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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.

Badger women’s volleyball hosts NCAA Regional

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Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield

The fourth-seeded Wisconsin Badger women’s volleyball team swept Illinois State and UCLA over the weekend, advancing to the NCAA’s Sweet 16 for the 17th time in program history.

For the fourth time in program history, the Badgers will host NCAA Regional action in the UW Field House.  The Badgers (24-6) will face off against No. 13 Texas A & M (23-7) on Friday at 1 p.m. (Live on ESPNU).  Fifth-seeded Nebraska (26-4) takes on No. 12 Hawaii (25-3) in the other regional semifinal at 3:30 p.m. on Friday (ESPN3).

Semifinal winners play on Saturday at 5 p.m. live on ESPNU for the right to advance to the NCAA National Championship on Dec. 19 and Dec. 21 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

The Badgers are 9-7 in the Sweet 16, including a 4-2 mark under head coach Kelly Sheffield.  UW swept San Diego in the Champaign (Illinois) Regional in 2018.

The Badgers have hosted regional action three other times, in 2006, 2000 and 1997, winning Sweet 16 matches all three years.

Badgers claim Big Ten Volleyball title, will host NCAA 1st and 2nd round matches

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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 [Read more…]

Badger women’s volleyball hosts NCAA matches

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Badger Volleyball – File Photo

For the sixth-straight season and the 22nd time in program history, the Wisconsin volleyball team earned a bid to the NCAA tournament.  The Badgers were selected as the number-six seed in the 2018 championship bracket and will host first and second rounds in the UW Field House on Thursday and Friday.

Wisconsin (22-6) will face Green Bay (20-10) in the first round on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.  Northern Iowa (24-9) faces off against Pepperdine (21-8) in the opening first-round match at 5 p.m.  First-round winners will face off on Friday at 7 p.m. for the right to advance to regional play.

The Badgers hold a 43-21 (.672) all-time record in the program’s 21 NCAA tournament appearances.  UW is 15-5 under head coach Kelly Sheffield in the NCAA tournament, advancing to at least the Sweet 16 round of play each season.

Wisconsin has been a top-10 seed in the tournament six times since seeding began in 2000.

A total of seven Big Ten Conference teams made it into the NCAA tournament, including No. 2-seed Minnesota and No. 3-seed Illinois.

7th ranked Volleyball Badgers open season with a win

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Sydney Hilley

The freshman duo of Sydney Hilley and Dana Rettke led the 7th ranked Wisconsin volleyball team to a 25-18, 25-19, 26-24 sweep of Louisville in the first round of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge in the UW Field House on Friday night.  UW opened its season with a win for the second straight season and for the fourth time under fifth-year head coach Kelly Sheffield.

Hilley finished with 36 assists and added four kills, three digs and one block.  In Hilley’s first start running the Badger offense, Wisconsin hit .320 (42 kills – 11 errors – 97 attempts) while holding Louisville to .171 (39-21-105).

Rettke led all hitters with 15 kills while hitting .500 (15-3-24).  the 6’8 middle blocker also had a match-high six blocks.  Wisconsin outblocked the Cardinals 8-6.

Sophomore M.E. Dodge had a team-high 10 digs.

The Badgers wrap up the Challenge on Saturday night at 7:30 against 11th ranked North Carolina (0-1).  The Tarheels lost their opener last night at Minnesota.

Badgers women’s volleyball rebounds

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Kelly Sheffield

Kelly Sheffield

The top-ranked Wisconsin women’s volleyball team rebounded from their first Big Ten loss on Wednesday to beat number-18 Michigan in five sets on Saturday in Ann Arbor.

The win is the 100th career victory for Badgers head coach Kelly Sheffield.

Molly Haggerty led the Badgers with 13 kills, seven assists, six digs and two blocks.

The Badgers (15-2, 7-1) will play at No. 2 Nebraska on Friday night.

Wisconsin’s volleyball season ends in NCAA Regional Semifinals

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Badger Women's Volleyball

Badger Women’s Volleyball

After battling back from a two-set deficit, the Wisconsin women’s volleyball team’s comeback came up short as the sixth-seeded Badgers fell to 11th-seeded Florida 25-17, 25-23, 19-25, 22-25, 15-12 in the NCAA Regional Semifinals in Austin, Texas.

“it’s two teams that I don’t think anybody should hang their heads about.  I thought it was a great, great college volleyball match,” UW Head Coach Kelly Sheffield said.  “It’s the Sweet Sixteen and unfortunately somebody has to lose but it was one heck of a battle and I’m proud of my kids.”

Wisconsin (26-7) hit .275 (69 kills – 27 errors – 153 total attempts) and was paced by sophomores Kelli Bates and Lauryn Gillis.  Bates led the Badgers with a career-high 21 kills while Gillis tied her career high with 20 kills.

Florida’s high-powered attack overwhelmed the Badgers as the Gators hit .349 (68-15-152).

After dropping the first two sets, the Badgers roared back against Florida to force a fifth set.

The Badgers lose only one player (Taylor Morey) to graduation, returning six starters and 12 letter winners for next season.

Badgers open Big Ten volleyball season tonight

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The 5th ranked Wisconsin women’s volleyball team opens the Big Ten volleyball season tonight against 3rd ranked and defending NCAA Champion Penn State at the UW Field House.

It’s an NCAA Championship rematch as the Lady Lions knocked off the Badgers in last years NCAA final.

Penn State has captured six National Titles in 36 years under head coach Russ Rose.  The Badgers haven’t beaten Penn State since 2011.

Wisconsin enters with a 9-1 overall record.  Penn State is 12-1.

First serve is at 6:30pm tonight at the UW Field House.

AUDIO: Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield says they’ll find out where they stand tonight :14