BIG TEN VOLLEYBALL MEDIA DAYS

August 2, 2022

Kelly Sheffield

Sarah Franklin

Anna Smrek

Wisconsin Badgers

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by head coach Kelly Sheffield, Sarah Franklin and Anna Smrek.

COACH SHEFFIELD: I'd like to start out, there's so much gratitude for this entire past couple days, looking at a room full of people that are trying to shine a spotlight onto our sport.

It's been a first-class -- it's been done really, really well. There's a lot of appreciation, a lot of excitement for what we're about ready to get into a new season here, in about six days or so. I'm excited to coach this team.

We've got here Anna Smrek and Sarah Franklin, excited by a lot of the players that are coming back and a new journey.

Q. Coach, you've been very vocal about making sure that your sport and your team gets recognition and gets notoriety, gets eyes on a sport. What does an event like this hopefully start and be the catalyst for that going forward?

COACH SHEFFIELD: One of the things that I think has been fun today is -- I think going in, I think one of the things was this can't be a one-year deal. This has got to be in a way that people find value in this and we get to year two or three. There's success if we're able to do that.

As I'm walking around, we're talking with all the different people, there's been a lot of, all right, next year we're going to do this. We've got to do this better. And so you love to hear that.

On the other hand, if we're the only conference that's doing this, this time next year, then there's a little bit of failure in that, right? Big Ten has shown great leadership in being the first one, but there's got to be three, four, seven conferences that are doing this next year.

This is a sport that people are passionate about following and putting a spotlight on that and giving access is -- it's got to be more than the Big Ten moving forward.

Q. Last time we saw you, you had a pretty good match. How did that night change your volleyball and personal life?

ANNA SMREK: Well, volleyball and personal life, kind of went in a little bit into it after that. But I think it really gave me the confidence in myself that I was trying to dig out for a while because I knew my team and coaches had all the confidence in me.

But at that time, you're in such a high pressure situation, and we have a job on the court. Everyone on our side, we all wanted it. So did the other side of the net. It was just such a high level of competition that we trained for in that moment. It was time to lay it out on the court and I think we did then.

Q. But since then, someone like yourself, can you walk around Madison without being recognized, for example?

ANNA SMREK: Yes, there's people on campus that sometimes will ask for pictures. That's kind of all of our whole team. Our fan support in the community is amazing. We definitely love them. I like to think I live a pretty normal life.

Q. Anna, you're so young but after last season, have you seen yourself step into more of a leadership role with this team? Where do you see yourself fall amongst the group?

ANNA SMREK: So I guess I still am pretty young. But kind of like -- it's just kind of how our team is in general. Kelly selects people that are not afraid to use their voice.

We respect confrontation and each other's voices in the gym. So kind of now that I've almost -- I feel like our team has a lot of trust in each other. So with that I do feel like I can speak about things. I think everybody kind of tackled a new leadership role.

Q. With the talent that was lost from this past season, how have you seen certain people kind of step up and form this new roster?

ANNA SMREK: Even when we had that talent, we still had so much depth on our bench. And we learned so much from those individuals who did graduate as well. They taught us, it's almost like we're still playing alongside with everything they showed and left us with.

But we do have so many new people joining our team that are bringing so much to the gym, whether it's a transfer, our incoming freshmen, they're all ready to compete in our gym and at the high level as well.

Q. Kelly, speaking of some of the transfers that have come in through the portal, can you talk about those people, what each might bring to the table?

COACH SHEFFIELD: Got one here to my right, Sarah Franklin, who the last year, the past couple of years has been one of the top outside hitters in the country. She brings a presence and a skill set that is very unique, a confidence in her abilities. And we're really excited about getting her here. She's been around the program for a couple of months now.

Caroline Crawford, who was here in January, transferred in as a middle. There's a toughness and a tenacity about CC that I'm excited about. And Shanel Bramschreiber, hopefully we can get her eligible. She's been playing at Baylor the past couple of years and is really talented as well.

And they fit. You get these people can transfer and it's a lot easier to do that this year. But the trick is you get transfers that fit and fit your culture. There's a lot of, a lot of talent that seems to be moving around. But you've got to be careful because you've got to fight for your culture a little bit.

