The Wisconsin Badger women’s volleyball team had two players named to the 2017 All-Big Ten team. A pair of middle blockers, junior Tionna Williams and freshman Dana Rettke were both named to the squad.
Rettke and teammate, setter Sydney Hilley were named to the All-Freshman team.
Rettke, after setting a Big Ten Conference record with nine Freshman of the Week awards, was named the Big Ten’s Freshman of the Year. The 6’8 middle blocker becomes the fifth Badger to earn the rookie honor, following teammate Molly Haggerty, who was honored in 2016. Her selection to the All-Big Ten team was unanimous.
On the season, Rettke leads the Badgers and ranks second in the Big Ten with a .445 hitting percentage. She also leads the team and ranks 13th in the conference with 3.37 kills per set. The freshman has a team-best 1.42 blocks per set, which ranks third in the Big Ten. The Riverside, Illinois native leads all Big Ten freshmen in hitting percentage and blocks per set while ranking third in kills per set.
Williams, a 6’2 middle blocker, earns her second-straight, first-team All-Big Ten award. She ranks second on the Badgers and third in the Big Ten with a .396 hitting percentage. The Fort Wayne, Indiana native is also second on the team with 1.04 blocks per set while adding 2.46 kills per set.
Hilley ranks second in the Big Ten with 11.64 assists per set. The Brooklyn Park, Minnesota native also ranks second on the Badgers with 22 service aces while adding 2.10 digs and 0.66 blocks per set.
Senior Lauryn Gillis received Wisconsin’s Sportsmanship Award. The 6’1 outside hitter picked up her 1,000th career kill at Indiana on Nov. 10. She ranks second on the team with 2.69 kills per set.
Wisconsin makes its 21st NCAA Tournament appearance, traveling to Ames, Iowa, for the first and second rounds of the 2017 championship this weekend. The Badgers (20-9) face Marquette (22-9) in the first round on Friday at 4 p.m. from Hilton Coliseum. No. 14-seed Iowa State (21-6) faces Princeton (18-7) in the other first-round match at 7 p.m. on Friday. First-round winners play in the second round on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. for the right to advance to regional play.
