BIG TEN VOLLEYBALL MEDIA DAYS

August 2, 2023

Kelly Sheffield

Izzy Ashburn

MJ Hammill

Wisconsin Badgers

Press Conference

KELLY SHEFFIELD: I think when we did this last year, there was a lot of excitement and enthusiasm, and what you're hoping is that it would grow from that.

Coming through this again, of seeing that people found ways to make this even better, more epic, we've got a lot of competitors, not just up here, but I think what we've seen is people that are involved in this sport at the conference level and at the network level are trying to top themselves, and I think we definitely have.

So just appreciative of the platform that we've got, for us as a sport and this conference. I'm up here with two great student-athletes here that have been with us a long time in Izzy and MJ, and we're really, really excited to get started next week.

Q. Kelly, you brought two setters here. Does that mean you're going to stick with the 6-2 system for this year?

KELLY SHEFFIELD: Yeah, they're our setters, they're our leaders, they're our most experienced players, all of that.

We went to Europe, and I gave both of them the opportunity of running a 5-1 over there, so one of them would have a 5-1 for one match and the other one would have the 5-1 in the other match, and they said no, we'd rather run the 6-2 and play both matches.

That's one of the unique things that's really special with both of them is they've embraced this. They work together really, really well. They empower each other at a level that's special. I don't see one trying to sabotage the other or upend -- both of these, believe me, are big-time competitors.

But they're interested in helping each other be better. Will we be running a 6-2? I don't sit there and think one is better than the other, or I'm not married to a system. It's how do we utilize our talents.

I think for this collection of players this upcoming year, a 6-2 is probably accentuates that talent a little bit more.

We'll go in thinking 6-2 but with the ability to go to a 5-1 if we need to.

Q. What do you like about the 6-2 offense and your willingness to work together to run it together?

IZZY ASHBURN: Like he said, we work together a lot. Like in training, it's great in training but more in games. We come off, we get to tell each other what we saw. You get a different perspective watching from that sideline than you do actually setting the ball.

We'll share information. We'll learn throughout the games. We'll watch film together. We'll help each other out at practice. We'll go in the gym together, just us.

It really is just a little team between me and her, our little hands team together, and I think it really does optimize using the scouting that we do before games and allowing us to change that as the game continues on to put our hitters in the best situation possible.

Q. Obviously, Coach, you brought in two big transfers from the Big Ten in Temi Thomas-Ailara and Carter Booth. What are the expectations for them this season? And also, the two setters, what it's going to be like getting them integrated into the team and setting for them? Have you noticed how they play and things like that?

KELLY SHEFFIELD: They're two very different personalities, first of all. Both of them are kind of at different points in their careers.

The important thing is they fit. They fit really well. Both of them came in with very different personalities, and on day one, they were trying to carry their weight, if you will. They jumped in.

Carter can be a little bit more boisterous, I would say, and it sounds like day one in the weight room it's "I'm announcing my presence with authority" with her voice, I would say. Temi is probably "I announce with my presence with my authority with how I play." And it was certainly great to have her for a week with us in Europe.

Both of them are extremely talented. Both of them are extremely driven. Both of them have really big goals in front of them, and they fit. They fit from a character standpoint, from a work ethic, from a hunger standpoint and wanting to learn.

When you're going to take in transfers, that is more important than just chasing talent. It is somebody that is going to fit into the culture that you've established and want to be a part of that, is hungry to be a part of it.

Both of them are certainly that.

MJ HAMMILL: I would just add to that, I think a big part of why they're able to fit so well is I think we do a great job of what you see is what you get. They knew coming in, like, this is who we are. And every moment, they saw us in Europe, day in and day out, they got to experience that.

That's something we are who we are, and we're proud of the culture. There's no trying to fake anything, and I think their character just fits so well because they're passionate about the sport. They care about their teammates. They love the school and just appreciate the game.

Q. Just talking about last season's final loss, from that moment to today, what do you think were the biggest things that stuck out to you, and how has it motivated you heading into this season?

MJ HAMMILL: I think one of the things that stuck out to me is just how much we can learn from that. I think a lot of times we're first to look at your immediate reaction is just like, I don't want to stop playing, we should have gone further, all of this, all of the things that could have happened differently during that game.

And then you go back to the blueprint and the drawing board and you realize how many things you have to get better -- defense, serving, what did we do during that game, how did our systems look, were we utilizing every single thing, did we think about the scouting report, what were we seeing on that side of the net.

