Ball knowing can be a multi-sport operation
The defending national champion Wisconsin volleyball team looks to set a record on Friday night.
Having written about many Wisconsin sports for so many years, I’ve found it difficult to not have thoughts about non-basketball stuff as we wait for the college season to tip-off. So today, let’s check in on the defending national champion Wisconsin Badgers volleyball team!
UW, sitting at 5-1 on the season and ranked No. 4 in the nation, is set to host the No. 16 Florida Gators (6-2 overall) on Friday night at the Fie…wait a second! This is the game that is actually taking place at the Kohl Center! OH, HELL YEAH!
The Badgers are trying to set the NCAA regular-season attendance record of 15,797, set at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, on Sept. 7, 2022, when Nebraska edged Creighton, 3-2. The Kohl Center seats over 17,000 people for hoops, so if it’s a sellout…they could smash the record. It should be noted that Nebraska holds the top-five spots for largest regular season crowds in volleyball history. Say what you will about the Huskers, and I have, but they love their volleyball.
In case people forgot, the national championship banner will be in attendance on Friday.
Per UW, the last time a volleyball match was played in the Kohl Center was the 1998 NCAA championship match on Dec. 12. Long Beach State defeated Penn State, 3-2, in the title match in front of 13,194 fans, a then-NCAA attendance record. Seems like the state of Wisconsin loves volleyball too.
The Badgers have now won four matches in a row, and haven’t lost a set in three straight, including a sweep of No. 14 Kentucky in Lexington last weekend. Wisconsin’s only loss so far was a five-set thriller at No. 16 Baylor in the second match of the season.
Since then, the Badgers beat No. 24 Marquette 3-1 and swept High Point and Campbell sandwiched around their win at UK. The match with Florida, and Sunday’s contest against Rhode Island back at the Field House, are Wisconsin’s last two non-conference matchups before heading into the meat grinder that is B1G play.
As a quick reminder, here are the B1G teams that are ranked in the AVCA Coaches Top-25 currently along with the No. 4 Badgers:
No. 2 Nebraska Cornhuskers
No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes
No. 6 Minnesota Golden Gophers
No. 10 Purdue Boilermakers
No. 11 Penn State Nittany Lions
No. 25 Illinois Fighting Illini
Northwestern and Michigan are “receiving votes”
Future conference members USC and UCLA are also “receiving votes” if you want to look way into the future
Wisconsin has had a TON of talent to replace off of last year’s team with Dana Rettke, Sydney Hilley, Lauren Barnes, Grace Loberg and Gio Civita moving on, but they are at the point where they don’t rebuild, they reload.
Freshman libero Gülce Güçtekin was just named Big Ten Freshman of the Week and the native of Turkey leads the team with 12 service aces on the season to go along with her 3.71 digs per set (ninth best in the conference).
Michigan State transfer OH Sarah Franklin is leading the team with 3.71 kills per set and also leads the team in points scored. Kansas transfer MB Caroline Crawford leads the team in blocks and is second in blocks per set (behind Danielle Hart who leads the nation at 1.93 blocks/set). Fellow transfers L/DS Shanel Bramschreiber (Baylor) and MB/RS Gabby McCaa (Boston College) haven’t suited up yet, Bramschreiber due to the stupid NCAA.
Returning vets like Devyn Robinson, Julia Orzoł, Jade Demps, Izzy Ashburn and Anna Smrek are also still in the mix performing at their usual high level and MJ Hammill has stepped into a starting role as well.
So, if you’ve been waiting for conference play to start before paying attention, I’d urge you to check out the Florida match on Friday because it should be a doozy.
First serve is at 7:30 p.m. CT live on Big Ten Network and will be broadcast in Madison on WIBA 1310 AM.
