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Rettke named Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year

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Dana Rettke

For the first time in 20 years, Wisconsin Badgers athlete was named Big Ten athlete of the year when the conference awarded Rettke the female athlete honor on Thursday.  The 6’8 middle blocker is the first UW female athlete to win the award since 1997 and the first UW athlete overall since Ron Dayne was recognized in 2000.

Rettke, who has another year of eligibility left at Wisconsin, led the Badgers to the NCAA championship match and the Big Ten title last fall.

Wisconsin’s last recipient of the Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year was Ron Dayne (football) in 2000, while the Badgers’ last female honoree was Kathy Butler (cross country and track and field) in 1997.  In total, Badgers have won the honor seven times overall (once for men, six for women) with five individuals claiming the honor.

Additionally, Rettke is the first Big Ten volleyball student-athlete to win this honor since 2010 and only the fifth all-time.

Rettke competed with the U.S. National Team during the summer of 2019, winning the Volleyball Nations League and qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  She was a finalist for both the 2020 AAU James E. Sullivan Award and a 2019 Honda Award.

Ohio State’s Chase  Young was honored as the Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year.  Young is the fourth Ohio State student in the past six years to capture the honor.

Rettke, Taylor named Wisconsin’s Athletes of the Year

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Dana Rettke

Junior middle blocker Dana Rettke of the volleyball team and junior running back Jonathan Taylor of the football team were both named University of Wisconsin Athletes of the Year.

The pair also serve as Wisconsin’s nominees for the Big Ten Conference Athlete of the Year honors, which will be awarded on Thursday.

The Big Ten has recognized a Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year since 1982 and first honored a Female Athlete of the Year in 1983.  The Big Ten Athletes of the Year are selected by a panel of conference media members, with one male and one female student-athlete nominated from each Big Ten institution to be considered for the honor.

One of the country’s best middle blockers, Rettke helped lead the Badgers to the 2019 NCAA National Championship match and earned her third-consecutive selection as a first-team All-American (2017, 2018, 2019).  The 2019 Big Ten Player of the Year, Rettke was also selected to both the 2019 NCAA Championship All-Tournament team and 2019 NCAA Regional All-Tournament team.

Jonathan Taylor

Rettke competed with the U.S. National Team during the summer of 2019, winning the Volleyball Nations League and qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  She was a finalist for both the 2020 AAU James E. Sullivan Award and a 2019 Honda Award.

Taylor cemented his place as one of the great running backs in college football history during the 2019 season.

He finished his career with 6,174 yards, finishing number-six all-time in rushing among FBS players and is the only player to ever eclipse the 6,000-yard mark in just three seasons.  His career total ranks No. 2 all-time among Big Ten players, trailing only Badgers great Ron Dayne (7,125).

Taylor repeated as winner of the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s premier running back in 2019, while also earning unanimous first-team All-America honors for the second straight season.

Taylor was picked in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts.

 

Badgers advance to NCAA Volleyball title game

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Wisconsin Volleyball – File Photo

For the third time in program history, the Wisconsin volleyball team will play for the National Championship.

Thursday night in Pittsburgh, the fourth-seeded Badgers lost the first set 27-25 but won the next three, 25-11, 25-17, 25-19 and beat top-ranked Baylor to advance to Saturday nights NCAA Final.

Three-time All-American Dana Rettke had 19 kills, seven blocks and three aces.  Fellow junior Molly Haggerty added 15 kills and 9 digs while All-American setter Sydney Hilley dished out 43 assists.

Seeking it’s first NCAA title, Wisconsin will play defending NCAA Champion Stanford on Saturday night.  The Cardinal swept the Minnesota Gophers in the night’s second semifinal.

 

Wisconsin volleyball advances to NCAA Final Four

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Molly Haggerty

The No. 4 Wisconsin Badgers swept No. 5 Nebraska for the third time this season, advancing to its third NCAA Volleyball Championship Semifinal in program history.  The Badgers (26-6) took down the Huskers 25-18, 25-22, 25-19.

Redshirt junior Molly Haggerty was the lone Badger with double-digit kills (14) and was announced as the 2019 NCAA Madison Regional MVP following the match.  Juniors Dana Rettke and Sydney Hilley joined Haggerty on the Madison Regional All-Tournament Team.

The Badgers finished with five service aces (all coming in the first set), headlined by three from Hilley and two from Tiffany Clark, while also edging Nebraska (28-5) in blocks (11-5), led by a match-high eight from Rettke. [Read more…]

Badger volleyball advances to Elite Eight after third straight sweep

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The No. 4 Wisconsin Badger volleyball team swept No. 13 Texas A & M in its NCAA Regional Semifinal match on Friday afternoon.  The Badgers (25-6) have now won nine straight sets in the NCAA tournament, taking the match 25-20, 25-17, 25-23 over the Aggies (23-8) at the UW Field House.

Three Badgers finished with double-digit kills, led by junior Dana Rettke with 14.  Molly Haggerty and Grace Loberg pitched in 12 and 10, respectively, as the Badgers hit .394 (50 kills – 9 errors – 104 attempts).  Texas A & M’s Hollann Hans finished with a match-high 20 kills on 44 attempts to hit .250 (20-9-44).

