Wisconsin volleyball earns No. 2 seed to NCAA Tournament

Wisconsin will enter 28th NCAA volleyball championships as No. 2 seed

Wisconsin and Sarah Franklin earned a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament. / Scott Ash / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Wisconsin volleyball team will host first and second round matches in the NCAA Tournament, securing a No. 2 seed Sunday.

In the field for the 12th consecutive season and 28th time overall, the Badgers are the overall No. 7 seed for the championships. 

Up first for Wisconsin (23-6) will be Fairfield (21-11) on Thursday at 7 p.m. That match takes place following Georgia Tech (20-9) vs. Tennessee (15-11). The winners will play Friday night at 7 p.m. inside UW Field House.

“You play the entire regular season to kind of prepare yourself for the NCAA Tournament and this is probably the deepest that I’ve ever seen the tournament,” Wisconsin head coach Kelly Sheffield said. “I mean, the number of teams that I could see getting into a regional final or a final four is probably the most that I could ever remember. 

“You’ve got to be really really good at just taking one week at a time, one little mini-tournament at a time. We’re trending in the right direction, which is certainly what you want to be doing this time of the year. It feels like we’re knocking on the door of just putting things together.”

The Badgers have gone 67-21 all-time at the tournament, including a 39-10 mark under Sheffield. They have advanced to the Sweet 16 each season under him, including five appearances in the Final Four.

Wisconsin finished third in the Big Ten this past season behind Penn State and Nebraska, who both earned top seeds. Seven other league teams qualified including Oregon, Minnesota, USC, Purdue, Illinois and Washington. 

The Badgers are in the same region as Nebraska.

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