Gophers vs. Badgers volleyball rivalry fired up even more by transfer of ex-Minnesota star Carter Booth

Carter Booth's sophomore season started, as expected, at Maturi Pavilion.

The only slight difference was Booth, having transferred in the offseason, was playing volleyball for Wisconsin, not Minnesota.

It added an element of the surreal as the Badgers opened the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge vs. Baylor in August. Booth's former Gophers teammates sat on bleachers, waiting for their match vs. Texas Christian, and watched as she went through her paces, hitting serves, leaping at the net and getting loose.

"It's a nice venue to play in, regardless of my past here," she said afterwards. "It was just another game with my team that I was excited to play."

She will face her former team Sunday when the Gophers travel to Madison. It is a marquee showdown for college volleyball that will be broadcast nationwide on Fox after the Vikings play the Packers.

While No. 2 Wisconsin (19-1, 10-1 Big Ten) is pushing for a national championship — its lone loss coming last weekend at Nebraska in five riveting sets — the Gophers (10-9, 6-5) are coming off a three-set loss at Purdue.

Booth was one of the best freshman in the country last season while playing for the Gophers. She graduated high school early to play for Hugh McCutcheon, and her development from January to December was extraordinary.

She was named first-team All-Big Ten. Her game was ferocious and nimble, excellent on the slide attack, great at tracking opponents on the block, and her height allowed her to dominate at the net.

That excellence came around a fissure in her relationship with the U after McCutcheon announced he would resign at season's end. Keegan Cook was introduced as the new head coach at Maturi Pavilion on Dec. 19 and the feeling from people around the team was that Jenna Wenaas — who had already announced she was leaving the program — was likely to be the only transfer.

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Two days later, Booth entered the portal. Four days after that, Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield posted on Twitter, "Bingo!!" Moments later, Booth posted a snowy Christmas Day photo, standing in front of a fir tree in a Badgers sweatshirt.

"Making a big decision like that, a huge change like that and making that leap, is always going to be difficult," Booth said. "Everything happens for a reason. I will always be grateful for my time [at Minnesota] because without my experiences here, I wouldn't be able to appreciate where I'm at and excel where I'm at."

Vitriol was thrown her way, on message boards and social media, anywhere a passionate fan with anonymity could comment. She verbally committed to the Gophers when she was 13 years old — under an NCAA rule no longer permitted — and was 19 when she changed her mind.

She knew she would have to face former teammates, who were also roommates and friends.

"Obviously there are feelings there. It's a lot of history," she said. "But at the end of the day it comes down to it's a really good team across the net. It doesn't matter who the individuals are."

Portal's impact

Sheffield is pragmatic when it comes to the transfer portal. Seven of 15 players on his roster previously played at other schools. He said the Badgers aim for a certain level of high school recruit; if they don't land them, they leave a roster spot open for transfers.

What did he feel when he heard Booth was in the portal?

"I got a text message that said, 'A 6-7 middle in your conference just went in the portal do you have any interest?'" Sheffield's immediate response was euphoric.

"I knew exactly who they were talking about," he said. "I could not believe it."

His excitement over her arrival in Wisconsin was met with a similar amount of angst from Gophers fans.

"It is so much more fun as a sports fan to not only love your team but to hate another team. It is a great feeling. You never feel more alive," Sheffield said, adding, "I get not only Carter leaving there, but what it is of her coming here. Man, it's a stab in the heart."

Her play hasn't eased that feeling. Booth is leading the Big Ten in hitting percentage and blocks per set. She is thriving on a deep, balanced Badgers team.

Filling the void

For the Gophers, her departure is something former teammates had to let go of and a reminder that the portal goes both ways. Their middle block has been excellent this season; entering this week they were third in opponent hitting percentage and blocks per set in Big Ten play. Their two primary middles, Phoebe Awoleye and Arica Davis, came via the transfer portal.

Cook said losing Booth was difficult and how could it not be? But he tries to look through the lens of what came after, of getting to add new players who wanted to be a part of the program.

He believes in the journey you can take with a player over an entire collegiate career and is known for not losing one to the portal over eight seasons at Washington.

That doesn't mean he can't understand the hurt that comes with a teammate leaving.

"Losing a teammate in any capacity, in any shape or form, is the biggest adversity that can happen [for a team]," Cook said. "When someone leaves, feel what you feel, but then choose how you think. I think it's always better to just have gratitude for time shared. It's just a better way to live your life.

"Thankful for the shared experiences I have with this person, thankful for going to battle with them in some big moments, probably more than a few moments where they showed up for me as a teammate. I wish them the best and I have to be where my feet are."

The Gophers will soon find their feet in the UW Field House, their former teammate across the net, ready for a different kind of shared battle.