A new professional volleyball league, LOVB Pro, launches its inaugural season this week, including a Madison team with decorated players like star Badger alumni Sarah Franklin and Lauren Carlini.
The LOVB (pronounced “love”), or League One Volleyball, professional season will run 14 weeks, from January through April. LOVB Madison is one of six teams.
LOVB Madison is made up of decorated athletes from Sun Prairie to Brazil.
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“We have Olympians. We have all-time Wisconsin greats,” said head coach Matt Fuerbringer.
The team’s players moved to Madison from across the world for the season.
LOVB Madison’s first match is in Houston on Jan 10. against Austin, followed by matchups against Salt Lake and Omaha at the Wisconsin Field House Jan. 17 and Jan. 18. Future games will be at the Alliant Energy Center.
Madison LOVB hopes to draw on an already strong Badger fanbase.
“Just really looking forward honestly to playing in the Field House again and being in front of all those Badger fans,” said Carlini, a setter who won 2014 Big Ten Player of the Year during her time with the Badgers, and recently became a 2024 Olympic silver medalist. “I got goosebumps thinking about it right now.”
Madison LOVB will play head-to-head games during the week as well as weekend matches. People can buy tickets online for local games at the Field House and Alliant Energy Center. Tickets start at $15 plus fees.
Carlini was one of the first players to commit to the league, despite having opportunities overseas.
“There’s nothing quite like playing at home and in front of friends and family and being able to do it now at the professional level,” Carlini said.
She never expected to have a chance to play in Madison again, since it wasn’t an option eight to 10 years ago. She said it means a lot to inspire the next generation of players.
“What I would have given to have a professional team when I was 12, 13 years old, and being able to go and watch their practices or watch them train,” Carlini said.
She’s glad to show young players what a career in professional women’s volleyball can look like.
“You can go overseas if you want, and have that experience, but you can also choose and stay in front of your friends and family and be able to compete at home here in the states,” Carlini said.
Her coach, Fuerbringer, has coached for the U.S. Men’s National Team and the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team. And his daughter, Charlie Fuerbringer, plays for the Badgers.
“She had an incredible freshman year,” Fuerbringer said. “I got to meet so many of the Wisconsin fans at the Field House, and I’m just really excited to see them come out and cheer for us and have now a pro team to cheer for.”
The new team has been practicing together for about two months, and recently added Badger alum Franklin, the accomplished outside hitter who won 2024 Big Ten Player of the Year and just finished her college season.
“I think we are still learning about each other and getting our lineups going,” Fuerbringer said. “But overall, this team is just an amazing group of women and really, really excited to get out there and finally compete.”
Other players with Wisconsin connections include opposite hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara, who helped take Wisconsin to the 2023 NCAA semifinals, and outside hitter Claire Chaussee from Sun Prairie, who earned 2022 ACC Player of the Year while playing for the University of Louisville her senior year.
Besides LOVB Pro, the U.S. has other women’s pro volleyball leagues, including the Pro Volleyball Federation, which Ronika Stone, fiancé of Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love, plays in.
“One day, we want to make this league the best league in the world,” Fuerbringer said.
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