
How do you replace the irreplaceable?
That was the question facing Nicole Shanahan on Saturday night as she stepped into Dana Rettke’s middle blocker spot for the University of Wisconsin volleyball team.
Her answer was to be the best Nicole Shanahan she could be. And that proved plenty good enough as she contributed her share to the No. 6 Badgers’ sweep of Northwestern 25-22, 25-21, 25-17 before a full house at the UW Field House.
With Rettke, the 6-foot-8 two-time All-American on the bench with a walking boot on her left foot, coach Kelly Sheffield called upon Shanahan and she responded with five kills, four blocks and a service ace in her first action since Sept. 14.
Shanahan, a 6-2 junior walk-on from Oconomowoc, started two matches early in the season in place of the injured Madison Duello but hadn’t seen any court time since making a cameo appearance against Clemson.
But she was ready to go when she saw Rettke in the walking boot Saturday morning.
“To be completely honest, I was really calm going into the game today because I’ve been in this position before,” Shanahan said. “I know my team has faith in me, I know Kelly has faith in me and all the coaching staff. I just needed to execute, I needed to play how I play, how Badgers play. I was really confident.”
That’s the attitude Sheffield expects from his bench players, even when one is called upon to fill in for one of the best players in the country.
“I thought Nic came in and gave us some positive contributions, which is what we expect,” Sheffield said. “Nicole sits there, talks about how confident she was going out there. This was the first time she’s ever served in a college match. She’s going in there and playing the same position that our All-American workhorse does, but yet she sits there and says she’s confident in herself and her abilities.
“And there’s no faking it. You look in her eyes and how she moves, you know she’s confident. That confidence comes from the work that you’re putting in every single day. She works hard, she prepares, she knows the scouting report. So when she gets here the day of the match and you say she’s going in the starting lineup, she doesn’t flinch because she’s prepared for the moment.”
Sheffield said he has no timetable yet for when Rettke will be able to return.
The Badgers (12-4, 8-0 Big Ten) needed contributions across the board to fight off the upset-minded Wildcats (9-11, 0-8).
#lee-services-modal { font-family: ‘Lato’, sans-serif; } #lee-services-modal .modal-body { min-height: 300px; } #lee-services-modal .close { font-size: 30px; margin-top: -8px; z-index:1; } #lee-services-modal .modal-top { margin: 0 -15px 20px -15px; padding: 15px; z-index:0; border-bottom: 3px double rgba(0,0,0,.1); } #lee-services-modal .title { font-size: 24px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; font-weight: 700; } #lee-services-modal .logo img { max-height: 50px; max-width: 50%; margin-bottom: 15px; } #lee-services-modal .tagline a { color: #222; text-decoration: underline; } #lee-services-modal #lee-service-no-access { display: none; } @media (min-width: 992px) { #lee-services-modal.packages_2, #lee-services-modal.packages_3 { width: 80%; } #lee-services-modal.packages_4, #lee-services-modal.packages_5 { width: 90%; } } @media (min-width: 1200px) { #lee-services-modal.packages_2 { width: 50%; } #lee-services-modal.packages_3 { width: 60%; } #lee-services-modal.packages_4 { width: 70%; } #lee-services-modal.packages_5 { width: 80%; } } /* inline */ #lee-subscription-wall-inline { position: relative; margin-bottom: 20px; } #lee-subscription-wall-inline .lee-subscribe-panel { background-color: #f7f7f7; padding: 30px 20px; border-radius: 5px; } #lee-subscription-wall-inline .lee-redacted-overlay { height: 80px; width: 100%; top: -90px; z-index: 1; position: absolute; background: linear-gradient(to bottom, rgba(255, 255, 255, 0), #fff 80%); } #lee-subscription-wall-inline .head { font-size: 36px; line-height: 36px; font-family: ‘Yrsa’, serif; } #lee-subscription-wall-inline .tagline { padding-bottom: 15px; } #lee-subscription-wall-inline .tagline a { color: #222; text-decoration: underline; } @media (max-width: 767px) { #lee-subscription-wall-inline .lee-redacted-overlay { display: none; } } #lee-subscription-nag-inline { text-align: center; display: none; border-top: 4px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5); border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.12); margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 20px; box-shadow: 0px 3px 0px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.02); } #lee-subscription-nag-inline h4 { font-family: ‘Yrsa’, serif; font-weight: bold; margin:0; } #lee-subscription-nag-inline p { font-family: ‘Lato’, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; }