MADISON – Florida did something that Wisconsin volleyball’s previous five opponents couldn’t do.
The Gators won a set.
No. 7 Wisconsin ultimately outlasted No. 15 Florida, 19-25, 25-22, 25-20, 36-34, though, in the Kohl Center Classic for the Badgers’ sixth consecutive win and third ranked win of the 2025 season.
“I think everybody was treated to a special match,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said. “Just two tough-minded, resilient teams that are going to grow a lot from that match. It’s a great match, win or lose.”
Here are three takeaways from the match:
Mimi Colyer bounces back in big way after bad first set
Mimi Colyer, the Big Ten leader in kills per set entering Sunday’s match, had an uncharacteristically inefficient first set. She had only one kill and three errors, hitting a minus-.200 in the set.
But then the 2024 second-team All-American bounced back at an elite level in the second, third and fourth sets. Colyer finished the match with a season-high 27 kills while hitting a team-best .339. That included a whopping nine kills in the third set and 11 kills (including the match-clinching point) in the never-ending fourth set.
Her 27 kills put her third in the UW record book for kills in a four-set match in the 25-point rally scoring era, which dates back to 2008. The only players to finish with more kills in a four-set match were Sarah Franklin in the 2024 win over Marquette and Dana Rettke in the 2018 win over Minnesota.
“I’m not sure that Set 1 could have gone too much worse for her,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said. “And then being able to dig out of that and kind of lead the way and show the way and take some of the swings and some of the serves, long service runs — that’s what leaders do. That’s what your experienced All-Americans do.”
Colyer said the Badgers as a whole “settled into the match,” leading to her big numbers.
“Our passing got a lot better,” Colyer said. “I think we were able to utilize more people, so it just gave me some better looks. I think Charlie (Fuerbringer) did a really good job at spreading the offense. I think not being a one-dimensional hitter, I think I was able to utilize a lot of different looks and seams.”
Fourth set battle-tests Badgers
Wisconsin’s nonconference finale ended with a fourth set that tested the seventh-ranked Badgers in many ways. The set had 19 ties and nine lead changes as neither team could break away until UW finally prevailed at 36-34.
The marathon set — lasting almost an hour — included seven set points for Florida, all while Wisconsin was running low on substitutions. The Gators had their most efficient set of the match, hitting .228 as seven different players recorded at least one kill.
“Both teams played really, really hard,” Sheffield said. “Both teams — there’s points that you wish you had back, and that’s what happens when you’re running out of subs and you’re up into the 30s, mid-30s, some of those types and you’re fatigued. But we dug in, and there were some fantastic effort plays in that match.”
UW middle blocker Carter Booth found value in the way UW won the fourth set considering that “teams that rely on runs to win are teams that put themselves in positions of weakness.”
“Yes, we can get on runs, but today, we proved we can also get in the mud and go point for point with a team,” Booth said. “I think that is a skill that’s priceless going into Big Ten, especially where every single night is a battle like that. You won’t see teams getting on 13, 14-point runs in the Big Ten because we’re just too good. So I think it’s great practice, and it was a great showcase of our capabilities.”
Third match at Kohl Center delivers lively atmosphere
Wisconsin’s match against the Gators officially drew 12,277 fans, which marked the biggest crowd of the season so far for Wisconsin. The other two matches at the Kohl Center — part of the Opening Spike Classic during Labor Day weekend — drew crowds of 10,072 and 11,678.
The road match against Marquette at Fiserv Forum drew 10,020 fans.
The Sept. 21 crowd at the Kohl Center was despite having to compete for attention in the state with a Packers game that started at the same time. It was an engaged group of 12,277, too, and Sheffield was “really, really thankful” for them.
“You’re having such an amazing atmosphere and the crowd just with you,” Sheffield said. “Up and down, the Florida fans are standing up because they think they’re about ready to win it. And then our fans. And then it’s just this seesaw thing — that’s why you play sports is for matches like this.”
UW players showed their appreciation for the lively student section after the match as they celebrated in one of the aisles alongside their fellow students.
“It’s always fun to play in front of such a big crowd,” Colyer said. “I think the students here are super engaged in their love for volleyball. They love to support us, and it’s just so fun getting to really go up there and be all personal with them. Apparently that’s not something we normally do.”
Booth enjoyed the celebration as well while “thanking God I didn’t fall on the steps and trip.”
“It was fun; it was really quite disorienting,” Booth said to laughter from Sheffield. “Because like 20 seconds from on the court playing volleyball to we’re up at the top of the bleachers, and I’m looking like, ‘Where am I?’”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Badgers volleyball vs. Florida takeaways: Mimi Colyer bounces back in elite way
Reporting by John Steppe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
