MADISON – For the first time in couple of years, fans of the Wisconsin volleyball team really needed their roster.

This is a new-look Badgers squad. Ten of the 13 players on the roster are either new to the team or played sparingly last season. Two of them graduated high school early in order to enroll at UW in January and take part in spring semester workouts.

Wednesday the team made its UW Field House debut by scoring a spring sweep of Marquette in a match that took 86 minutes to complete.

Senior outside hitter Mimi Colyer finished with 14 kills and a .219 hitting percentage in the 25-13, 25-19, 25-21 victory. DSHA graduate Madison Quest, one of the team’s early enrollees, finished with 12 kills and a .400 hitting percentage. Setter Charlie Fuerbringer finished with 35 assists and four aces.

Here are five takeaways from the match.

Madison Quest acquitted herself nicely at right-side hitter

Miami transfer Grace Lopez, who was set to play right-side hitter before suffering a season-ending knee injury last month, will be missed.

Quest, however, is showing her versatility by moving from outside hitter to help fill the void. She started the match on fire, hitting 1.000 with six kills in the first set, and had eight kills and a .533 hitting percentage after the second set.

She played the backrow and made seven digs while having a reliable night of attacking from the backrow.

“She’s a mature player,” Badgers coach Kelly Sheffield said. “She’s serious. She wants to learn. She wants to get better. I enjoy coaching Mad Dog. It doesn’t matter that she is playing out of position. If I told her to go play middle or go set, she wouldn’t even blink.”

Oregon transfer Mimi Colyer brings heat

Colyer’s hitting percentage for the match dipped because of a rough third set, but it’s clear she has that it factor that distinguishes All-American players from the rest. The ball comes off her swings differently.

Her night would have looked better, but she hit -.167 in the final set. She had 11 kills and a .450 hitting percentage through two sets and for the match was a solid passer from the backrow.

“What’s not to like, right?” Sheffield said when asked about Colyer’s play. “She’s an aircraft carrier and is able to take an awfully big load. … She approaches the game in a way that others want to be around her. They want to play with her. They want to compete with here and you see her getting more comfortable each week we’ve gone.”

Marquette’s Hattie Bray was on the mark

The Golden Eagles, who are about six weeks into Tom Mendoza’s tenure as head coach, finished the night with a .048 hitting percentage. Bray, a senior middle blocker, had the cleanest night, posting eight kills and a .316 hitting percentage.

She along with junior outside hitter Natalie Ring (six kills, -.111) are the Golden Eagles’ top returning hitters and Wednesday they were their team’s most active swingers.

Maile Chan gets some work at libero

The Badgers have an all-Big Ten freshman libero returning in Lola Schumacher. But there is plenty of other help needed in the back row.

Chan, a rising sophomore, wore the libero jersey and handled a team-high 22 serves, posted a team-high 10 digs and had six assists. The Portland native had a couple of collisions in the back row, but it was a solid night for a player trying to have a larger role in 2025.

Sheffield said she did a pretty good job with a lot of room to get better.

“When you play that position you’ve got to command that position, you’ve got to command the court,”: Sheffield said. “There were some times where she was a little bit passive waiting for someone else to go get some balls. But she’s still in her freshman year. She didn’t play  a lot in the fall.”

Golden Eagles breaking in freshman setter

As a two-time All-American Yadhira Anchante left big shoes to fill at setter. The role was filled Wednesday by Isabella Haggard, who finished with 17 assists in a match when the Badgers’ serving made it touch on the Golden Eagles’ passers.

The spring transfer portal window officially opened today, April 16. Wisconsin is sure to be active as it makes a final push to bolster its roster entering the 2025 season.

Most notably, the Badgers enter the period with significant needs on the offensive side of the football. While the team seemingly aced the winter portal window, just in the last few days it lost starting left tackle Kevin Heywood to a torn ACL, and starting tight end Tanner Koziol (reportedly) and top depth wide receiver Mark Hamper to the portal.

