Champion, Wisconsin Arrive in Lincoln for a Top-Ten Showdown with the Huskers

Last fall, Decelise Champion sat in courtside seats at Devaney Center and talked with Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly while on an official visit before Nebraska took on Maryland. 

The 17-year-old opposite will return to the Devaney Center Saturday with No. 7 Wisconsin as they face the top-ranked Huskers. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. with the match aired on FOX. 

In the year between her visits to Lincoln, Champion committed to Wisconsin, reclassified to enroll this year and began playing for the Badgers after another stint with the Puerto Rican national team. 

It’s been an interesting journey for the Dorado, Puerto Rico, native. She has also played two years in Rome, Italy, with Volleyrò Casal de Pazzi. Champion arrived on campus late after playing with the Puerto Rican national team at the NORCECA Women’s Continental Olympic Qualifier in August. Puerto Rico finished fourth, but she led all players with 112 points in the tournament. 

“There’s a lot of unique things about her story, but she’s just super mature,” NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. “She’s definitely somebody who’s had those worldly experiences to be able to handle college at a young age.”

At 6-foot-6, Champion is an imposing presence at the net. She can play both pins and has a wide range of attacks. Although she turned 17 a few weeks ago, she’s played with the Puerto Rican national team for the past two years. 

After joining the Badgers in early September, she appeared in her first match on Sept. 11 against Texas A&M. While she’s had big nights (20 kills on a .441 hitting percentage and 11 digs in four sets vs. Marquette), she’s also had some quiet matches (four kills, three errors against Indiana). 

This season, Champion has appeared in nine matches and is averaging 3.03 kills, 1.03 blocks, and 1.76 digs per set, with a .285 hitting percentage. She's already been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week twice. Busboom Kelly said Champion will only get better as she settles into the collegiate game and gains more experience. 

“She’s a very terminal player, and just well beyond her years as far as the way she acts and presents herself on the court,” NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said.

The Huskers will also get to see setter Charlie Fuerbringer again this weekend. The junior setter didn’t play against NU last year as she was out with an injured shoulder. Busboom Kelly said the UW is a different team with Fuerbringer on the court, not only because she’s an elite setter, but she’s also a natural leader who makes everyone around her better. 

She’s guided a new-look Badger offense that is hitting .261 this year that features five new attackers — Champion, freshman outside hitter Audrey Flanagan, transfer outside hitter Eva Travis, transfer middle blocker Jaela Auguste, freshman middle blocker Lynney Tarnow.

“They’re very, very good, and it’s a team that is continuing to change and find their identity,” Busboom Kelly said. “Teams like that are always scary to play because you know it’s going to click, and when it does, it’s going to be scary.”

The Wisconsin match will be the capstone on a big day on the Nebraska campus. The football team hosts defending national champions Indiana earlier in the day, and FOX will also air the game. 

Harper Murray, Andi Jackson and Bergen Reilly will appear on the pre-game show Big Noon Kickoff. Jackson said she enjoys the atmosphere on campus when both football and volleyball play at home on the same day. Despite the extra energy, the volleyball team won’t attend the football game because they have their own match to prepare for, but they’ll watch it on television. 

“We have a new fancy locker room that we can watch in, so I can’t complain,” she said.