is one of Wisconsin’s fastest skaters, with a quick shot and creative ability around the net. After a late offensive surge, she finished second on the team with 15 goals and captured the WCHA Tournament Most Outstanding Player award. Between Nurse and Pankowski, the Badgers will have plenty of offensive prowess next season.
Maybe most important will be the return of goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens, who proved to be one of the best netminders in the WCHA. She earned 14 shutouts on the campaign, which tied a school record. With Desbiens between the pipes, Wisconsin will be competitive in almost every game.
It may have lost key players from their Frozen Four squad, but the returning underclassmen have the ability to continue the winning tradition in Madison. The combination of a high powered offense, an excellent goaltender, and the coaching of Mark Johnson gives Wisconsin a realistic shot at defeating the evil empire that is Minnesota and competing for a national title.
—Bobby Ehrlich
Men’s Soccer
After one of the most successful seasons in team history in 2013, the Badgers registered just 3-12-3 (0-7-1 Big Ten) in 2014. Despite the disappointing record, Wisconsin has reason to believe it will improve heading into next season.
The Badgers played with just three seniors this season, so most of the core will be back another year older. Forward Mark Segbers finished tied for sixth in the Big Ten with 15 points, leading a group of exciting freshman players—12 in all on the team in 2014. Fellow forward Tom Barlow tied for the team lead with five goals and finished with 13 points, as the freshman duo accounted for nearly half of the team’s 58 total points.
While the Badgers may find it difficult to make a big jump up in the standings after the winless Big Ten season, they may not be as far off as the record indicates. They suffered in close games, finishing 2-6-3 in contests decided by a goal or less. The team has already made positive strides, starting off their five game spring schedule with a pair of shutout wins.
Led by head coach John Trask, who will be entering his sixth year at the helm at Wisconsin, the Badgers should be able to improve upon this season’s last place conference finish. They will have to hope the freshman pairing that led them in 2014, as well as the now more experienced club in general, will continue to improve if the Badgers want to return to the NCAA Tournament in 2015.
—Jason Braverman
Women’s Soccer
Coming off their best season in school history, the Badgers will have high expectations for 2015. They are losing two of their Top 3 goal-scorers in Kodee Williams and Cara Walls, but they can lean on the development of a fully returning midfield to create shot opportunities for their new forwards.
An equally difficult loss will be taking the pitch without NSCAA All-American and Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year Genevieve Richard, who set a school record with 16 shutouts in 2014. Wisconsin has depth at the position with three other returning keepers, and they’re adding a fourth from their recruiting class in Grace Quirk.
Quirk is one of 11 girls who signed national letters of intent back in February. “This is a class with a really good balance, from forwards to midfielders to defenders to goalkeepers,” head coach Paula Wilkins said at the time. “We think the forward group all has different dimensions. They’ll each bring something great to the position. It’s the same way with the defenders. We’ve got those who will bring a physical component, but also those who will bring a technical component.”
One current Badger who is dominant in that technical component is sophomore/junior midfielder Rose Lavelle. Wisconsin will be relying on her to lead the charge in 2015 and beyond, and they will need her to go from being more of a facilitator to a scorer. She has the dribbling ability and speed to turn her 10 assists from 2014 into goals and wins in 2015.
—Lorin Cox
Women’s Basketball
The Badgers’ season ended in heartbreak as Jacki Gulczynski’s apparent game-winner was waived off after seemingly a lifetime of deliberation.
After a disappointing season that saw Wisconsin stumble to a 9-20 overall record and an opening round loss in the Big Ten Tournament, there is clearly room for improvement.
They’ll lose seniors AnnMarie Brown, Jacki Gulczynski and fifth-year senior Cassie Rochel, and the NCAA has yet to make a decision on a potential sixth year of eligibility for Michala Johnson, who played in just six games last year due to a torn ACL. While this would temper expectations, make no mistake: this team is hungry.
Head coach Bobbie Kelsey excitedly announced the addition of two forwards from Chicago, Marsha Howard and Elizabeth Toye, who will likely take on a share of the minutes vacated by Gulczynski and Rochel.
“Marsha is a 6-1 small forward who will definitely have the chance to come in and play right away,” said Kelsey. “These two young ladies ... will add a dimension of athleticism that we will need as we continue to reach our goal of winning a Big Ten Championship.”
Returning next season are leading scorer Nicole Bauman, who led the nation in three-point percentage last year, and junior guards Tessa Cichy and Dakota Whyte. Cichy showed some flashes of excellence last year, and will take on a bigger scoring load this coming season.
—Tommy Valtin-Erwin
