NCAA Volleyball Tournament

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UW Athletics

Celebrating volleyball players.

The UW Badgers volleyball team following a sweep of Maryland on Senior Night, Nov. 12, 2022.

press release: Despite Penn State coming back to force a fifth set, the second-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team is still dancing in the NCAA tournament! The Badgers (27-3) are headed to the Elite Eight, defeating No. 11 Penn State 25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 20-25 on Thursday night in the UW Field House. Wisconsin faces No. 6 PIttsburgh in the regional final on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Field House.

Wisconsin's block was the key to its win. The Badgers out-blocked the Nittany Lions, 23-9, with Caroline Crawford leading all players with a career-high 12 stuffs, including three in the fifth set. Anna Smrek and Danielle Hart were close behind with eight stops apiece while Sarah Franklin added a career-high six stop blocks. Devyn Robinson also had six stuffs.

The Badger block held Penn State (26-8) to a .056 (56-46-179) team hitting percentage, including a negative .064 percentage in the second set. Wisconsin hit .182 (49-22-148) for the match behind a .579 (13-2-19) hitting percentage from Smrek. Franklin and Smrek combined for 26 of UW's 49 kills in the match as both put away 13 attacks while Robinson added 11 kills. The Lions also had three players in double-digit kills led by Kashuana Williams with a match-high 14 kills. Katie Clark added 13 kills while Zoe Weatherington put away 11 attempts. Williams (-.018) and Weatherington (-.031) both hit negative in the match.  

MJ Hammill and Izzy Ashburn were nearly equal in assists, 22-20, respectively.   

Penn State finished with a plus-four advantage in digs (63-59) with the Badgers' Gulce Guctekin leading all players with 18 digs. Julia Orzol closely followed with 16 saves.  

The Lions also dominated from the service line, outscoring Wisconsin 10-4 in service aces. Joslyn Boyer scored the match-winning ace while Orzol, Ashburn, and Hammill each earned a perfect serve for UW.

Up next

The Badgers look for a spot in their fourth-straight NCAA National Semifinal when they face No. 6 Pittsburgh in the Elite Eight on Saturday in the UW Field House. First serve is at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.

Times for the Wisconsin Regional of the 2022 NCAA Volleyball Championship in the UW Field House have been announced.

Sixth-ranked Pittsburgh (29-3), seeded No. 2 in the region, takes on 12th-ranked and third-seed Florida (25-5) in the first regional semifinal at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday. Second-ranked and No. 1-seed Wisconsin (27-3) faces 11th-ranked and fourth-seeded Penn State (26-7) in the second regional semifinal, 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first match.

Semifinal winners advance to the regional final on Saturday at 7 p.m. All matches air live on ESPNU.

The regional champion advances to the NCAA National Semifinals on Thursday, Dec. 15 at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The national championship will e held on Saturday, Dec. 17 at the CHI Health Center.

All-session ticket packages go on-sale beginning at 9 a.m. on Monday. All-session ticket packages include one ticket for both matches on Thursday and one ticket for Saturday. There is no re-entry between matches on Thursday.

All-session ticket prices are listed below:

• Reserved (Red): $35
• General Admission: $30
• College Students: $8

Single-session tickets for Thursday and Saturday go on-sale beginning at 9 a.m. on Thursday. Single-session tickets are valid for one day.

Single-session ticket prices are listed below:

• Reserved (Bronze): $27
• Reserved (Red): $24
• General Admission: $20
• College Students: $5

There is a limit of six (6) tickets per account. The fastest and most convenient way to purchase tickets is online at UWBadgers.com. Tickets may also purchased over-the-phone by calling 608.262.1440 or in-person at the McGinnis Family Wisconsin Athletic Ticket Office, located by Gate 1 of Camp Randall Stadium.

For the 10th straight season, Wisconsin is heading to the NCAA Regionals. The second-ranked Badgers volleyball team advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 25-9, 25-11, 25-23 win over TCU in second-round action on Saturday night.

UW used a strong serving game and tough blocking to shut down the Horned Frogs. Wisconsin scored on six service aces, including two apiece from MJ Hammill and Caroline Crawford, while giving up only one ace.

The Badgers also outblocked TCU, 11-2, its fourth-straight match and 18th of the season with 10-or-more blocks. Danielle Hart led all players with five stuffs while Devyn Robinson and Julia Orzol both added four stops, including two block solos by Orzol.

UW edged the Horned Frogs 34-33 in kills but Wisconsin hit .395 (34-4-76) compared to just .051 (33-28-98) from TCU. Sarah Franklin was the only Badger in double-figure kills with a match-high 13 while Robinson and Anna Smrek both added six kills.

The Horned Frogs edged Wisconsin 35-33 in digs but freshman Gulce Guctekin led all players with a match-high 11 digs.

After Wisconsin dominated the first two sets, TCU challenged the Badgers in the third set with eight early ties, including at 9-9. Behind the service of Crawford, Wisconsin went on a 3-0 run to take a 12-9 lead. UW would up its lead to four (20-16) but TCU would make it just a two-point set at 23-21. The Badgers served for match point at 24-21 but the Horned Frogs would hold off two match points before a block from Franklin and Smrek extended Wisconsin's season.