Wisconsin
Wisconsin Badgers volleyball falls to Penn State without star setter Charlie Fuerbringer
Penn State’s Kennedy Martin outshines Wisconsin’s Mimi Colyer as high-profile transfer additions face off
Wisconsin Badgers coach Kelly Sheffield recognized for 600 career wins
Wisconsin volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield was honored before the Badgers’ match against Illinois for his 600 career wins as a head coach.
Penn State’s Rec Hall continues to be one of the harder places for Wisconsin volleyball to win.
The seventh-ranked Badgers experienced that again on Oct. 10 as they suffered a three-set loss to No. 19 Penn State, 25-20, 25-21, 25-16, which snapped their 10-match winning streak. Penn State, meanwhile, gained some momentum and a quality win for its postseason résumé after losing two of its previous three matches.
Penn State is now 28-3 all-time against Wisconsin in matches at its historic Rec Hall. Here are three takeaways from the loss:
In battle between two transfer stars, Kennedy Martin outshines Mimi Colyer
Both schools had high-profile transfer portal additions at outside hitter.
Wisconsin’s Mimi Colyer was a second-team All-American last year at Oregon. Penn State’s Kennedy Martin was a first-team All-American at Florida after leading the country in points per set.
As they faced off at Rec Hall, Martin clearly had the upper hand.
Martin finished the night with 23 kills while hitting .474. That included 10 kills during the first set — one more than Wisconsin’s entire team had at that point. She showed the ability to attack from a variety of places on the floor and did so with both power and finesse.
Colyer, on the other hand, struggled mightily against the Nittany Lions. She had eight kills while hitting .057, and both were season-lows. Wisconsin is now 0-2 when Colyer hits below .150. (The Oregon transfer also struggled at Rec Hall with the Ducks last year. She had two kills and five attack errors in that match.)
Wisconsin out of sorts offensively without star setter Charlie Fuerbringer
Wisconsin’s second loss of the season — and its first time even losing multiple sets since Aug. 31 — happened in the first full match without its All-American setter.
Charlie Fuerbringer exited the Oct. 5 match against Michigan with an apparent shoulder injury in the first set. The Badgers fared well without her for the rest of the match against the unranked Wolverines, but they ran into some more adversity against Penn State — the reigning national champion.
Fuerbringer’s absence coincided with the Badgers hitting .151 against Penn State, which was their lowest hitting percentage in a match since hitting .141 in the Aug. 31 loss to then-No. 5 Texas.
It was a stark contrast from UW’s NCAA-leading .333 hitting percentage heading into the Oct. 10 match. It also was significantly below Penn State’s opponents’ hitting percentage of .231 in its first 14 matches.
At one point in the first set at Rec Hall, Wisconsin had one kill versus four attack errors. Along with Colyer’s aforementioned struggles, fellow outside hitter Una Vajagic hit .048 in the match. Middle blocker Alicia Andrew hit minus-.286.
Freshman Addy Horner started in place of Fuerbringer, but assistant coach John Shondell noted that the issues connecting with UW’s outside hitters are “not on Addy.”
“That’s on first contact, and that’s on our hitters being smart, making good decisions and hitting shots they need to hit,” Shondell said on UW’s postgame radio show.
Fuerbringer was with the team on the sidelines. She was seen on the TV broadcast without wearing a sling, which she was wearing during the Michigan match.
Madison Quest was silver lining for Badgers
Wisconsin freshman Madison Quest was one of the few silver linings for the Badgers in their overall-uncompetitive outing.
The Pewaukee native — starting again in place of the injured Grace Egan at right-side hitter — had a team-high 10 kills while hitting .421.
The only other Badgers to hit above .100 were middle blocker Carter Booth at .444 and defensive specialist Aniya Warren with one kill on one attack — an overpass that found open real estate on the Penn State side of the court.
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde reflects on early March Madness exit
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde said the Badgers ‘thought we could do so many things’ in the NCAA Tournament before it ended abrupty with an upset loss.
Wisconsin men’s basketball has added a sharpshooting wing via the transfer portal.
Miami (Ohio) transfer Eian Elmer has signed with the Badgers, the team announced April 18. The 6-foot-7 wing will join UW with one year of eligibility remaining.
Elmer averaged a career-high 12.7 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 49.8% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range in 2025-26. His production helped the RedHawks go 32-2 and earn an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
“We are really excited to add another excellent addition to our spring signees,” UW coach Greg Gard said in a release. “Eian brings a wealth of experience and scoring punch as a 6-7 wing. … A terrific shooter, his skillset and production fit excellently into our plan as we build out next year’s team. Throughout our evaluation process, our staff loved his size, power and skill and truly believe he will thrive in our system.”
Elmer is Wisconsin’s third transfer portal addition since the end of the 2025-26 season, joining former George Washington guard Trey Autry and former Hofstra forward Victory Onuetu. UW also added Australian guard Owen Foxwell.
The additions of Autry, Onuetu and now Elmer leave Gard’s staff with three more roster spots to fill ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The Badgers are looking to replace much of their production from a 2025-26 team that went 24-11. Nolan Winter is expected to be the team’s only returning starter after John Blackwell and Aleksas Bieliauskas entered the transfer portal and Nick Boyd and Andrew Rohde exhausted their eligibility.
MILWAUKEE – Friday’s severe storms have passed. And with that, the threat of any severe weather has also passed for the immediate future as no storms or rain are expected for several days.
However, plenty of damage remains across southeastern Wisconsin as of Saturday morning, in addition to the ongoing flooding threat.
Several area rivers are at flood stage, and there are multiple river flood warnings in effect.
FOX6 Weekend WakeUp on Saturday begins at 6 a.m.
On the scene in the morning
What we know:
Farmstead damage in Franklin
FOX6’s Hayley Spitler is in Franklin on Saturday morning, April 18, getting a daylight look at the damage from last night’s storms.
Storm damage in Caledonia
Friday’s storms left quite the mark across southern and southeastern Wisconsin, including at L and L Farms and Greenhouse in Caledonia.
FOX6 Weather Extras
Local perspective:
Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:
FOX6 Storm Center app
FOX LOCAL Mobile app
FOX Weather app
Maps and radar
We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.
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School and business closings
When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.
FOX6 Weather Experts in social media
The Source: Information in this post was compiled by the FOX6 Weather Experts.
How Aleksas Bieliauskas has grown in first season with Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin coach Greg Gard has high praise for Aleksas Bieliauskas about a month into the Lithuania native’s freshman season.
MADISON – One of Wisconsin men’s basketball’s departing transfers is headed to an SEC program with some connections to the Badgers.
Ex-UW forward Aleksas Bieliauskas has committed to South Carolina, he announced on April 17.
Bieliauskas left the Badgers after appearing in all 35 games as a freshman and making 28 starts. He averaged 4.9 points and 4.4 points in 20.2 minutes, and highlights of his freshman year included his five 3-pointers in UW’s upset over eventual national champion Michigan.
He’ll join a program with plenty of Wisconsin ties. South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris was an assistant coach at Wisconsin from 2010-17 on Bo Ryan and Greg Gard’s staffs. South Carolina assistant coach Tanner Bronson and director of video services Roman DiPasquale also are UW alumni.
Bieliauskas is the second of UW’s four departing transfers to commit to a new school. Reserve forward Jack Robison committed to North Dakota State on April 15. Starting guard John Blackwell and reserve forward Riccardo Greppi have not announced their next schools yet.
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