MADISON, Wis. – For the 10th-straight season and for the 26th time in program history, the Wisconsin volleyball team has earned a bid to the NCAA tournament. The Badgers were selected as the top regional seed and the No. 3 overall seed in the tournament, and will host first and second round matches on Friday and Saturday in the UW Field House.
Washington (20-10) takes on TCU (16-10) in the opening first-round match on Friday at 4:30 p.m. before Wisconsin (25-3) faces off against Quinnipiac (14-14) at 7 p.m. First-round winners advance to the second round of the tournament on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Field House.
“There is excitement about getting another week and another match with this,” head coach Kelly Sheffield said. “You have to earn the right to move on and every match you play is kind of a gift.
“We’re excited about playing Quinnipiac, it’s their first time ever being in the tournament and I’ve been in that place at Albany and I know what that means. (TCU) is a team that was good when we saw them and is a team this getting better as they’ve gone on and progressed. Washington is one of the top teams in the Pac-12. It’s a really well-coached team that plays hard and has big-time players and a big-time setter. We’ll have to get ready to play some of our best volleyball of the year this weekend.”
The Badgers are the reigning NCAA champions and hold a 60-24 (.714) all-time record in the program’s 25 NCAA tournament appearances. UW is 32-8 under Sheffield in nine years in the championship, advancing to at least the Sweet 16 round of play each season, including four appearances in the national championship final four.
UW won its fourth-straight Big Ten Conference championship in 2022, tying a program record for the most wins in the conference season at 19-1. Wisconsin is on an 18-match winning streak, tying for the second longest in program history.
Wisconsin has been a top-four seed in the tournament four other times – No. 4 seed in 2021, No. 1 seed in 2020, No. 4 seed in 2019, No. 3 seed in 2016, and No. 4 seed in 2014.
Six Big Ten Conference teams made it into the NCAA tournament with Wisconsin earning the conference’s automatic bid and the highest seed in the league. Five other league teams also received top-32 seeds — Nebraska (No. 2 seed in Louisville Regional), Minnesota (No. 2 in Texas Regional),…
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