From that point, for us, setting-wise, you're thinking about am I able to see what's on the other side of the net, am I comfortable in those positions, what sort of mental training do I have to do. I think that's where our focus went, and I'm really excited because each year is an opportunity.

IZZY ASHBURN: Like she said, learning from that loss is a big thing for us, especially with how many returners we have. A lot of that group has been together since then, a lot of that group has gone on a European tour and played a lot of matches since then.

So just growing as a team and learning from that is really just catapulting us into this next season. A lot of experience to show, but all that matters is this next journey.

You've got to kind of wipe it away and start again, and it's another season, another journey with a brand-new group, even if it's one or two new people, it's a brand-new group and it's a brand-new journey to go through with this group.

Q. Kelly, you've got a couple players there battling their way through injuries, Caroline, Sarah. What's their status? And on top of that, have you started to think about what that rotation of outside hitter is going to look like once Sarah is back on the court?

KELLY SHEFFIELD: Sarah is going to have one heck of a story to tell of her journey to get back on the court this year. We'll have her on the court. We'll have her on the court pretty early because of the medical people around her and her diligence and work ethic to get back is really impressive.

Before her, I don't know what we call it, medical issue, I guess, she was playing probably better than anybody in our gym. She was having a great spring.

What I've seen is she's worked her way back to where she's pretty darned close to where she was prior to that.

Caroline, we're happy that the finger doesn't seem to be much of an issue. I think her hitting percentage dropped to almost 200 points from before her injury to after her injury. And she's a really driven, very talented player that I think we're going to be able to utilize.

There's a lot of pain that she was playing in at the end of the year. You try to even sit her down in practice, even though she had a club on her hand, I learned pretty quick that that's probably a bad decision on my part to have to deal with some of the consequences of her. It was let's play, let's go, I can't hurt this thing any more.

But having her healthy, I think, is really important for us.

Q. Obviously the transfers were mentioned earlier, Temi being on the team, what are some of your first impressions of the way she swings and playing with her in general?

IZZY ASHBURN: I want a Temi on our side of the net. After playing her so many years, she's an absolute stud. She works as hard as she plays, off camera even. We see her work ethic right now even in captains' practices and we're just in the gym together. She really did just dive head first in right away with our group when we went to Europe, showing her personality, showing who she is.

She's just a joy of a person and so much fun to play with. But more than anything, she's an aggressive player, and she is somebody you want on your side.

MJ HAMMILL: I think what says a lot about her is she raises the level of play of everybody around her, whether you're a hitter on the other side of the net having to return after she's putting the ball away like that or defenders, blockers.

Even just the way she goes about working, again, like Izzy said, on the court, in front of the cameras and when nobody else is looking and when she's going in the gym by herself. The way she goes about things just increases the level of play of everybody.

Q. To follow up about Sarah, do you anticipate her starting practice at all?

KELLY SHEFFIELD: Great question. She will be still to be determined. I guess there are still some things that -- when I get the green light, we're going.

I would say in her mind, the green light is flashing very strong, I would say.

Q. What stands out to you about Devyn's development this off-season?

KELLY SHEFFIELD: Devyn has so much talent in her. There's so much joy of playing, of competing. I think the camera shows that very well when you're playing that this is somebody that is -- there's no place on earth that she would rather be.

We utilize her in a lot of different areas. She's hitting third tempo on the pin, second tempo, first tempo, off one foot, off two feet, in the middle, on the right.

She might be the only one that would probably rather us run a 5-1 and that's only because she's been working really hard on serving and digging that she wants to be able to do that in matches.

It was a good spring. I know she's champing at the bit to get to this season.

Q. Izzy, I believe you were asked to speak at the event last night for the players and coaches. Just what was it like to be asked to do that, and what was the message you wanted -- what was the main part of the message that you wanted to share with those people?

IZZY ASHBURN: Yeah, it was such an honor. Kelly called me last week and let me know. Right away I was just thinking about the growth that I've seen even going into my fifth year here at Wisconsin, the growth of TV viewership, the growth of followers in volleyball, in-person attendance of fans. That was the main message, just the growth of our sport overall, it's been incredible, and it's still growing.

Obviously coming back here and having our second media day is such a big step in the right direction. Having more games on TV this year than last year. It was just announced that it's 64 now. Being on FOX Sports for the first time. It is so incredible to be a part of volleyball and to experience that growth.

But we just appreciate all of it so much, and we appreciate the people that put it on and the media outlets that are helping us out and the players voicing how much we need this. It's just been so incredible to be a part of, and I can't wait to see where this goes in the next few years.

