MADISON – The Wisconsin volleyball team opened practice this week and Sarah Franklin took the court with an edge you might not expect from a reigning national player of the year.
Consider it a double dose of good news for Badgers fans.
The last time they saw the 6-foot-4 outside hitter, she was sidelined because of a fall suffered while competing for USA volleyball in the final of the NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six in the Dominican Republic in June.
Franklin suffered a sprain to her left ankle with a small fracture. No timetable was given for her return, but she made the cut that mattered by being available for the first day of practice Wednesday.
Consider it the first step toward one of the major challenges of the season for Franklin: She feels her game has climbed to new heights and she hopes to show it.
“I’m someone who always wants to get better and always strives for that,” she said. “I think I was able to take a step back this summer and spring and really take in what I’ve been able to do. Leading into this season none of that matters. You cannot carry any of that into the season because we have a whole new team. I’m a whole different player.”
Franklin is one of the pillars of a Badgers squad that returns six of its top seven point scorers, the top three passers and top two digs leaders from a team that went 30-4 and reached the Final Four before falling to eventual champion Texas. The missing piece is setter, and the team has an incoming freshman who was a high school All-American poised to fill that role.
Franklin averaged 4.15 kills and 4.62 points per set, both career highs. She also hit a career-best .300 while averaging 1.93 digs and 0.53 blocks per set. She reached double-digit kills in 29 of UW’s 34 matches and recorded eight double-doubles.
With her leading the way the Badgers are picked to finished second in the Big Ten behind Nebraska and should be a top-five team when the American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll is released..
But before Franklin attacks her final year of college ball, she’ll continue to recover from her injury. She is limited to back-row play right now.
“Fortunately, she’s been a faster healer and seems to be progressing pretty well,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said. “She’s not hitting right now. We’re not having her do any front-row things because it’s still a bone bruise. We want that sucker to get healthy so it’s not lingering throughout the season.”
Can Franklin improve on her play of last season?
Franklin enters the 2024 campaign believing she is a better player in every facet, a feeling boosted by her play with USA volleyball.
With the national team preparing for the Olympics, USA volleyball selected college players to represent the country at the Pan American Cup Final Six. The tournament was a chance for USA volleyball to take a closer look at players who could be in consideration for the 2028 Olympics. For players like Franklin, it was a chance to play against more seasoned competition. The Dominican Republic, for instance, used the event as a warmup for the Olympics.
Franklin was arguably the United States' most productive player. After playing one set in a sweep of Mexico to open the tournament, she was the only U.S. player who scored in double figures in the final three matches.
She finished with a 54% attack percentage.
The U.S. team had a large Big Ten presence, which allowed Franklin to get to better know some of the players she has competed against.
"I loved getting to know the personality of each one of them and put that in front of the name we play against all the time, so that was really cool and playing with so many high-level girls I think was awesome," she said.
"I was also able to just find myself and ball out. I absolutely loved getting to play against some older women and being able to see more of the pro side of things and I thought I matched up pretty well. I think leading into the season I’m pretty excited about what it will be able to bring out."
Injury created unexpected chance to take a break
Franklin was leading the U.S. in kills when she landed on an opposing player’s foot as she came down from a block attempt midway through the match. She was tended to on the court for a few minutes before taking a seat on the bench for the rest of the match with her ankle wrapped in ice.
The U.S. fought to five sets before losing and winning a silver medal.
A day later Franklin returned to Madison, where she underwent further testing on her ankle, which revealed the small fracture.. The injury hampered her offseason work.
Her original plan was to take that month between the end of USA volleyball and the start of practice to hone certain aspect of her game. The injury forced her to call an audible.
“I’m someone who always wants to be in the gym and someone who will get in the extra work when the coach is telling me rest your arm, rest your legs, that type of stuff,” Franklin said. “So it may have been a blessing in disguise where I can take that step back and get away from volleyball for a little bit so that when I come back I’m super, super fresh, outside the ankle, going into the season.”
