Wisconsin Badgers Volleyball Sweeps Its Way Into the Sweet 16

The NCAA Tournament has gone pretty much according to seed so far and that is a good thing for the third-overall seeded, and top seed in their region, Wisconsin Badgers volleyball who swept Jackson State and Miami (Fla.) in their first two tourney matches.

Wisconsin Badgers Volleyball Sweeps Jackson State

On Thursday night, Wisconsin Badgers Volleyball made light work of Jackson State out of the SWAC, winning 25-18, 25-9, 25-18, to get to the second round. The Badgers hit a season-high .488 (46 kills – 6 errors – 82 attempts) against the Tigers, with Big Ten Player of the Year Sarah Franklin (12 kills) and Temi Thomas-Ailara (10 kills) leading the attack.

CC eyes on the prize 🎯🎯🎯 pic.twitter.com/85ca6LyKdH

— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) December 1, 2023

The Badgers stuffed eight of their 11.5 shots in the second set and Anna Smrek ended the match with six blocks while CC Crawford and Franklin each had three. Carter Booth, who had a match-high eight blocks and now has five or more blocks in 20 matches this year, thought UW’s aggression helped them at the net. “I think that first of all, we’re starting very aggressively and getting that ball in a lot, which was getting them out of system a little bit more. We had time to get over the net and be pressed early so that we were getting good touches on the ball if we weren’t stuffing it straight down,” Booth opined after the match.

Badgers Take Care of Business Against Miami

While their second round match was a bit tougher than their first round one, the Badgers didn’t really break TOO much of a sweat against the Hurricanes on Friday night. UW ended up winning 25-23, 25-15, 25-17 and, after trailing by as many as five in the first set, dominated Miami in sets two and three.

Per usual, the Badgers outblocked their opponent and their service game was on point too, notching one more ace than Miami did. Smrek, Franklin, and Thomas-Ailara all had double-digit kills while Gulce Guctekin, Julia Orzol, and MJ Hammill all had double-digit digs. Hammill ended up with a season-high 26 assists too, giving her 14 double-doubles on the season. Crawford and Smrek each had four blocks to lead the defense. Miami’s Grace Lopez had a nice night, tying Smrek with a match-high 15 kills, but it wasn’t nearly enough for the Hurricanes to mount a challenge against UW.

Wisconsin is assuredly excited to be moving on to the Sweet 16, but they have their sights set much higher. “We’re confident in ourselves and what happens when we stick together. It carries us through and that’s what’s giving us another opportunity in this tournament,” Smrek said on Friday night.

The Drive to Tampa continues.

Badgers advance to Regionals. 😤 pic.twitter.com/RwQ4VQuDul

— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) December 2, 2023

That next opportunity will come against a familiar foe as the Penn State Nittany Lions will be at the Field House on Thursday night. The Sweet 16 conference showdown will air live on ESPN at 6:00 p.m. CT. If Wisconsin wins, their Elite 8 opponent will be one of the other top-three seeds in the region, Purdue or Oregon.