Wisconsin Badgers2022 Record: 28-4
Conference Record: 19-1 (1st)
NCAA Tournament Placement: Regional Final (L, 2-3 vs. Pittsburgh)
Final AVCA Ranking: 5
Head Coach: Kelly Sheffield (11th year at Wisconsin)
Record at Wisconsin: 262-57
Returning Starters | Departures * - 2022 Starter () - Transfer Destination | New Additions () - Transfer Origin |
Izzy Ashburn - SR+ - 5'11 S
Caroline Crawford - SR - 6'3 MB
Sarah Franklin - R-JR - 6'4 OH
Gülce Güçtekin - SO - 5'5 DS/L
MJ Hammill - SR - 6'2 S
Julia Orzoł - JR - 6'0 OH
Devyn Robinson - SR - 6'2 RS
Anna Smrek - JR - 6'9 MB/RS | Shanel Bramschreiber - 5'8 DS/L
Jade Demps - SR - 6'2 OH/RS ()
Liz Gregorski - R-SR - 5'11 OH ()
Danielle Hart* - 6'4 MB
Anna MacDonald - SR+ - 5'8 DS/L () | Carter Booth - SO - 6'7 MB ()
Saige Damrow - FR - 5'8 DS/L
Temi Thomas-Ailara - SR+ - 6'2 OH () |
2022 Results:Wisconsin entered the 2022 season looking for a fourth consecutive Big Ten championship.
However, those prospects appeared to be in doubt after an up-and-down start. After a season-opening win over TCU, the Badgers quickly notched their first loss against Baylor in an unsightly match seen by hundreds on Facebook Live.
Quality wins over Marquette and Kentucky got things back on track. But, in front of a record-setting Kohl Center crowd, Wisconsin was defeated again in a five-set battle against Florida.
The opening weekend of conference play yielded another setback at Minnesota, ending a six-match winning streak against the Golden Gophers. Wisconsin now sat at 8-3 and needed some kind of spark.
Yet, as we now know, that loss in Minneapolis turned out to be the final regular-season defeat for Wisconsin. The Badgers took care of Penn State at home and narrowly defeated Illinois. The road triumph against Purdue elevated morale further.
That all culminated in the biggest week of the season with conference leader and top-ranked Nebraska visiting the UW Fieldhouse. And, as Wisconsin had done since 2017, the home squad took care of the Huskers to position itself at the top of the leaderboard. Vengeance against Minnesota that same week brought Wisconsin back to its familiar status as the Big Ten frontrunner.
Wisconsin's final three matches showed its resilience and championship potential. Another five-set barnburner in Happy Valley was eventually won by the Badgers in dramatic fashion. That gave the Badgers a chance to clinch the Big Ten title outright in the Devaney Center. Of course, Wisconsin delivered. And, despite talk of a late-night hangover, Wisconsin won at Ohio State to finish 19-1 in conference play.
Another #1 seed and regional host was in the cards for Bucky. Quinnipiac and TCU offered little resistance in the first two rounds. Then, those pesky Nittany Lions showed up again. Wisconsin put together a historic blocking performance and an abysmal passing performance to win in five. Those ball control woes would, in part, contribute to Wisconsin's stunning loss to Pittsburgh in the regional final. The Big Ten's last soldier went down.
2022 Lineup:Wisconsin's lineup remained fairly consistent throughout the 2022 season, though it was unlike what the Badgers had deployed in the last several years. The 6-2 was back.
Izzy Ashburn was the primary setter who would start at the service line in Rotation 1. Her counterpart at opposite was Devyn Robinson, who carried a heavy share of the team's attempts whenever she was in the frontcourt.
On the other side of the rotation, MJ Hammill took over at setter with Anna Smrek on the other side of the dial. Both Smrek and Robinson are converted middles who thrive in Wisconsin's variety of crossing patterns and combination plays.
Julia Orzol was a familiar face on the left side and occupied the position next to Ashburn in the starting rotation. The other left-side hitter was the big transfer haul of the offseason: former Michigan State starter Sarah Franklin. The intra-conference addition was a huge contributor in the back row in addition to her terminal ability up front.
