Serving Up Six: Badgers start Big Ten play

Friday, September 24

College Park, MD

6 p.m.

Wisconsin Badgers

Maryland

The Badgers celebrate a point on the UW Field House court.

Volleyball Team huddles after scoring a point against Kentucky, Sept. 10, 2021

Photo by: Darren Lee

Serving Up Six: Badgers start Big Ten play

September 21, 2021 | Volleyball

Wisconsin takes on Maryland and Rutgers on the road

By: Annalee Gunderson

#2 Wisconsin at Maryland	#2 Wisconsin at Rutgers
Friday, Sept. 24 \| 6 p.m.	Saturday, Sept. 25 \| 6 p.m.
Watch on B ig Ten+	Watch on Big Ten+
Listen on U100.9FM	Listen on U100.9 FM
Live Stats	Live Stats
Follow on Twitter	Follow on Twitter

Wisconsin Match Notes

MADISON, Wis. --Second-ranked Wisconsin (8-0, 0-0 B1G) opens the Big Ten Conference season this weekend with road matches at Maryland (12-0, 0-0) and Rutgers (8-3, 0-0).

The Badgers take on the Terrapins on Friday at 6 p.m. CT from the XFinity Center in College Park, Maryland. On Saturday, UW faces Rutgers at 6 p.m. CT from The RAC in Piscataway, New Jersey. Both matches air live on B1G+.

1. ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Wisconsin is 24-15 all-time in Big Ten openers, including 8-7 in road matches. UW has won three-straight conference openers but has not kicked off the Big Ten season away from the Field House since 2015.

2. BIG TEN'S BEST: The Badgers open the Big Ten season on a 14-match conference winning streak. UW has not lost a league match since falling at Penn State on Nov. 29, 2019.

3. LEADING THE NATION: After hitting better than .400 against Green Bay and Northern Illinois last weekend, Wisconsin upped its nation-leading hitting percentage to .356. Grad Dana Rettke leads the nation with an individual hitting percentage of .569 (85K-7E-137TA).

4. ROOKIE GETS RECOGNIZED: Julia Orzol was named the Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week on Monday, earning her first rookie of the week award. The 6-foot outside hitter averaged 3.67 kills, 2.67 digs, 0.67 blocks and 0.67 aces per set last week. Orzol registered a career-high 14 kills against Green Bay while recording career highs in digs (9), service aces (3) and blocks (3) at Northern Illinois.

5. ADDING TO THE TROPHY CASE... HOPEFULLY: Graduate students Sydney Hilley and Dana Rettke have been selected as nominees for the 2021 Sullivan Award presented by the AAU, the organization announced on Monday. The Badgers are among the 38 nominees for the award. Hilley is a 6-foot setter and has been named a four-time AVCA All-American, including two first-team honors. She is also the two-time Big Ten Setter of the Year.The 6-foot-8 Rettke is the first four-time, first-team All-American in Badger volleyball history and only the sixth ever in NCAA volleyball history. A four-time first-team All-Big Ten selection, the middle blocker was named the 2019 Big Ten Player of the Year and the 2019-20 Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year.

6. SCOUTING THE TEAMS: Maryland is currently undefeated (12-0) on the season but has yet to play a ranked team. The Terrapins have only dropped three sets this season. Sophomore outside hitter Sam Csire leads the team with 3.64 kills per set, followed by graduate student Paula Neciporuka with 3.00 kills per set. Rainelle Jones, a senior middle blocker, has a team-best 2.06 blocks per set while freshman Milan Gomillion leads the Terrapins with 5.21 digs per set.

Rutgers is 8-3 on the season, all from non-conference matchups, with losses coming from FGCU, NC State and Clemson. Fifth-year Beka Kojadinovic leads the team with 3.26 kills per set, followed by Kamila Cieslik, another fifth year, with 2.32 kills per set. Shealyn McNamara, a redshirt senior middle blocker, leads the team with 1.31 blocks per set while sophomore libero Madyson Chitty has a team-best 4.23 digs per set.