Both Koziol and Hamper were headliners of Wisconsin’s winter transfer class. As is the case in the current era of college football, winter commitments are nowhere close to guaranteed to be on the roster in Week 1.

With those departures and Heywood’s long-term injury, the Badgers would do well to find a fill-in at left tackle and a dynamic starting tight end. Replacing those projected starters may be easier said than done, however, as the two projected to be among the offensive unit’s top three or four players.

The spring portal window will remain open until April 25. Players have until that date to enter, while those in the portal have unlimited time to commit to a new program.

As the transfer window continues, here is an up-to-date tracker on all of Wisconsin’s incoming and outgoing movement:

(Last update: April 16, 7:50 a.m ET)

OUT: Wide receiver Quincy Burroughs

Burroughs was one of Wisconsin’s first transfer additions of the Luke Fickell era back in 2023, as he followed the head coach from Cincinnati. The veteran played sparingly during his two years with the program, totaling just five catches, 43 receiving yards and five special teams tackles. He was again projected as a depth option at wide receiver entering 2025, with significant talent and competition ahead of him in the room.

Here is more on Burroughs’ departure.

OUT: Wide receiver Mark Hamper

Hamper joined Wisconsin this winter with significant fanfare. The rising sophomore was a Freshman All-American at the Football Championship Subdivision level in 2024, totaling 48 catches, 966 receiving yards and six touchdowns. Fellow winter transfer wide receiver Jayden Ballard has reportedly been a spring session standout, meaning Hamper was likely to enter the season as a primary depth option. That may have instigated his transfer decision.

Here is more on Hamper’s departure.

OUT: Tight end Tanner Koziol (not yet official)

Koziol transferred in this winter after several standout seasons at Ball State, including a 94-catch, 839-yard, 8-touchdown 2024 campaign. He projected to be one of Wisconsin’s top receiving threats as new coordinator Jeff Grimes transitioned the program back to a pro-style offense. After just four months with the program, Koziol is reportedly off to a new destination.

Tucker Ashcraft is the next up at tight end. The position should rise near the top of Wisconsin’s transfer pursuits, as Ashcraft has just 20 total catches, 168 yards and two touchdowns over the last two seasons. Due to the lack of a top-end backup option, Koziol was one player Wisconsin couldn’t afford to lose.

Here is more on Koziol’s departure.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin offensive tackle Kevin Heywood is expected to miss all of the upcoming season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in spring practice.

Heywood, the Badgers’ projected starter at left tackle, hurt his knee in practice Thursday. Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell revealed the severity of the injury on Tuesday.

“That was one that’s going to be really difficult and tough, but it’s also part of the game,” Fickell said. “We’ve been fortunate up front in the last two seasons to have those guys prepared and be able to last through the season. Now we’re going to have to figure out how we’re going to manage some of that and move some other guys around and expect some other guys to step up, whether it’s Leyton Nelson, an Emerson Mandell, guys like that have got to step in.”

Wisconsin had benefited from remarkable stability on its offensive line during the first two years of Fickell’s tenure.

The Badgers had the same starting offensive line for each of its 12 games last year, with Jack Nelson at left tackle, Joe Brunner at left guard, Jake Renfro at center, Joe Huber at right guard and Riley Mahlman at right tackle. Brunner, Renfro and Mahlman are back this year.

Wisconsin also had the same starting offensive line for all 12 of its regular-season games in 2023, with Nelson at left tackle, Huber at left guard, Tanor Bortolini at center, Michael Furtney at right guard and Mahlman at right tackle. The only change that season came in the ReliaQuest Bowl loss to LSU, with Renfro getting to start after missing the entire regular season with an injury to his lower left leg.

Heywood was expected to take over this season for Nelson, who had started at left tackle each of the last three years. Heywood had participated in all 12 games for Wisconsin last year while playing special teams and making occasional appearances on offense.

His injury represents a setback for a Wisconsin team seeking to bounce back after its streak of 22 consecutive winning seasons and bowl appearances ended last year. The Badgers finished 5-7 last season and lost their final five games.