And I feel like the three that we have got here fit our culture. And that's really exciting. And I love the fact that our players and our captains are doing a great job of putting their arms around these transfers and embracing them and seeing that as people that can continue to help elevate us rather than -- there hasn't been any friction, from what I've seen.

Q. We talked about Anna Smrek's performance in the tournament last year. How have you seen her grow and what are your expectations?

COACH SHEFFIELD: She can go back and watch that film -- and I'm sure she has -- and see dozens of things that she could have done better.

When you look at the raw stats, they were ridiculous. But she believes in herself. She's got a lot of confidence in herself. But there's also a drive to get better.

That's one of the things I really appreciate coaching Anna, is she leans into information, and she wants to be great. She doesn't get small in big moments. As good as what she had, she may never put those kind of numbers and matches together, but you'll continue to see a player progress throughout her career and not somebody that's just going to be settling and think that she's arrived.

Q. Sarah, take us through the process of leaving Michigan State and how you end up getting to Wisconsin?

SARAH FRANKLIN: It was a hard decision. I'm not someone who wants to just ditch something that's not working. And getting in the portal was a hard decision. And after getting in the portal, contacted by a lot of coaches. Before I got in the portal, I had in my mind Wisconsin would be a pretty cool place to go.

After getting in the portal and talking to a whole bunch of coaches and narrowing down my options, getting to Wisconsin on campus with all the girls and with Coach Sheffield, I felt like it was just right.

After being there for the two-day visit, I reflected the week after. I was like I can't see another visit going any better than the Wisconsin visit. So it just felt right.

Q. Sarah, what specifically do you think you bring to the Wisconsin team?

SARAH FRANKLIN: I would like to think that I bring a lot. I love playing volleyball. The passion that I have for the game is a lot. The competitive drive that I have, I think, fits right into the culture.

So coming and playing in these open gyms this summer, it feels natural. All of us are super competitive. And like Anna said, we have a lot of confrontation but it's good confrontation. We're all very good at it.

Q. With Volleyball World streaming internationally, what makes the Big Ten, the teams, the talent of this conference intriguing to an international audience?

COACH SHEFFIELD: This is massive, this partnership. I don't think this can be underestimated of how important this is to not just the Big Ten but to our country. There's so many great volleyball fans around the world, as you can tell how many people are following you guys on Instagram and Twitter and so forth.

And the content you guys are putting out is really really good. We've got a couple of international kids on our team right now, and it's really hard for them to follow their daughters. And the fans that are growing up watching them when they were younger and they come here continue to follow their careers closely. You guys are giving access to them.

I think this will be -- it's hard to articulate, I guess, what this could be five, six, seven, 10 years down the road. I think it's really exciting. This was really big news for all of us.

Q. Can you talk a bit about your setter not coming back and what do you see (indiscernible) end of spring and (inaudible) are you trying to figure out --

COACH SHEFFIELD: I'll take a step back. Great question. We graduate a lot of players that had a lot of experience. When you're looking at Sydney Hilley, you don't see too many five-year starting setters out there. Or Dana Rettke, a player of the year, five-time First-Team All-American. It may never happen again in college sports. And a Lauren Barnes and Grace Loberg and Geo Civita, and then a couple others in Lauren Jardine and Julia Wohlert that left. That's seven players that came in and you've got to replace them with six new ones.

It's a new team. It's a new journey, new leadership. We've got captains. Danielle Hart, we're excited about getting back after tearing her ACL. I think the beginning of last year I think she was playing about as well as any middle in the country.

We're really fired up that she decided to come back. She wasn't planning on doing this. She thought that last year was going to be her last year. She's coming back.

And then our two other captains happen to be our two setters in Izzy Ashburn and MJ Hammill. Izzy has been a serving specialist and defensive specialist. People have seen her. I think she led the Big Ten in service aces last year. She's going into year four. And MJ Hammill is going into year three.

So they know what we're about, what this is about. They believe in themselves. They've got a lot of confidence. They're not trying to be Sydney Hilley just like Sydney Hilley wasn't trying to be Lauren Carlini.

But they believe in themselves, and I don't know what we're going to do yet, whether we run a 5-1 or a 6-2. That's one of the things that has me so excited about starting practice here in a week, is there's a lot of questions. And I know these guys are champing at the bit to get started.

