Charlie Fuerbringer debuts, Sarah Franklin returns in Wisconsin volleyball exhbition sweep of Bradley

MADISON – Tuesday the Wisconsin volleyball team raised the banner for its Final Four appearance last season , one final salute to the 2023 team that earned the program's fourth berth to the national semifinals in five years.

Then, the Badgers opened the books on the 2024 campaign with an exhibition win over Bradley at the UW Field House.

With Badgers great and 2024 Olympian Dana Rettke in attendance, UW needed just 87 minutes to defeat the Braves in straight sets. During the performance the Badgers flexed their muscle at the net with their block, created pressure from the service line, posting nine aces, and fought back from a five-point deficit midway through the second set to preserve the sweep.

“There were a lot of positive things today and a lot of things to watch and learn on film,” UW coach Kelly Sheffield said. “We haven’t played a lot of six on six against other people since December, so to be able to go out there with somebody who is wearing a different jersey is really nice.”

Here are four takeaways from the 25-17, 25-22, 25-14 victory.

Solid start for Charlie Fuerbringer

The 5-foot-11 freshman started at setter and played every point. She finished with 36 assists, two aces and five digs.

It is going to take time for her and the hitters to develop chemistry, but Tuesday she had nice connections with middle blockers Carter Booth (12 kills, .714 hitting percentage) and Caroline Crawford (five kills, .500).

“She’s super trusting. She’s willing to give anyone the ball at any point and time,” Crawford said. “I feel like that is something we really haven’t had and it’s awesome to be a part of.”

Sarah Franklin comes out swinging

At the start of practice the reigning national player of the year was limited due to an ankle injury she suffered while competing for the U.S. national team.

Tuesday she played the entire match and took a team-high 29 swings. She finished with 10 kills, a .241 hitting percentage, six digs and a team-high three aces.

Booth, Crawford and Robinson have block party

Booth and Crawford led the team in blocks last season. Both were active in that regard against Bradley, tying for the team high of five with senior Devyn Robinson.

The Badgers finished the night with 11½ blocks as a team.

“Getting to block against a live system that we don’t really know that well was really helpful, really beneficial,” Booth said. “I think our block was pretty sound tonight, pretty calm. I think we read the game well and I’m looking forward to getting into that more.”

Trinity Shadd-Ceres makes most of opportunity

The Badgers played without seniors Julia Orzol and Anna Smrek.  Orzol’s absence opened the door for Shadd-Ceres, a 5-11 outside hitter.

She put together a quality all-around match, posting nine kills, a .286 hitting percentage, three digs and two blocks while being one of the team’s most active players in serve receive.

The native of Ontario, Canada, is one of her country’s top long jumpers, explosiveness that showed when she went up for swings.

“She can get up there,” Sheffield said. “She’s small and you think maybe you want to attack over her, but she can get up there. She’s elbows at the tape.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Charlie Fuerbringer debuts, Sarah Franklin returns in Wisconsin volleyball exhbition sweep of Bradley