MADISON, Wis. -- Third-ranked Wisconsin volleyball (13-1, 5-1 B1G) goes on road this weekend, traveling to the state of Michigan for two matches. Wisconsin takes on Michigan State (8-7, 1-5) in East Lansing on Friday at 5 p.m. The road trip continues at Michigan (10-5, 3-3) on Saturday. First serve is 3:30 p.m. from Ann Arbor. Both matches air live on the Big Ten Network.
1. RACE FOR BIG TEN'S BEST: The Badgers are currently tied for second in the Big Ten standings at 5-1 with Purdue and Penn State. Nebraska is the only undefeated conference team at 6-0. Wisconsin is on a five-match Big Ten winning streak after sweeping Iowa and downing Illinois, 3-1, last week.
2. SYDNEY, A SETTER AND A SAVER: Graduate student
Sydney Hilley will reach 1,000 digs with five saves, becoming the 18th Badger to tally 1,000 saves and the third Wisconsin setter with 5,000 assists/1,000 digs. After 40 assists vs. Illinois, she moved up to third at UW with 5,265 career assists. She trails only Lauren Carlini (2013-16) with 5,599 assists and school record holder Laura Abbinante (1993-96) with 5,833 assists.
3. MY GOODNESS GRACE!: With her fourth kill of the match against Illinois on Saturday, fifth-year senior
Grace Loberg became the 25th UW player to reach 1,000 career kills. The 6-foot-3 outside hitter finished with 13 kills to bring her total to 1,009 kills, which ties for 22nd on the Badger record list. She needs just eight kills to move into 21
st, a spot held by Brigitte Lourey (1991-93) with 1,016 kills.
4. RANKING RETTKE: Fifth-year senior
Dana Rettke picked up 11 points vs. Iowa on Oct. 6 to go over 2,000 points for her career. The 6-foot-8 middle ranks second on the UW record list with 2,026 points behind Sherisa Livingston (2,256 points).
5. BADGERS VS. THE NATION: After hitting less than .300 the last two matches. UW drops to fourth nationally with a hitting percentage of .321. Wisconsin also ranks second in kills per set (14.90) and second in assists per set (13.54). Fifth-year senior
Sydney Hilley leads the nation with 12.19 assists per set while graduate student
Dana Rettke leads the nation with a .500 hitting percentage.
6. SCOUTING THE TEAMS: Michigan State is 8-7 on the season and 1-5 in Big Ten play, with losses to No. 7 Ohio State, No. 9 Nebraska and No. 12 Minnesota. Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Franklin leads the Spartans with 3.94 kills per set, followed by junior outside hitter Cecilee Max-Brown with 2.86 kills per set. Naya Gros, a senior middle blocker, has a team-best 1.57 blocks per set while redshirt junior defensive specialist Talia Edmonds leads the team with 3.78 digs per set.
Michigan is 10-5 on the season after an upset win over No.8 Minnesota in five sets at home last weekend. The Wolverines are 3-3 in conference play with losses to Minnesota, No.7 Ohio State, and No.12 Nebraska. Michigan hosts Maryland on Friday before facing the Badgers Saturday. Junior outside hitter Paige Jones leads the team with 3.58 kills per set, followed by freshman Jess Mruzik with 3.54 kills per set. Kayla Bair, a junior middle blocker, leads the team with 0.68 blocks per set while redshirt freshman defensive specialist Hannah Grant has a team-best 4.20 digs per set.
