Decelise Champion Shines In Wisconsin Volleyball's Win Vs Marquette | 3 Takeaways

MADISON – For the sixth consecutive season, Wisconsin volleyball took care of business against its in-state rival.

The sixth-ranked Badgers outlasted unranked Marquette in four sets, 22-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-15, on Sept. 17 at the UW Field House. After the Golden Eagles impressed in the first set, the Badgers never trailed by more than two points in the second, third or fourth sets.

“I thought our high end was really good tonight,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said. “I thought we did a lot of positive things. … It felt like we got into a few spurts where we allowed some runs off of our mistakes, and I thought at times we showed our youth and inexperience.

Here are three takeaways from the Badgers’ fifth win of the season and the Golden Eagles’ fifth loss:

Decelise Champion shines in her first start

Decelise Champion’s first match at the UW Field House – and first start in a Badgers uniform – turned out to be quite a memorable one.

The 17-year-old recorded a team-high 20 kills while hitting a whopping .441.

“She was working the court, and that ball can get on you in a hurry,” Sheffield said. “It forces the backcourt players to be dug in. And when you can get people dug in like that, it kind of opens things up for some off-speed. … I don’t know how great the tips were, but they were effective because it’s hard to get out of your base when you’re just kind of dug in there.”

She had seven of her kills in the momentum-shifting second set. That was when UW hit a whopping .552 and sided out 82% of the time – a stark contrast from .152 and 56% in the first set.

She also had 11 digs and enjoyed a service run where UW expanded its lead to a seemingly insurmountable 20-14 in the fourth set. Her three blocks were tied for second-most on the Badgers behind middle blocker Lynney Tarnow, who had six.

“Especially with her and Lynney up there together, that can be pretty formidable,” Sheffield said.

Champion arrived on campus relatively late after leading Puerto Rico’s senior national team to a fifth-place finish at the NORCECA Continental Championship. She made her debut against then-No. 19 Texas A&M and also appeared in a limited capacity against then-No. 9 Texas.

Charlie Fuerbringer spreads wealth for Badgers

While Champion had the spotlight, setter Charlie Fuerbringer orchestrated an attack that showcased no shortage of offensive threats.

Five UW players finished with at least 10 kills as the Badgers hit a season-high .369 against the Golden Eagles.

Audrey Flanagan had 13 kills while hitting .400. (She had three aces, too.) Tarnow, Eva Travis and Jaela Auguste each finished with 10 kills.

“We have so many weapons on our team,” Travis said. “Charlie spreads us out a lot, which gives us one blocker a lot. So that’s why we're able to put up these numbers, and it’s just so fun to be able to rely on each other.”

Auguste’s 10 kills came along with six attack errors and a .190 hitting percentage in her second match (and first start) since returning from an injury. Sheffield thought the 2025 third-team All-American “looked like a player that hasn’t practiced very much.”

But Auguste’s imperfect performance also gets to the heart of why the Badgers’ balanced attack is so valuable.

“There’s enough talent in here where everybody else can kind of steady the boat, and that’s kind of the goal,” Sheffield said. “The goal is to be a great team and be resilient when things aren’t going well.”

Marquette’s Carson Tyler impresses on big stage

Marquette outside hitter Carson Tyler again showed how she can compete formidably against the top teams in the country.

The Ball State transfer led the Golden Eagles with 16 kills, albeit with a less-than-ideal .170 hitting percentage against the sixth-ranked Badgers.

“Why she came here is to play the schedule that we play and to show off at this stage, and I think she’s doing exactly that,” Marquette coach Tom Mendoza said.

The 5-foot-10 junior also had two aces and other topspin serves that put pressure on UW’s passing.

“She took a lot of big swings and got her share of kills,” Sheffield said. “That serve of hers can test you, and I thought she handled the ball really well. … She’s tough.”

It was in some ways reminiscent of Marquette’s Aug. 24 match against then-No. 2 Texas, when Tyler led MU with 18 kills while hitting .191. She has recorded at least 12 kills in each of MU’s first eight matches.

“Some players can only have success against certain types of teams, but she’s having it against everybody,” Sheffield said. “And at her size, that’s not an easy thing to do.”

But both those matches ended as moral victories rather than actual victories against top-10 teams – in five sets against the Longhorns and four against the Badgers – before the Golden Eagles wrap up nonconference play against St. Thomas and UW-Milwaukee.

“At some point, you try to not have some moral victories with how many freshmen, but I think this is the exact type of experience we need in order for us to get to our potential this season,” Mendoza said.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Decelise Champion shines in Wisconsin volleyball's win vs Marquette | 3 takeaways