Another transfer loomed large in the middle with Caroline Crawford coming over from Kansas. Crawford was also the most notable source of discontinuity in 2022 after a finger injury sidelined her during the middle-to-late portion of conference play. During that time, Wisconsin showed us some wrinkles with Smrek in the middle and backup pin hitter Jade Demps at opposite.
And while Crawford was a big addition in the middle, there's little doubt that the star of the show in the middle was returning graduate senior Danielle Hart. Hart finished near the top of the NCAA leaderboards in blocks and was extraordinarily efficient as an attacker, too. Her post-ACL comeback exceeded expectations.
There's not a huge narrative to weave about the backcourt, given that the only primary contributor there was freshman libero Gülce Güçtekin. The Turkish international had up-and-down moments in serve receive (see: regional semifinal). Baylor graduate transfer Shanel Bramschreiber would have been a great insurance policy at the position, but she was suspended for half the season due to pro contract things. She was mostly used as a serving sub in 2022, save for a couple of stints at libero when Güçtekin was briefly injured in late October.
---2023 Projected Lineup:The Badgers have a fascinating medley of continuity and question marks.
Ashburn and Hammill are back as setters and co-captains. The 6-2 is here to stay in 2023. Wisconsin's foreign tour this summer offered further validation of that. Robinson was still opposite Ashburn. Smrek should stay in the frontcourt for Hammill's rotations, though we saw a little of Smrek at middle in lieu of Crawford, who is still dealing with phalanx ailments.
Hart is gone, but her niche is likely to be filled by Minnesota transfer Carter Booth. She's a natural fit for that spot, and Crawford should hold on to her respective position on the other side.
Oh, the outside hitters. This is the bulk of the discussion. Orzol's spot seems relatively safe, especially given her role in serve receive. Franklin's status will be a major storyline for Wisconsin this year after having offseason shoulder surgery to treat a fairly significant condition. Will she return at all this year? There seems to be optimism that she will, but we don't know for sure. This is also the player that led Wisconsin in attempts last season.
The pin picture is further complicated by the addition of Northwestern graduate transfer Temi Thomas-Ailara. If Franklin is out, plug Temi in. But is Temi ready to carry a significant passing role in a 6-2 with new teammates? It's a skill she didn't get to show much while she was Northwestern's star player for four years.
You could technically pull a 2022 Nebraska and sub Temi out of the back row while starting in Rotation 2, but I don't see that happening either. Not when your Rotation 1 has Ashburn at the line and Robinson in left-front. You want to get that as much as possible.
So, we'll see. It's a lineup with serious firepower and equally significant question marks regarding ball control. It would help if Güçtekin, who is entrenched at libero, takes a step forward as a sophomore.
2023 Schedule:The 2023 non-conference schedule features some worthy tests, and there's not really a day off to be found. The Baylor-TCU pod is back, but travel to Minneapolis will be much easier. And it's on TV.
A longer road trip awaits with a double-dip in Fayetteville to face Arkansas. We're going to have a lot of fun with this one, and the Razorbacks will not be daunted after making the second round of last year's tournament. Many of those players return.
The SEC tour moves to Madison as the Badgers bring in Tennessee for their home opener. Arizona and Miami (FL) follow. The annual matchup with Marquette will be in the Fiserv Forum. And, for good measure, a duel with Florida in Gainesville wraps up Wisconsin's B1G-SEC Challenge.
Here's the Big Ten lineup:
2023 Outlook:Can Wisconsin get the five-peat? Of course.
We know that the ceiling for this team is incredibly high. The same core group found its stride and rolled through the conference last season, albeit with some close calls along the way.
New additions from the transfer portal will be under the microscope once again, especially if Franklin is out for an extended period. Thomas-Ailara is the X-factor there. Booth will hope to atone for the loss of Hart, which might be more impactful than some realize.
Still, this Wisconsin team looks extraordinary if given solid ball control. But that's the big question, right? We've seen what it looks like when passing goes awry, and those serve receive question marks persist in 2023. Opposing teams will have to chip away at that potential weakness to have a shot.
The fact remains: Wisconsin has a legitimate Final Four ceiling.