Julie Mikaelsen, a 6-foot-2 right-side hitter who is left-handed, has signed a letter of intent to play at UW and will enroll this fall.

UW volleyball coach Pete Waite, who coached at Northern Illinois in DeKalb for 11 years, has received a verbal commitment from sophomore Courtney Thomas, a 6-foot outside hitter from DeKalb High School who is forecast as a setter at the college

Some years back, the University of Wisconsin awarded special status to six of its athletic programs. Because they were given additional resources, those tier-one programs — football, volleyball, men’s and women’s