Stanford’s adversity has parallels to what Wisconsin volleyball faced earlier

AUSTIN, Texas – Kevin Hambly is not going to tip his hand about Stanford setter Logan Parks’ status ahead of the NCAA tournament regional semifinals.

“Why would I tell you anything about that?” the Stanford coach said to the Journal Sentinel in his press conference ahead of the Dec. 12 match against Wisconsin.

Hambly’s coyness aside – with strategic value, of course, as UW needs to prepare accordingly – the injury adversity that Stanford has recently experienced has some parallels to what Wisconsin experienced (and overcame) earlier in the season.

Parks, Stanford’s starting setter for most of the season, has not played since the Cardinal’s Nov. 29 regular-season finale against Louisville due to an injury. She was the AVCA’s freshman of the year for the Pacific region this season, and her 64 assists against Louisville were the most for a Stanford player since 2017.

“We had some rhythm with Logan, and we played pretty well at the end of the year, beating Louisville,” Hambly said. “And then to have her go out was a bummer. But we have a little bit more time now to adjust and to train and to try to find some rhythm.”

The additional week since the first and second rounds “has helped us a great deal,” Hambly said.

Taylor Yu – a sophomore who appeared in 21 of Stanford’s 31 regular-season matches in 2025 – has taken over setting duties. She also had a prominent role in many of those matches, recording 20 or more assists nine times in the regular season.

“We’re very fortunate,” Hambly said. “We have two very, very capable setters, and there was a time when we had them both playing, so they both have a lot of experience. … So when it was time to make that switch, which wasn’t our choice, then Taylor came in, and it felt kind of seamless to be honest.”

Sheffield expressed confidence that Stanford will be “just fine” without Parks.

“Certainly one of them has been leading the show a little bit more than the other,” Sheffield said. “But the offense seems to run the same. The decision-making is very similar between each of them. There’s not a big difference in hitting percentages from player to player off of each of them. … I don’t think the match is going to be won or lost at who is doing that.”

Stanford’s offense was not necessarily flawless, however, with Parks on the bench in the first two matches of the NCAA tournament.

The Cardinal hit .212 in a four-set win over Utah Valley of the Western Athletic Conference in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Arizona also forced a fourth set against Stanford in the second round of the tournament as the Cardinal suffered a season-high 26 attack errors.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, has won its last 11 matches (with only two even requiring a fourth set). The Badgers have hit above .300 in all but one match during the winning streak as a healthy Charlie Fuerbringer has rejuvenated the UW offense.

“Our offense is lethal,” UW middle blocker Carter Booth said. “Our defense is getting better every day.”

But Wisconsin felt Stanford’s pain earlier in the season, as Fuerbringer – a 2024 third-team All-American – missed a month of the season with a shoulder injury. The Badgers suffered three of their four losses this season during the 10 matches with Fuerbringer sidelined. Four of UW’s five matches with a hitting percentage below .250 coincided with Fuerbringer’s absence.

“The only way that you’re going to be able to continue to have the season that we had is to be able to deal with adversity, and that was one of 100 things of adversity for our team,” Sheffield said.

The 13th-year Wisconsin coach is confident that the other remaining teams in the NCAA tournament have gone through just as much adversity. Stanford’s setting situation might be Exhibit A.

“How you deal when things don’t go your way is what it’s all about,” Sheffield said.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin volleyball is familiar with Stanford's latest adversity