Five things to know: Badgers B1G weekend

Friday, October 18

UW Field House

8 p.m.

Wisconsin Badgers

Illinois

Photo by: Chad Mosley

Five things to know: Badgers B1G weekend

October 17, 2019 | Volleyball

Big Ten-leading Wisconsin hosts Illinois, Northwestern

By: Drew Kocken

No. 7 Wisconsin

10-4, 6-0

No. 17 Illinois

9-6, 4-2

Game Coverage

Friday, Oct. 18 | 8 p.m. | UW Field House | Madison, Wis.

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Madison, Wis. – No. 6 Wisconsin (10-4, 6-0 B1G) wraps up the toughest part of its schedule with its fourth ranked team in the last five matches. The Badgers host No. 17 Illinois (9-6, 4-2) on Friday at 8 p.m. live on FS2. UW takes on Northwestern (9-9, 0-6) for the second time in 10 days when the Wildcats come to town on Saturday at 7 p.m.

1. ALONE AT THE TOP: The Badgers took over sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with two wins last week. Wisconsin swept Northwestern on the road on Wednesday before sweeping previously undefeated No. 6 Minnesota at home on Sunday.

2. KEEP ON WINNING: UW has won six straight matches, its longest winning streak of the season. The streak includes wins over four ranked teams—No. 2 Nebraska, No. 5 Penn State, No. 6 Minnesota, and No. 15 Purdue. Wisconsin is now 4-4 against top-25 teams this year. Wisconsin moves up to sixth in this week's AVCA Top-25 Coaches' Poll and third in this week's NCAA RPI.

3. GREAT DANA: Junior Dana Rettke was named the Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday, her second award of the season and sixth of her career as well as the second straight for UW. With her ninth kill of the match at Northwestern on Wednesday, junior Dana Rettke became the 23rd Badger to record 1,000 kills. The 6-foot-8 middle blocker became the second-fastest UW player to record 1,000 career kills.

Big Ten Player of the Week, @dana_rettke!

⭐️Second fastest player in Wisconsin History to get 1,000 kills
⭐️16 kills and .500 hitting percentage against Minnesota pic.twitter.com/OoNABL2r4H
— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) October 14, 2019

4. SYD'S SETTING SUCCESS: Junior Sydney Hilley was named the Big Ten Setter of the Week for the second straight week after also being named Player of the Week on Oct. 7. It is Hilley's third Setter of the Week honor of the season and the seventh of her career. Junior Sydney Hilley leads the nation with 11.83 assists per set. Wisconsin hits a Big Ten-best .287, which ranks sixth in the nation.

5. HITTING IT WELL: Over its last four matches, Wisconsin is hitting .334 (199K-53E-437TA). The Badgers have hit over .300 six times this year. For all matches, UW ranks second in the Big Ten in hitting percentage at .287, which ranks seventh in the nation. In Big Ten-only matches, Wisconsin leads the conference in hitting percentage (.296), kills per set (14.85) and assists per set (14.05). UW also ranks second in service aces per set (1.85).