Tag: kelly sheffield

Future Badger wins California Gatorade Player of the Year

Future Badgers setter wins major award

The Badgers women’s volleyball season came to an end in the Final Four in Tampa last month, but class of 2024 commit Charlie Fuerbringer won the California Gatorade Player of the Year this week.

Fuerbringer is a 5-foot-11 setter from Manhattan Beach, California, and she’s a top-ranked player in the class of 2024. With both Izzy Ashburn and MJ Hammill moving on from Wisconsin after the 2023 campaign, Fuerbringer could step into a prominent role with the Badgers as a true freshman in the fall.

In early November, Fuerbringer along with five other athletes were a part of National Signing Day, officially joining the team’s upcoming 2024-2025 roster.

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Badgers move on to NCAA Regional Finals, beat Penn State 3-1

Badgers are one step closer to the Final Four

The Wisconsin women’s volleyball team was able to take down Penn State in the NCAA Regional Semifinals on Thursday night, defeating the Nittany Lions 3-1. The Badgers are back in the Elite 8 where they fell to Pittsburgh last season.

Kelly Sheffield’s squad got their payback against Penn State after falling to their Big Ten foes 3-1 on the road Nov. 11.

The Badgers were able to take the first set handily 25-11, setting the tone early. The second set was a marathon 30-28 loss for Wisconsin, but they came back to win the next two 25-12 and 25-18.

Wisconsin will face Oregon at the UW Field House on Saturday night. The Ducks were able to sweep Purdue on their way to Regional Finals versus the Badgers.

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CHECK IT OUT: Four Badgers volleyball players earn All-Big Ten honors

Multiple Badgers chosen for All-Big Ten teams

The Badgers women’s volleyball team officially began postseason play Thursday, hosting Jackson State, but they had four players earn All-Big Ten honors earlier in the day.

Senior outside hitter Sarah Franklin is coming off of a week where she was the Big Ten Player of the Week and the National Player of the week but she was picked as a unanimous choice for the All-Big Ten First Team as well as the Big Ten Player of the year Thursday.

Junior opposite Anna Smrek and sophomore middle blocker Carter Booth were also chosen for the All-Big Ten First Team.

Finally, senior outside Devyn Robinson was selected for the All-Big Ten Second Team!

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Badgers volleyball player selected as National Player of the Week

Badgers star given national honors

The Badgers women’s volleyball team finished their regular season strong this past weekend, beating both Nebraska and Iowa at home to wrap the year with a 26-3 overall record.

Their outside hitter Sarah Franklin earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors on Monday and now she’s been selected as the AVCA National Division 1 Player of the Week.

Franklin compiled 30 kills, 16 of which were against Nebraska, while averaging 5.00 kills per set over the team’s two matches this weekend. She also registered three blocks and 15 digs while hitting .329 in the two contests.

Her selection as the National Player of the Week made her the first Badger since Dana Rettke in 2021 to receiver the honor.

Wisconsin was selected as the number-three overall seed in the upcoming National Tournament, the one-seed in their region, and they will host Jackson State on Thursday at 7:30 in a First Round matchup.

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Badgers Volleyball team shatters TV record

Badgers keep setting records

The Badgers women’s volleyball (20-1) defeated Minnesota (10-10) on Sunday 3-0, breaking a television viewership record in the process. The matchup was live on Fox immediately after NFL action, a first for women’s volleyball.

After the Badgers were a part of a record-setting contest (612K viewers) with Nebraska on Big Ten Network on Oct. 21, they more than doubled it, reeling in 1.66 million viewers on Sunday.

The new record even surpassed the total amount of viewers from the 2021 National Championship win for Wisconsin, which has a total of 1.20M watching.

Wisconsin is the number two ranked team in the nation and they’ll square off with Nebraska again in a few weeks on Nov. 24 at the UW Field House.

Undefeated volleyball matchup sets viewership record

Badgers set new Big Ten Network record

The Badgers women’s volleyball team (18-1) fell to Nebraska (19-0) on the road Saturday, setting a new viewership record for Big Ten Network. A total of 612,000 viewers tuned in to make it the most-watched volleyball broadcast on the network.

As a result of the loss, Wisconsin and Nebraska swapped spots as the top two ranked teams in the country with the Badgers now sitting at number two in the latest AVCA poll.

The two programs will meet again in November, squaring off at the UW Field House on the day after Thanksgiving (Nov. 24).

Wisconsin will be back in action Friday (Oct. 27) on the road versus Michigan State at 6:00PM.

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Badgers Volleyball remains undefeated, extends historic streak

Badgers stay perfect at home versus Big Ten foe

The #1 ranked Wisconsin women’s volleyball team improved to 18-0 on Wednesday, defeating Ohio State 3-0 at home while extending their consecutive sets won streak to 30 straight.

Coming into the match, the program’s all-time longest set winning streak sat at 33 in a row (Sept. 6 – Sept. 29, 200) , which they’re still short of, but they did break their previous record of 26 straight versus Big Ten opponents, reaching 27 sets in a row in conference play to start the season.

They’ll look to match their all-time record when they take on #2 ranked Nebraska (18-0) on the road Saturday at 7PM in Lincoln, though that will be quite the tall task.

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LISTEN: Voice of Badgers Volleyball calls final point

Badgers Volleyball continues dominant start

The number one overall ranked Badgers women’s volleyball team improved to 12-0 on the season Wednesday night, defeating #22 Ohio State over three sets in Columbus. The voice of Wisconsin volleyball Jon Arias posted his final call to his X account.

Wisconsin is just two years removed from their 2021 National Championship win over Nebraska and they’ve been on a tear to open the 2023 campaign. They’re the top ranked team in the country and they’ve now won six ranked matches (Arkansas twice) to open the season.

They will be back in action Sunday (Oct. 1) to face Michigan at the UW Fieldhouse in Madison.

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Wisconsin Volleyball sets another attendance record

Badgers women can’t stop setting records

The number one ranked Wisconsin women’s volleyball team played Marquette at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Wednesday night, helping set an NCAA record in the process. In their 3-1 four-set victory over the Golden Eagles, the two teams had a record 17,037 fans in attendance.

It set both a record for the highest attended women’s sporting event in state history and the largest indoor crowd for an NCAA volleyball match all-time. The previous record was set in 2022, when Wisconsin hosted Florida at the Kohl Center in Madison and more than 16,000 fans watched.

That wasn’t the only impressive feat though, the Badgers’ victory improved their record to a still unblemished 8-0. Kelly Sheffield’s squad will take on number three ranked Florida on Sunday (9/17).

Women’s Volleyball season starts tonight

Wisconsin volleyball is back!

The Wisconsin women’s volleyball season starts tonight, with the number two ranked Badgers facing off with number 15 Baylor at the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge.

Kelly Sheffield’s team is just two seasons removed from their National Championship win over Nebraska in 2021 and they’ll look to get back to the top again in 2023.

In 2022, the team advanced all the way to the final eight, losing to Pittsburgh 3-2 over five sets, the last of which finished 15-13.

With most of the roster returning this season, Wisconsin will have a shot to win their fifth consecutive Big Ten conference title.

After Baylor, the Badgers play again Saturday at 4:30 versus TCU.

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