MADISON, Wis. – The 2023 National Semifinal Wisconsin volleyball team kicks off the 2024 spring season with a match against the University of Illinios – Chicago (UIC) at the UW Field House on Friday. First serve is set for 7 p.m. (CT).
1. WELCOME CARLY: Carly Anderson is set to make her debut as a Badger in the Field House. She comes in with 3,637 assists in her career at Montana. The three-time All-Academic Big Sky recipient is also a two-time Second Team All-Big Sky, and earned College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District. Anderson’s 9.49 assists/set ranked third in the Big Sky and totaled 1,053 assists in 2023 for a second straight season.
2. KEY RETURNERS: Of the nine currently on roster, the Badgers return eight highly experienced players in CC Crawford, Devyn Robinson, Sarah Franklin, Anna Smrek, Gulce Guctekin, Julia Orzol, Carter Booth and Saige Damrow. In addition to Franklin, Smrek, Booth and Robinson earned All-American recognition in 2023, while Crawford, Guctekin, and Orzol sturdy the Badger defense.
3. WHEN USA VOLLEYBALL CALLS YOU ANSWER: Carter Booth, Sarah Franklin, and Devyn Robinson went to USA volleyball spring training to train with the national team. They have all had numerous call-ups for the team. Booth made her fourth appearance in a U.S. uniform after winning a gold medal with the 2019 Girls U18 National Team at the FIVB World Championships with teammates Devyn Robinson and CC Crawford. Robinson was named to the 2020 U.S. Collegiate National Team – Gold, while this marks the second appearance for Franklin with the U.S. National Training team.
4. FRANKLIN COMING OFF STACKED ACCOLADES: Sarah Franklin is coming off a tremendous senior campaign, winning AVCA National Player of the Year, AVCA All-Region (Northeast) and Big Ten Player of the Year to name a few. She joins Badger middle blocker, Dana Rettke, who won the award in 2021, as just the second player in program history to win the award. She hit a season best of .300, tallying double-figure kills in 29 matches this season, including five matches with 20-plus kills. She also averaged 4.62 points per set, adding 0.53 blocks and 0.18 service aces per set.
5. START TO SPRING: The match against UIC marks the first match this spring. Following UIC on Friday, the Badgers will have one last match against Northern Iowa at…
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