The Wisconsin front line outdueled the Aggies 9-2 in blocks.  Rettke had five to pace the Badgers, while Danielle Hart and Sydney Hilley added four stops apiece.  The Badgers defense held the Aggies to a .229 hitting percentage (42 – 17 – 109).

Wisconsin advances to its 10th NCAA Regional Final, including fifth in the last seven years under head coach Kelly Sheffield.

The Badgers upped their home-match winning streak to 13 matches with Friday’s win.

Wisconsin advances to the NCAA Regional Final and will face the winner of the second semifinal match between No. 5 Nebraska and No. 12 Hawaii.  First serve will be at 5 p.m. on ESPNU, live from the Wisconsin Field House.

Badgers sweep No. 6 Nebraska, draw closer to Big Ten title

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The fifth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team took a big step closer with a sweep of No. 6 Nebraska on Sunday afternoon.  The Badgers downed the Huskers 25-19, 25-22, 25-21, needing only one more win to clinch a share of the Big Ten Conference Championship.

The Badgers (21-5, 17-1) put on a hitting clinic, connecting on .333 percent (54 kills – 13 errors – 123 attempts) of its attacks with three players tallying double figures.  Junior Molly Haggerty shared match-high honors with 16 kills while Dana Rettke and Madison Duello chipped in with 12 and 10 kills, respectively.

Nebraska’s (23-4, 15-3) Lexi Sun also put away 16 kills but she was the only Husker to hit double figures as the visitors hit .241 (39-13-108).

Badger junior Sydney Hilley put up an impressive 48 assists in the match and added eight digs, just two short of her ninth double-double of the season. [Read more…]

Badger volleyball team grabs sole possession of first place

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Molly Haggerty

The 7th-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team grabbed sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with a four set (25-22, 23-25, 30-28, 29-27) win over the Minnesota Gophers on Thursday night.

The Badgers (18-5, 14-1) won their second straight Border Battle match and notched their first win in the Maturi Pavillion since 2014.

The Badgers were led by Molly Haggerty with a season-high 24 kills.  Dana Rettke followed with 21 kills and Grace Loberg pitched in with 19 as Wisconsin hit .313 (82 kills – 21 errors – 195 attempts) while holding Minnesota to .284 (64 – 16 – 169).

The lone blemish on the match for Wisconsin was a 13-4 tally in service errors, but the impressive offensive attack was enough to push the Badgers past the Gophers into sole possession of the Big Ten’s top spot.

The Badgers swept the Gophers for the first time since 2014, when UW won its last Big Ten Championship.

Wisconsin will look to maintain the Big Ten’s top spot as Michigan State comes to the UW Field House on Saturday (7 p.m.).

 

Wisconsin women’s volleyball wins 11th straight

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Dana Rettke

The fourth-ranked Wisconsin Badger women’s volleyball team ran its Big Ten Conference win streak to 11 straight matches, sweeping Maryland 25-21, 25-14, 25-20, at the UW Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.

The Badgers (15-4, 11-0 Big Ten) tied the best conference opening in program history.  Wisconsin was also 11-0 in 2001.

Junior Dana Rettke was the only player on either team to put away double-figure kills, tallying a match-high 17 kills.  The 6’8 middle blocker did not have a hitting error and finished with a .654 (17-0-26) hitting percentage.

The Badgers maintained a one-game lead in the Big Ten standings over Minnesota, which needed five sets to knock off Ohio State.

Wisconsin kicks off a four-match road swing on Sunday when it travels to Indiana.

Wisconsin sweeps Minnesota, sits along atop the Big Ten

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Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield

With the top spot in the Big Ten Conference on the line, number seven Wisconsin swept number six Minnesota in a battle for the top spot in the league on Sunday.

The Badgers swept the Gophers, 25-18, 25-15, 25-20, to earn its third straight sweep, its third win over a top-10 team in its last four matches, and its first Border Battle win since 2014 – also when it won its last Big Ten Championship.

The Badgers held Minnesota to a .188 hitting percentage (31 kills – 12 errors – 101 attempts).  Senior libero Tiffany Clark totaled a match-high 14 digs, and Madison Duello and Danielle Hart finished with three blocks each, holding down the front line.

Offensively, junior Dana Rettke finished with a match-high 16 kills, hitting an even .500 (16-2-28) on the day.  Molly Haggerty added 12 kills for the Badgers. [Read more…]

Wisconsin selected as Preseason Volleyball Favorite

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Dana Rettke

Wisconsin was chosen as the conference favorite for the 2019 volleyball season, voted on by the Big Ten coaches and announced Monday.  The Badgers start the 2019 season ranked No. 5 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).  It is the fifth straight season the Badgers will open the year ranked among the top 10 teams in the country.

Nebraska, ranked second nationally, was also selected No. 2 in the preseason poll.  Defending 2018 Big Ten Champion Minnesota was tabbed third.  Penn State was voted to finish fourth, while Illinois rounded out the top five of the preseason poll.

Additionally, conference coaches selected a Preseason All-Big Ten Team featuring three unanimous selections and four previous preseason honorees.  Illinois’ Jacqueline Quade, Penn State’s Kendall White and Wisconsin’s Dana Rettke were unanimous selections.  Minnesota’s Alexis Hart receives Preseason All-Big Ten honors for the third straight season, while Gopher Stephanie Samedy, White and Rettke claim the recognition for the second time.