Q. Back to the international thing, you had some key international players. You recruited internationally and you got some somebody by accident. Does this thing with Volleyball World change your approach to recruiting?

COACH SHEFFIELD: I have a responsibility as the coach at Wisconsin to bring in the best talent as possible. I do have a responsibility there. I have an responsibility to look at our own state and region first. With our fan base, I don't think I can go just a team full of international students.

But the richness and the depth and diversity that you bring onto a college campus is really important. Now, is that at the forefront of what I'm thinking when I'm recruiting? No, not necessarily. But I do want to coach a team at a school that we're at that it is diverse, that there is learning that is happening more than just on the court.

These guys spend time in the locker rooms and at dinners and hotel rooms. And so when you're giving them different perspective and different backgrounds and what they necessarily have grown up with, that's part of the learning process.

I think the talent pool opens up immensely when the rest of the world sees what is possible. Some of the kids that we're talking about, you have to choose either an athletic path or an academic path in a lot of these foreign countries.

What is unique about the United States is the ability to do both. You can compete like crazy at a sport you love while also pursuing a degree. That is what makes it unique here. And so many people around the world don't know that. It's just one or the other.

And I think that giving insight through Volleyball World, people being able to see that, I do think you're going to see a floodgate of not just international kids coming in here, but elite players that are choosing, I really want to do this instead of going to play pro, especially when you're throwing things like NIL in the mix, academic monies, cost of attendance. They're not turning down money for this thing. There's money opportunities on top of the education. It's really exciting.

Q. Anna and Sarah, I've been hearing all three of you talk about the importance of your team culture, particularly as you deal with roster attrition and bringing in international athletes, and heard you talk about how embracing conflict and competition is very important to that culture. Could you be more specific about what else defines the Wisconsin volleyball culture to you?

ANNA SMREK: So, to me, the culture is just putting your best foot forward. So when we get recruited here, they're not just looking for volleyball players, they're looking for great people as well that we can turn into.

They teach us life lessons as well. When we're around each other, we're holding ourselves to a standard. We know that we are representing that and we're carrying on that culture. So having the trust between each other and that friendly confrontation, just knowing that we are all leaders as well in our gym and we want to put our best foot forward, that comes through competition, being gritty, not letting the ball touch the floor, making an effort for it. We all hold each other to that standard in our program that you're going to put everything you have on the court.

SARAH FRANKLIN: That's exactly what I saw when I came here on my visit. I've always wanted that. And living through it now, this past summer, has been great to see and be a part of, because it is a family. Like, we don't see it any other way. We are a family; we are allowed to do and have that kind of friendly competition and confrontation.

Q. What are your thoughts on Russ Rose and Katie Schumacher taking over at Penn State?

COACH SHEFFIELD: It's about time.

(Laughter)

Russ is -- if there's not a statue outside that facility in the next few years, then people have failed. He is the greatest coach that our sport has seen in our country, what he did over decades and decades is unbelievable. It's so appreciative.

When I have phoned him -- I've done this a few times -- and asked him for advice and help, he has gone out of his way to do that.

And he's done it his own style, his own way, which is unique. But his teams, man, they competed. And they played at the end of the year with so much freedom. Those were things that I always -- how do you get people to go so hard but in the biggest moments they're playing without fear and they're playing with confidence.

As a coach coming up and a coach that's even been here a while, his were always teams in how he went about things, how he structured his staff were things that we studied a lot and took a lot from, just a lot of appreciation.

Humor at the beginning about him retiring, because I got tired of getting my butt kicked by him. Katie knows what that program is and the opportunity and the responsibility that goes along with it.

I think there's a lot of changes happening. And you've got some legendary coaches that have retired. I'm waiting for Cook to join that list any day now. That's a horrible thing to say.

(Laughter)

Just clearly joking with that. But you've got Dunning and Hebert and McKaley (phonetic) and Gimmillaro and a lot of those guys that have paved the way, and all those coaches.

I was talking to John about this last night, the battles -- so many legendary coaches that have been around a long time, have put so much of themselves out there to grow this sport. Russ was certainly right there at the top.

Excited for Katie. Excited for all three new coaches. That's three that you don't get too many, that many new coaches in our league coming in at the same time, as well as so much of the talent that has graduated out of our league.

It does feel like there's a newness right now going into this season.