It's no surprise that one of the most coveted volleyball recruits out of high school is already an impact player in college.
Wisconsin's Molly Haggerty makes the game look easy, though credit for some of that goes to teammate Lauren Carlini and the Badgers coaching staff. The 6-foot-1 freshman outside hitter, the espnW player of the week, averaged 5.88 kills per set last weekend and packed 27 kills into three sets in the Badgers' sweep at Texas A&M.
Haggerty picked right back up at Texas on Sunday, with 20 more kills, 14 digs and five aces to propel No. 3 Wisconsin past the 2015 national runner-up, which was ranked second at the time. The Badgers (8-1) denied Texas three match points in a 20-18 final set.
"The gym was very loud," said Haggerty, who has three career double-doubles in her nine collegiate matches. "But the whole match, the team was composed and calm. We never really panicked. Being new to this team, it was really cool to see how relaxed we were on the court. That kept us going in the right direction."
Playing alongside Carlini, one of the best setters in the game, helps. The two Illinois natives are old friends from their club volleyball days at Sports Performance.
"Lauren definitely helped expedite Molly's learning curve," Badgers coach Kelly Sheffield said.
Carlini's ability to be consistently precise with the ball, he said, allows Haggerty to shine.
"There's no stop-and-go," he said. "Molly can accelerate without hesitation."
Haggerty does most things at full velocity. Winning the national championship is a goal of most elite players; Haggerty is determined to win four -- all part of 10 volleyball goals for her collegiate career that she has written down. The others include four Big Ten championships for Wisconsin and winning conference freshman of the year and national freshman of the year for herself.
As lofty as that might sound, consider her high school years. Haggerty led St. Francis High in Wheaton, Illinois, to four state titles, including one her senior year, when the school moved up in classification from 3A to 4A. Her club team won four AAU national championships. Twice in that span, she earned MVP honors, and twice she earned All-America honors.
"My freshman year of high school, the goals I set were winning four state championships," she said. "Same thing for college. My goals won't change because I aim high -- not low."
Competitiveness is in her nature, whether it's her favorite card game, Trash, or enjoying HORSE in the driveway with sisters Meghan and Maddie. All the Haggerty children are Division I athletes. Meghan starred for Nebraska volleyball, and Maddie plays volleyball at Michigan State. Brother Ryan played basketball at Milwaukee.
Molly gave a verbal commitment to Nebraska volleyball her sophomore year but decided it wasn't the best fit for her and switched to Wisconsin.
"Everybody's known who she was since she was very young," Sheffield said. "A lot of top-level kids come into college as great athletes, really good at one or two skills. She's just a really good all-around player, whether it's attacking, blocking, passing, swinging, defense. The great thing is there's also so much room for her to grow. I'm excited to have four years with her."
Haggerty and her unbridled enthusiasm await conference play, which starts this weekend with home games against Ohio State and Maryland.
"The Big Ten is so strong," she said. "Growing up, I always watched the Big Ten, so I'm very excited to be playing in it."