Q. Izzy and MJ, can you talk about the spring match where you got to play against one of your old teammates, Sydney Hilley, when she came back to play and what you guys learned from her when you were teammates? What did you learn from her in your career playing with her, and then what was it like having her back in the gym?

IZZY ASHBURN: It was awesome to see Syd again. I grew up with Syd at the same high school, played basketball, played volleyball, played with her younger sister. Our parents taught together. I've known her basically my whole life.

She helped me out with recruiting a lot. She's always somebody I can reach out to as a big sister. So that was so incredible to have for a couple years here at Wisconsin, but more than anything she stayed connected after. Seeing her back in the gym just felt so right, and having her back with everybody, it just felt so normal to see her there again.

But I was super excited to see her play on another team at a higher level, which is just another step in the right direction for volleyball in the U.S., back in her home gym.

MJ HAMMILL: Exact same way. It's really special to play with Syd. It's really special to be around her. I think it's even more special to train with her. You get to see this pursuit of greatness every single day. She's truly never off. She's never taking a rep off. She's never taking a moment off. She's always pursuing how she can be her best and how she can make other people be their best.

When we get to play her, it's difficult for us because she can just put the ball anywhere on a dime, and that's one of the great things about Syd. And I think it also showed us a lot about our culture of Wisconsin and the fans, the incredible fans that we're surrounded by. I think her welcome was even a little bit bigger than any of our teams combined.

But it really is so special. It really highlights what she was able to do for the program and just how much the fan base and Wisconsin.

KELLY SHEFFIELD: You were a setter. I'm going to let the three of you have that little moment right now, so I won't answer.

Q. Talking about entering into this season, I'm interested to see how maybe your mentality might be any different or the same. You come off a National Championship and entering that year, and then you come close but not quite the ultimate goal, I would imagine. How does that mindset change? Does it leave you hungrier? Does having won the National Championship and been through a season prepare you better to go through this year? What do you think about that?

IZZY ASHBURN: I wouldn't say hungrier. I think every season we start off with expectations that we want to win. We want to play at our best, and we want to win. It's just about getting to the point of where we can play our best. And the end of the season will come when it does, but it's working every single day. It's not just turning it on for the tournament. You've seen that the last few years from us.

It's a growth throughout the season that we're expecting out of each other, and it's pushing each other every single day. But the journey is more important than the ending.

MJ HAMMILL: Like Izzy said, the journey is so important. If you're only motivated by the one game at the end of the year, then you're going to miss all the really important moments along the way, and that's what really prepares you.

I think that's what's so incredible about the Big Ten is every single night you are getting battle tested. You're going to these really difficult, really amazing environments to play in. You're playing against these really, really good teams, and you're learning a lot about yourself along the way so that you're not just, like Izzy said, turning it on for the moment.

KELLY SHEFFIELD: There's your sound bite.

Q. Obviously there's been a lot of talk about the growth of the sport, and there was a lot of talk yesterday about volleyball matches in football stadiums. I was wondering if you would like to see that replicated in Madison, even if it's after you graduate or sometime in the next couple years?

KELLY SHEFFIELD: There's been no discussion of having something in Camp Randall. I'm excited. I've talked quite a bit about it. Not to brush it aside, I'm really excited for not just Nebraska and Omaha and everybody in that stadium, I'm excited about our sport. I'm excited about women's sports. I'm excited about sport in general. That's a number that it shouldn't just be people that are excited about women's sports. That's a big deal no matter where you're at.

I'm hoping the weather is cooperative. I'm hoping everybody is playing at their absolute best and they're putting on a show that further reaches people that might not follow the sport as closely as what everybody in this room does.

Q. Related to that, just how excited are you to see Big Ten volleyball on FOX after the NFL, the fact that it's Gopher-Badgers and it's after Packers-Vikings?

KELLY SHEFFIELD: Yeah, it's about time. It's kind of what took us so long to do that? It's also exciting.

I don't think in person there's a better sport to watch in person. I think for a long time we've had a -- it's been a challenging sport to show on TV, for a lot of different reasons, and I think cameras have been able to show some of the touches and the close plays.

I think we've gotten better behind the cameras at being able to stay on the right things, and I think our announcers have gotten dramatically better.

I think we are on the verge of just blowing this up in a really good way. I think this is -- I think people are going to be able to see the sport that haven't been focused on it much, and they're going to see possibility, and I think we're just on the cusp of being able to -- where there's going to be a lot more of that.