How Julia Orzol's versatility 'makes the game easier' for her Wisconsin volleyball teammates (2024)

Among the many skills Julia Orzol has learned during her time with the University of Wisconsin volleyball program is the ability to adapt on the fly. To go with the flow. Roll with the punches.

That trait came in handy for her during spring break when she arranged to meet her parents for a week in New York City rather than join the rest of her teammates on the Florida Panhandle beaches.

She had it all worked out to fly from Chicago O’Hare to JFK in New York, arriving just before her parents, Anna and Piotr, were scheduled to get there on their first trip to the United States. Then Orzol’s flight was canceled a half hour before she was set to board.

All she could think of was her parents, who don’t speak English, arriving with no one to greet them and guide them.

“I was just like, don’t freak out, don’t freak out,” Orzol said. “But inside, I’m freaking out.”

After a couple deep breaths, she started searching for another affordable ticket and eventually found one on a flight soon to depart, bought it and went sprinting across the airport.

“It actually worked out that I got to JFK at the same time they arrived, so it was perfect,” she said. “But it was crazy.”

That ability to adapt to unforeseen circ*mstances has been a hallmark of Orzol’s career with the Badgers.

Orzol, an opposite with the Polish Junior National Team when the Badgers first encountered her in a match in Slovenia, immediately stepped into a starting role at outside hitter and was a key contributor during the 2021 run to the NCAA championship.

She retained that six-rotation position the following season, butOrzol was shifted to libero early last season with the arrival of Temi Thomas-Ailara through the transfer portal. That transition was successful enough to help the Badgers reach the NCAA Final Four.

Now, as the Badgers head into their final spring match Friday night against Northern Iowa at the University of Dubuque (Iowa), Orzol has been training to return to outside hitter in her final collegiate season.

Unless, of course, she ends up back at libero. That could happen if the Badgers land another top level outside hitter when the transfer portal reopens May 1. Coach Kelly Sheffield has said he would like to add an outside, along with another front row player, from the portal.

Orzol is ready to go with the flow however that works out.

“I love it,” Orzol said about the uncertainty. “I feel like it’s a big lesson for me in how to stay present, how to just focus on what you can control in this moment and how great you can become with things that just happen. How great can you become at them?

“I feel like I’m getting better at not looking into the future. I’m just focusing on the growth that can happen for me as a player and also as a leader. So I would just say that I’m not thinking about it, to be honest. I feel like those changes the past two seasons allow me to really get better at it. They are really valuable lessons.”

In an effort to add another terminal outside hitter to pair with Player of the Year Sarah Franklin, Sheffield pursued Minnesota transfer Taylor Landfair during the first portal season, only to lose out to Nebraska.

ButSheffield is perfectly fine with itif it turns out that Orzol is his best option at that position. Just as he would be perfectly fine seeing her back at libero. He mostly is perfectly fine with seeing Orzol on the court for the Badgers.

“We won two Big Ten championships and a national championship with her on the outside,” Sheffield said. “We went to the Final Four with her as our libero. We won a lot of matches with her in the lineup and she’s probably touched the ball in her time here more than any other player on our roster full of experienced players. She’s an extremely important player to us.

“She plays the game the way I think the game should be played. She’s versatile. She’s capable of doing more than one thing. She plays the game of volleyball, and that’s her strength. It’s her strength to be able to impact the game in a lot of different ways.”

Sheffield compared her to a baseball player who may not be a big home run hitter but gets on base a lot, works the count, runs the bases and plays good defense. Or a basketball player who may not be the leading scorer but facilitates things for other teammates to shine.

“That’s certainly Julia,” he said. “She makes the game easier for other people. She’s capable of doing a lot of different things for us and that’s what makes her so valuable.”

Orzol has spent a good portion of the spring trying to increase her value as a hitter, if that’s where she ends up. She said her time away from hitting has offered a new perspective on the position.

“I feel like it was a good reset as an outside and I’m seeing how much more effort I can put into a single approach,” she said. “How much more dynamic I can be. When you’re an outside all the time, you can kind of lose it for a second. But then with this reset, it’s like seeing it with fresh, new eyes.”