No matter how things go in the last week of the regular season and then the LOVB Finals, LOVB Madison's remarkable turnaround will forever be remembered as the ultimate team accomplishment of the inaugural League One Volleyball campaign.
It's hard to imagine that at the end of February Madison was in the midst of a nine-match losing streak and stood 1-7 in the regular-season standings.
"Yes, it took us a while to get going, but to see where we're at now and knowing that we have more to unlock and unleash is exciting," Madison setter Lauren Carlini said. "It's gratifying to see the steps we've made and it's exciting to know that In two weeks, we have a chance to play for it all."
The Olympic silver-medalist paused and laughed.
"And two months ago I would not have even believed that."
Things bottomed out with an excruciating five-set loss to Atlanta on February 21. But as LOVB Houston's Jordan Thompson said a few days earlier, "We know what they're capable of, not only as individuals, but as a team."
She was spot on. Now, Madison is nipping at Houston's heels.
Madison is not only the hottest team in the league, riding a six-match winning streak, but still in contention to snag the No. 2 seed in the LOVB Finals away from Houston. The team that finishes second behind Atlanta also gets a quarterfinal bye into the semifinals.
Week 13 begins Thursday when LOVB Atlanta plays at LOVB Omaha. It's a 7 p.m. Central start that can be seen on LOVB Live, DAZN and the LOVB YouTube Channel.
Then Friday, Madison plays at LOVB Salt Lake. That 8 p.m Mountain start is on ESPNU and ESPN+ and sets up an exciting finale Saturday to the regular season when Houston and Madison square off at 4:30 p.m. Mountain, followed by LOVB Austin vs. Salt Lake at 7 p.m. Mountain. The doubleheader can be seen on LOVB Live, DAZN and YouTube.
Here's how the six teams stand heading into the final week of the 16-match regular season:
- LOVB Atlanta (12-3)
- LOVB Houston (9-6)
- LOVB Madison (7-7)
- LOVB Salt Lake (6-8)
- LOVB Austin (5-10)
- LOVB Omaha (5-10)
Houston, which had won three matches in a row, has been off since March 27 when it lost to Atlanta. The lowest it can finish is third, and it was seeded No. 3 when it won three matches in three days to win the LOVB Classic in February. It will clinch the No. 2 spot if Madison loses to Salt Lake.
Salt Lake had lost back-to-back matches but pulled off a reverse sweep against Omaha last Saturday to remain in contention for the No. 3 seed. Salt Lake needs Madison to lose twice and it must win its final two matches.
Austin has lost three in a row but could get the fourth spot with a victory and two Salt Lake losses.
Omaha can finish fifth or sixth.
And there's Madison, which could not only capture the second seed, it could finish as low as fourth. Even fourth would be something, all things considered.
Carlini said a big key for Madison's rebound was getting to spend more time at practice. After that loss to Atlanta, the team had a week off before playing at home, something it hadn't done in a month.
"We had more time to better hone our skills," she said. "Earlier in the season, our skills were not where they needed to be in order to compete for a championship on April 13. That was the first step.
"The second step was just finding a solid starting six, starting seven. When you're flip-flopping and trying to get a ton of people in, it's harder to get that consistency and that trust and that communication built.
"And the third part, honestly for me, we just started serve-passing better. It made my job easier."
Lauren said that allowed her to better set her middles and also run attacks out of the back row.
"It loosened up a lot of stuff when our first contacts got better," she said.
A big key to that was the improved play of Milica Medved, the libero from Serbia. She's had double-figure digs in every match since winning the job as the winning streak began, including 19 digs and a season-best eight assists last Saturday in a victory over Austin.
"She has done an incredible job of putting in the work. And once we gave her the starting spot she took the reins," Lauren said. "We're just so comfortable playing next to her now. She's been awesome and I'm so happy that she's coming back for a second season, too."
Speaking of which, Lauren said that while she has retired from international play – "walking away with a silver medal feels perfect for me" – she, too, will be back for a second LOVB season and will also return to her alma mater, Wisconsin, as an assistant coach.
Another Wisconsin alum, rookie outside Sarah Franklin, is part of that improved passing, Lauren said.
"Frank doesn't want to be taken out of the game, so for her drive is like, 'I want to get better, I don't want to get taken off the court, so I'm going to keep improving my skills and the passing.' Yeah, she's a good attacker but her passing is getting better and stabilizing."
Madison might be last in LOVB in team kills, but veteran opposite Annie Drews Schumacher is second overall with 185 and Franklin is fourth among outside hitters with 154.
Lauren, a spectacular defensive player, leads all setters with 160 digs and tops LOVB with 621 assists.
"For me, it's seeing how everyone has bought in. I really, truly enjoy the girls on this team, especially going into practice every day. Overseas, that was not always the case," Lauren said.
"I'm honestly sad that this season is coming to an end. I wish we had five, 10 more home games to be able to play in front of these fans, especially in Madison."
