Wisconsin Volleyball – File Photo
The Wisconsin Badger women’s volleyball team captured the Big Ten title outright after sweeping Rutgers on Saturday and seeing Minnesota knock off Penn State.
For the seventh-straight season and the 23rd time in program history, the Badgers earned a bid to the NCAA tournament. The Badgers were selected as the No. 4-seed in the tournament and will host first and second round matches on Friday-Saturday in the UW Field House.
UCLA (18-11) takes on Notre Dame (19-9) in the opening first-round match on Friday at 4:30 p.m. before Wisconsin (22-6) faces off against Illinois State (22-11) at 7 p.m. First-round winners advance to the second round of the tournament on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Field House.
The Badgers hold a 46-22 (.676) all-time record in the program’s 22 NCAA tournament appearances. UW is 18-6 under coach Kelly Sheffield in six years in the championship, advancing to at least the Sweet 16 round of play each season.
Wisconsin has been a top-four seed in the tournament just two other times, including a No. 3 seed in 2016 and a No. 4 seed in 2014.
UW was seeded sixth in 2018 hosting first and second-round matches. The Badgers swept Green Bay in the first round and downed Pepperdine, 3-1, in the second round. UW advanced to NCAA Regional in Champaign, Illinois, sweeping San Diego in the Sweet 16 before falling to Illinois, 3-1 in the Elite Eight.
Seven Big Ten Conference teams made it into the NCAA tournament with Wisconsin, the 2019 conference champions, earning the highest seed in the league.