Despite losing two matches in November, the Badgers look primed for another deep run in December

By Nathan Denzin, BADGER STRIPES

It’s been a whirlwind of a volleyball season, which started with Nebraska setting the all-time attendance record for a women’s sport in August, and ended with the undefeated and No. 1-ranked Cornhuskers losing to the Wisconsin Badgers in straight sets to end the regular season.

Wisconsin was consistently the best team in the country for most of the year – at one point the Badgers didn’t drop a single set for over a month – but ended the year as the No. 3 overall seed. The Badgers lost their top spot after then No. 2 Nebraska beat Wisconsin in Lincoln, but most of that fall can be attributed to an injury that kept the force that is Middle Blocker Anna Smrek out for multiple games. Wisconsin lost two matches without the talented (and very tall) junior near the end of the season. 

But when Smrek came back, all was right with the Badgers. Wisconsin got back to their winning ways, taking the last three matches of the season without dropping a set – including the revenge victory against No. 1 Nebraska the day after Thanksgiving.

With a 24-3 record to end the regular season, Wisconsin earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. But, if the Badgers want to repeat their magical 2021 run that ended in a championship, they’ll have to beat some stiff competition. 

Here’s a preview of each of the six games that stand between the Badgers and another championship trophy:

Jackson State

The Badgers kick off their tournament against the Jackson State Tigers on Thursday, in front of a friendly crowd in the Field House. This game shouldn’t be too much of a problem for Wisconsin, unless something goes catastrophically wrong.

Jackson State took fifth in the SWAC with a 10-6 record in conference play – but won their conference tournament by beating three of the teams above them to earn an automatic NCAA tournament bid. They aren’t a bad team by any means, but Wisconsin has the edge in just about every statistic.

The Tigers best player is probably outside hitter Alexis Williams, who averages nearly four kills per set. But the Badgers will have a pretty serious height advantage over the junior, who is just 5’9”. For comparison, Smrek is 6’9”. If Wisconsin doesn’t win this match, it’s going to be a long offseason.

Northern Iowa

Now the Badgers could play Miami here instead, but Wisconsin easily handled the Hurricanes 3-0 in a match earlier this year, so I’m focusing on UNI.

Northern Iowa absolutely ran through the Missouri Valley Conference, winning all 18 matches and going unbeaten since September 16. The Panthers have two powerhouses that score most of their points in Emily Holterhaus and Kira Fallert, each of which has scored nearly 450 points on the season. 

But again, Wisconsin shouldn’t have too much of a problem when they face off. UNI played two ranked teams (Creighton and Dayton) near the beginning of the season, and won just a single set across the matches. To add to the Panthers woes, they lost to just about every Power Five conference team they played this season – including a very mediocre Villanova squad.

UNI is playing with high confidence, but Wisconsin’s talent should be more than enough to shine through.

Penn State/Kansas

From here on out I’ll give a brief preview of a couple possible opponents, since just about anything can happen in a 64-team tournament. For the record, I think Penn State would be a way more entertaining match, but Kansas is the more likely opponent.

If the Badgers ended up facing the Nittany Lions, they would be looking for revenge. Penn State handed Wisconsin one of its three losses, in a game where Smrek was hurt and unable to play. The Badgers lost that game in early November by a score of 3-1, the fewest sets won by Wisconsin in a match since 2022.

Penn State has been gaining momentum at the end of the year, winning their last six straight matches, but a desire for revenge (and a healthy Smrek) probably tips the balance back to Wisconsin.

Kansas is a bit more of a wild card draw. The Jayhawks took second in the Big 12 behind just Texas, who earned a 2 seed in the tournament. They don’t commit as many errors as other potential opponents thus far, and spread their scoring around evenly. 

The one weakness that could sink Kansas is opponents kill percentage, which hovers near .200. For context, the Badgers surrender a kill percentage under .150. Once the Badger bus gets rolling, the Jayhawks will have a hard time stopping it.

Purdue/Oregon

Now we get to the Elite 8, and things get a little more interesting – Oregon finished the year ranked No. 6, while Purdue settled in at No. 12. This could be another revenge match for the Badgers, who lost to Purdue back in November after the loss to Penn State.

Purdue is a decent team that went on a tear at the end of the year, winning seven straight matches – including that big win against Wisconsin, and another against Penn State. The Boilermakers have a tendency to play in close matches, with only eight of their 21 wins coming in straight sets. That might seem like nitpicking, but you have to look at little things when the competition gets to this stage.

Oregon is a different beast, after taking down six ranked teams over the course of the year. The Ducks hit well, defend well and have good height. I can’t pretend to know much else about Oregon due to a lot of 11 p.m. start times, but they always factor into the NCAA tournament come December.

Stanford/Texas

Along with Nebraska, Stanford is the only other team ranked higher than the Badgers. Texas finished the year at No. 5, so either of these squads would be fun Final 4 matchups. Like Wisconsin, Stanford has three losses including one to Nebraska.

The Cardinal haven’t lost a match since October, and rank third in the entire NCAA for assists per set. Kami Miner, a 6’ setter for Stanford also ranks as third best in assists per set in the country. 

Stanford beat a whopping seven teams throughout the season who ended ranked in the top 10, including two matches against No. 10 Washington State and one against No. 5 Texas.

Moving on to Texas, they play a similar game to Wisconsin that relies heavily on the block. The Badgers are the top blockers in the country with three per set, but the Longhorns aren’t far behind with 2.95 a set. 

Texas has been dominant all year, minus a fluke game dropped against Kansas State in early November. They won six straight against ranked opponents in September, dropping just four sets over those matches. 

A game against either Texas or Stanford is likely to come down to the Badgers ability to block – either against a block that is equally up to the task, or against one of the best passing teams in the nation.

Nebraska/Pitt

For all the money, Wisconsin might be facing off against the best team in the country, or the team that knocked them out of the tournament in 2022.

Since we’ve talked so much about revenge games, we’ll start with Pitt. The Panthers have nearly identical block stats to Texas, down to their top blocker – Asjia O’Neal – averaging just 0.03 more blocks than Texas’s top defender.

In 2022, Pitt came to Madison and knocked the Badgers out of the tournament in the Elite Eight in a hard fought 3-2 match. But all Wisconsin’s top players from a year ago are back, they added a few heavy hitters. A rematch against Pitt for the national title would be extra motivation.

We all know who Nebraska is – the powerhouse is led by Merritt Beason and Harper Murray on offense, and anchored by Bekka Allick on the block. They are a well-oiled machine that has mowed down everyone in their path, except those pesky Badgers.
Nebraska won the match played in Lincoln 3-2, and Wisconsin swept them 3-0 in the Field House. If we are blessed with a rubber match, I’m hoping it goes down like 2021.

Badger Stripes is a sports news organization that provides in-depth coverage of Wisconsin athletics. Follow us on Facebook.