Five things to know: Badgers compete in third national semifinals

No. 4 Wisconsin

26-6

#1 Baylor

29-1

Game Coverage

Thursday, Dec. 19 | 6 p.m. CT | PPG Paints Arena | Pittsburgh, Pa.

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PITTSBURGH – Making its third appearance in the NCAA National Semifinals, fourth-seeded Wisconsin (26-6) takes on top-seeded Baylor (29-1) in the first national semifinal on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT from PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. The match will be televised by ESPN. Third-seed Stanford (28-4) takes on No. 7 Minnesota (27-5) in the second semifinal at approximately 8:30 p.m. CT.

Semifinal winners advance to the national championship match on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT from PPG Paints Arena. That match will be televised by ESPN2.

1. GOING FOR NO. 3: Wisconsin is 2-0 in national semifinal matches, defeating No. 2 USC, 3-1, in 2000 and top-ranked Texas, 3-1, in 2013. The Badgers fell in the national championship match both seasons, losing to No. 1 Nebraska, 3-2, in 2000, and second-seeded Penn State, 3-1, in 2013.

2. BIG BADGER BLOCK: UW continues its blocking dominance in NCAA tournament play, outblocking all four opponents. The Badgers are averaging 3.50 blocks per set in NCAA play with three players averaging 1.0-or-more blocks per set. Junior Dana Rettke (2.00), senior Madison Duello (1.67), and redshirt sophomore Danielle Hart (1.50) lead the team.

3. FOUR FOR ALL-AMERICAN: For the first time in program history, the Wisconsin volleyball team has two first-team All-Americans. Juniors Sydney Hilley and Dana Rettke were named American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) first-team All-Americans while redshirt junior Molly Haggerty earned second-team honors. Junior Grace Loberg was selected to the honorable mention team. Four All-Americans in one season ties the second most in program history. It is also the sixth-straight season that Wisconsin has had a first team honoree.

4. 15-0: Wisconsin has swept all four NCAA tournament opponents and also swept Rutgers on Nov. 30 to win the Big Ten championship. The Badgers have won 15-straight sets, their longest set-winning streak of the season.

5. SUPER SYDNEY: Junior Sydney Hilley tallied 44 assists against Texas A&M on Friday, becoming the sixth UW setter and the 51st Big Ten player to tally 4,000 assists in a career. The 6-foot setter added 31 helpers vs. Nebraska to bring her career total to 4,059 helpers and needs 17 assists to move into the top five at Wisconsin, a position currently held by All-American Morgan Shields (1999-03) with 4,076 helpers.