Wisconsin volleyball draws Fairfield for NCAA Tournament, rematch with Nebraska could be in offing

MADISON – When Wisconsin’s spot in the NCAA volleyball tournament bracket was revealed Sunday evening, Badgers coach Kelly Sheffield’s attention turned to first-round opponent Fairfield.

Fans of the sport, however, had the luxury of looking ahead to another showdown against the team at the bottom of the UW’s portion of the bracket.

Nebraska earned the overall No. 3 seed for the tournament. If it and the Badgers get to the regional final, the two rivals would square off for a berth in the Final Four.

However, getting to that point in the postseason isn’t Sheffield’s focus right now.

“You’ve got to be really good at taking it one week at a time, one little mini tournament at a time,” said Sheffield, whose team was swept twice by the Cornhuskers this season. “We’ll have four teams and we’re going to try to win that mini tournament of four and then look ahead to see who’s there.

“One thing that I’ve learned over the years is that if you get ahead of yourself it’s doesn’t put yourself in a position to last too long.”

Badgers will host first weekend of matches

Wisconsin is the overall No. 7 seed for the tournament. This marks the 12^th straight season Wisconsin has qualified for the tournament and the fourth straight year it will host the opening weekend of matches.

Georgia Tech (20-9) and Tennessee (15-11) are also coming to the Field House. They are scheduled to play at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. The UW-Fairfield match will follow with an approximate starting time of 7 p.m.

The winners of Thursday’s matches will meet at 7 p.m. Friday for the right to advance to the Sweet 16. Barring an upset of Nebraska, the regional semifinal and final for that portion of the bracket will be hosted by the Cornhuskers.

The Final Four is at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

First things, however, first.

Fairfield (21-11) won the regular season Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title and then clinched a spot in the tournament with victories over Canisius and Quinnipiac in the conference tournament.

“I haven’t played them. I haven’t played anybody in their league, but that is the cool parts of the NCAA Tournament,” Sheffield said. “For months we’ve played teams that we play year after year after year and you get to the NCAA Tournament and most likely, especially that first round, it’s not only schools you haven’t played in most cases it may be from conference where you haven’t played anybody. It’s the magic of the tournament.”

Big Ten Conference is well represented

Nine Big Ten teams made the 64-team field, which ties the ACC and SEC as the conference with the most teams in the field. The Big Ten is the only league with two No. 1 seeds: Penn State, the overall No. 2 seed, and Nebraska, the No. 3.

“I’m not sure I saw any surprise there,” Sheffield said. “I think it shows once again how deep and competitive the conference is. Half of the top four seeds and quite a few of the overall 16 seeds. It’s what we face every weekend.”

Wisconsin finished the regular season with a 23-6 record and finished third in the Big Ten with a 17-3 mark.

The Badgers closed the regular season with a five-set win over Ohio State on Wednesday and a four-set victory over Michigan State on Saturday. Both matches lasted longer than 2 ½ hours.

Freshman libero Lola Schumacher, who missed three matches due to apparent concussion, returned as a defensive specialist for the last two matches. Junior defensive specialist Gulce Guctekin remains sidelined.

“It feels like we’re knocking on the door of putting things together,” Sheffield said. “We’ve played some really good volleyball. There is a lot of experience on this team and they’ve played  a lot of NCAA Tournament matches.

“I know they’re excited to get going. You play the entire regular season to prepare yourself for the NCAA Tournament and this is probably the deepest I’ve ever seen the Tournament. The number of teams I could see getting into a regional final or Final Four is probably the most I can ever remember.”