MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin volleyball team will head to Europe from June 2-14, competing and sightseeing in Istanbul, Turkey; Llublijana and Maribor, Slovenia; Venice, Milan, and Lake Como, Italy; and Zurich, Switzerland. The Badgers will play at least six matches against teams from Turkey and Italy as well as other visiting federation or club teams.
This will be the first foreign tour trip since 2019. All 15 athletes on the 2023 Wisconsin fall roster will be traveling with the team, including three newcomers.
“I’m really looking forward to taking the team to Europe this summer,” said Badger head coach Kelly Sheffield. “We get 10 practices heading into the trip and hopefully we’ll have our whole team able to participate in those. It’s almost like a preseason with practices and meetings heading into the trip. Then once we get over there the opportunity to play elite competition, explore new countries and cultures, and to really spend time bonding as a group is invaluable.”
The tour will be a homecoming for Badger libero Gulce Guctekin, who returns to her homeland of Turkey, playing against her former team Fenerbahce. Wisconsin also returns to Maribor, Slovenia, where they first met Julia Orzol where she was playing with the Polish Junior National Team.
“We’ll start out in Istanbul, Turkey and play at some of the best clubs in Europe,” added Sheffield. “It’ll be great to take Gulce home and to have her show us around and be able to play in her hometown and in front of some of her fans who continue to follow her. Then we will go to Maribor, Slovenia which houses a training center that a lot of European teams stop off and train at. Maribor is a beautiful little city and is where we first saw Julia Orzol four years ago when we played her Polish team. We’ll then have a day trip to one of my favorite cities in Venice, Italy on our way to Milan, Italy. Milan is where the Italian National Teams train so we’ll spend a couple of days there. After that we’ll do quick stops at Lake Como, Italy and Zurich, Switzerland before we head back to the States. There is so much opportunity for individual and team growth on a trip like this and we are all looking forward to it.”
Follow the Badgers HERE for updates as they compete against…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Wisconsin Badgers…