The Wisconsin Badgers women's volleyball is the

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

team representing the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I women's program. The university has a rich volleyball tradition, with origins dating back to 1974. They won a national title in 2021. They have had eleven head coaches since the team's inception. In the 2021 season, they ranked second in attendance among all Division 1 volleyball programs, averaging 7,540 fans over 15 regular season matches.

Elite Eight appearances

The Badgers have reached the Elite Eight in the

NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament The NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament is an annual event that leads to the championship in women's volleyball from teams in Division I contested by the NCAA each winter since 1981. Texas won the most recent tournament, defeating Louis ...

13 times.

1997

Under coach John Cook, the Badgers achieved a 30-3 overall record, which was the best record since the team's inception (until they reached 31–3 in 2021), the team had a bye to the second round, where they beat

Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...

3–0, and in the Sweet Sixteen, the team beat Notre Dame 3–1. The team lost to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

3–2 in the Elite Eight.

1998

The Badgers' overall record was 30–5, and reached the Elite Eight. The Badgers beat Arkansas-Little Rock 3–0 in the first round,

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

3–0 in the second round, and

UCSB The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

3–2 in the Sweet Sixteen. The team lost to

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

3–2 in the Elite Eight.

2000

The Badgers, under head coach

Pete Waite William Peter Waite (known as Pete Waite) is an American volleyball coach and author, and is a former head coach for the women's volleyball team at Wisconsin. Early life Waite is a graduate of Monona Grove High School in Madison, Wisconsin. He a ...

, reached the NCAA national final, finishing with an overall record of 33–4. The 7-seed Badgers defeated Bucknell 3–0 in the first round,

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

3–1 in the second round,

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

3–1 in the Sweet Sixteen, 15-seed

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

3–1 in the Elite Eight, and 3-seed

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

3–0 in the Final Four. The team fell just short of a national championship, falling to 1-seed

3–2. The Nebraska side was coached by former Badgers head coach John Cook. Both Lizzy Fitzgerald and Sherisa Livingston made the Final Four All-Tournament team.

2004

Following 2 consecutive second-round losses, the team found themselves in the Elite Eight again, finishing with an overall record of 22–10. The 14-seed Badgers defeated Loyola 3–0 in the first round, Notre Dame 3–0 in the second round, and 3-seed

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

3–2 in the Sweet Sixteen, before being shut out by

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

in the Elite Eight.

2005

The following year, the team made the Elite Eight again, finishing with an overall record of 26–7. The 11-seed Badgers defeated Loyola 3–0 in the first round,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

3–0 in the second round, and 6-seed Notre Dame 3–2 in the Sweet Sixteen, before being knocked out by 3-seed and eventual champion

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

3–0 in the Elite Eight.

2013

Following a disappointing period (2008-2012) under Waite, head coach

Kelly Sheffield Kelly Sheffield (born July 14, 1970) is an American Wisconsin Badgers women's volleyball, college volleyball coach and the current head coach for the women's volleyball team at the Wisconsin Badgers, University of Wisconsin. He is also a former h ...

, the former head coach of Albany and

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

, was hired. In Sheffield's first season, the Badgers went 28–10. The 12-seed Badgers defeated

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

3–0 in the first round,

3–0 in the second round,

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

3–1 in the Sweet Sixteen, and

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

3–1 in the Elite Eight. The team then became the lowest-seeded team to advance to the championship match, upsetting 1-seed

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

3–1 in the Final Four. The "

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

" story, however, came to an end after being defeated by 2-seed

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

in the championship. Deme Morales and

Lauren Carlini Lauren Nicole Carlini (born February 28, 1995) is an American volleyball player. She plays for the United States women's national volleyball team, United States women's volleyball team. She won the 2016 James E. Sullivan Award, Sullivan Award as ...

made the Final Four All-Tournament team.

2014

The following year, the team went 31–3, the best record the team had ever achieved up to this point. Entering the NCAA Tournament, the Badgers were seeded fourth. The Badgers defeated

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan, Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region a ...

3–0 in the first round,

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a Public university, public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is reco ...

3–0 in the second round, and

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

3–2 in the Sweet Sixteen. The Badgers were beaten, however, by 5-seed

in the Elite Eight. Penn State would go on to win the tournament.

2016

The team went 28–5, earning themselves a 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Badgers defeated

Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

3–0 in the first round,

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

3–0 in the second round, and

3–2 in the Sweet Sixteen. The team lost to 6-seed

, the eventual winners, with a score of 3–2.

2018

Following a Sweet 16 appearance in 2017, the Badgers reached the Elite Eight once again in 2018. Following an overall record of 25–7, the 6-seed Badgers beat Green Bay 3–0 in the first round,

Pepperdine Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and ...

3–1 in the second round, and

3–0 in the Sweet Sixteen. The team lost to 3-seed

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

3–1 in the Elite Eight.

2019

The 2019 Badgers finished the season 27–7, and earned the fourth overall seed in the NCAA tournament. Wisconsin swept Illinois State, UCLA, 13th seeded Texas A&M, and fifth seeded

to reach the Final-4. The Badgers defeated top seeded Baylor 3–1 in its third Final-4 appearance. In the NCAA Championship, Wisconsin fell to third seeded Stanford 3–0.

2020

In a season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic and played in Spring 2021, the Badgers finished the season 18–1, and earned the #1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. Wisconsin swept Weber State, & 16th seeded BYU, before defeating eighth seeded Florida 3–2 in the Elite Eight. In their fourth NCAA Final-4 appearance, Wisconsin fell to fourth seeded Texas 3–0.

2021

The Badgers finished 31–3 on the season. Ranked #1 in the Big Ten conference, the Badgers carried a #4 ranking into the tournament. The Badgers swept their way to the Final Four, defeating Colgate, Florida Gulf Coast, #13 UCLA, and #12 Minnesota. Semifinal Round: The Badgers were able to take down the previously unbeaten #1 seed Louisville in the semi-final round of the tournament in a 5 set match. Championship Round: The Badgers pulled off the championship victory in a five-set thriller over #10

. As a team, the Badgers posted 24 blocks, the most in a national championship. Rettke notched 11 kills and 13 blocks, while freshman Anna Smrek led offensively with 14 kills on .429 hitting, Jade Demps had 12 kills on .396 hitting, and Grace Loberg finished off her career with 10 kills. Sydney Hilley dished out 51 assists. Referencing: Michella Chester, NCAA reporting 12/18/2021

2022

The Badgers finished the season 28-4, and earned the 3rd overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Badgers swept Quinnipiac, and TCU to advance to the Regionals for the 10th consecutive year. The Badgers defeated (4) Penn State 3-2 in the Sweet Sixteen, before falling to (2) Pitt 3-2 in the Elite Eight.

Results by season

All-Americans

In all, Wisconsin has 27 total AVCA All-Americans, including four first team All-Americans. Among these four, Dana Rettke is the nation's only ever five-time first team All-American, largely due to the NCAA's decision not to count the 2020–21 school year, heavily disrupted by

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, against the college eligibility of any women's volleyball player.
* denotes Big Ten Player of the Year
^ denotes AVCA National Player of the Year

First team

Second team

Third team

Other honors

* Most Outstanding Player, NCAA Final Four: Anna Smrek –

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

References

{{University of Wisconsin–Madison

Elite Eight appearances

1997

1998

2000

2004

2005

2013

2014

2016

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Results by season

All-Americans

First team

Second team

Third team

Other honors

See also

References