Four volleyball Badgers named All-America

MADISON, Wis. – Four members of the third-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team have been named 2023 All-Americans by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), the organization announced on Wednesday.

Senior Sarah Franklin earned first-team honors after earning third-team accolades in 2022. She becomes just the fifth Badger to earn a first-team award. Junior Anna Smrek earns her first All-America honor, being recognized on the second team. Sophomore Carter Booth also becomes a first-time All-American with her third-team honor. Senior Devyn Robinson earns her third All-America award, being named to the honorable mention team this season.

The 2023 Big Ten Player of the Year and the 2023 AVCA Northeast Regional Player of the Year, Franklin leads the Badgers with 4.19 kills per set, which ranks 28th nationally. The 6-foot-4 outside hitter has double-figure kills in 28 matches this season, including five matches with 20-plus kills. Franklin is also hitting a season best .305 percent. She averages 4.65 points per set, adding 0.53 blocks and 0.19 service aces per set. One of the Badgers' primary passers, the Lake Worth, Florida, native adds 1.94 digs per set. Franklin was named the AVCA National Player of the Week on Nov. 28 to go along with three Big Ten Player of the Week awards this year.

Smrek earned her first All-Big Ten and AVCA All-Northeast honors in her break-out season. The 6-foot-9 right-side hitter ranks second on the team with 2.65 kills per set, putting away double-figure kills in 12 matches. Hitting a season-best .396, the opposite comes in 23rd in the NCAA in attack percentage. She also third on the team with 1.16 blocks per set.

A 6-foot-7 middle blocker, Booth rank third nationally with 1.60 blocks per set while also ranking third in the NCAA with a .444 hitting percentage. The sophomore also adds 1.80 kills per set. Booth earned first-team All-Big Ten and first-team AVCA All-Northeast honors this season and was a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.

Robinson ranks third on the team with 2.48 kills per set, tallying double-figure kills in 11 matches. The 6-foot-2 right-side hitter tied her career high with 21 kills vs. Arkansas in late August. She also adds 0.92 blocks per set, which ranks fourth on the squad. Robinson earned second-team All-Big Ten honors and first-team AVCA All-Northeast Region awards this season.

For the sixth time in program history and the fourth time in the last five seasons, No. 3 Wisconsin (30-3) is making an appearance in the NCAA National Semifinals this week. No. 1 Nebraska (31-1) takes on No. 4 Pittsburgh (29-4) in the first semifinal at 6 p.m. (CT) on Thursday at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The Badgers take on No. 5 Texas (26-4) in the second semifinal at approximately 8:30 p.m. (CT). Both matches air on ESPN. Winners advance to the NCAA Championship on Sunday at 2 p.m. (CT) live on ABC.

2023 AVCA DIVISION I ALL-AMERICANS
First-Team All-Americans
First Name	Last Name	School	Pos.	Class
Olivia	Babcock	University of Pittsburgh	RS	Fr.
Merritt	Beason	University of Nebraska	RS	Jr.
Rachel	Fairbanks	University of Pittsburgh	S	Jr.
Skylar	Fields	University of Southern California	OH	Sr.
Morgahn	Fingall	University of Tennessee	RS	Gr.
Sarah	Franklin	University of Wisconsin	OH	Sr.
Magda	Jehlarova	Washington State University	MB	Sr.
Kendall	Kipp	Stanford University	RS	Sr.
Marta	Levinska	Arizona State University	RS	Sr.
Kami	Miner	Stanford University	S	Jr.
Asjia	O'Neal	University of Texas	MB	Sr.
Hannah	Pukis	University of Oregon	S	R-Sr.
Lexi	Rodriguez	University of Nebraska	DS/L	Jr.
Madisen	Skinner	University of Texas	OH	Jr.

Second-Team All-Americans
First Name	Last Name	School	Pos.	Class
Caitie	Baird	Stanford University	OH	R-Sr.
Anna	DeBeer	University of Louisville	OH	Sr.
Sophie	Fischer	University of Georgia	MB	Sr.
Jill	Gillen	University of Arkansas	OH	Gr.
Emma	Grome	University of Kentucky	S	Jr.
Eva	Hudson	Purdue University	OH	So.
Caroline	Kerr	University of Tennessee	S	R-Fr.
Kennedy	Martin	University of Florida	RS	Fr.
Kara	McGhee	University of Oregon	MB	Sr.
Jess	Mruzik	Penn State University	OH	Sr.
Bergen	Reilly	University of Nebraska	S	Fr.
Elia	Rubin	Stanford University	OH	So.
Elena	Scott	University of Louisville	L	Jr.
Anna	Smrek	University of Wisconsin	RS	Jr.

Third-Team All-Americans
First Name	Last Name	School	Pos.	Class
Carter	Booth	University of Wisconsin	MB	So.
Paige	Briggs	Western Kentucky University	OH	Gr.
Chloe	Chicoine	Purdue University	OH	Fr.
Reagan	Cooper	University of Kansas	OH	Gr.
Cara	Cresse	University of Louisville	MB	R-So.
Taylor	Head	University of Arkansas	OH	Sr.
Amber	Igiede	University of Hawai'i	MB	Sr.
Morgan	Lewis	University of Oregon	RS	Sr.
Harper	Murray	University of Nebraska	OH	Fr.
Melanie	Parra	Texas Christian University	OH	Jr.
Reagan	Rutherford	University of Kentucky	RS	Sr.
Kenna	Sauer	University of Houston	OH	Gr.
Torrey	Stafford	University of Pittsburgh	OH	Fr.
Kendra	Wait	Creighton University	S	Jr.

Honorable Mention
First Name	Last Name	School	Pos.	Class
Lexie	Almodovar	University of Dayton	OH	R-Jr.
Paige	Bartsch	Boise State University	RS	Jr.
Bianca	Bertolino	Georgia Tech	OH	Jr.
Whitney	Bower	Brigham Young University	S	Sr.
Ielan	Bradley	Stephen F. Austin State University	RS	Sr.
Giulia	Cardona	University of Evansville	RS	Jr.
Aliyah	Carter	Kansas State University	OH	Sr.
Logan	Case	Western Michigan University	S	Sr.
Kayley	Cassaday	University of Tulsa	OH	Gr.
Grace	Chillingworth	Pepperdine University	OH	Jr.
Emma	Clothier	Southern Methodist University	MB	Gr.
Raven	Colvin	Purdue University	MB	Jr.
Mimi	Colyer	University of Oregon	OH	So.
Sophie	Davis	James Madison University	MB	Gr.
Brooklyn	DeLeye	University of Kentucky	OH	Fr.
Carly	Diehl	Yale University	S	Jr.
Anna	Dodson	UCLA	MB	R-Sr.
Tatijana	Fucka	Fairleigh Dickinson University	MB	Gr.
Kate	Georgiades	University of Houston	L	Sr.
Gabby	Gonzales	University of Oregon	OH	Sr.
Nayeli	Gonzalez	Iowa State University	OH	Fr.
Madison	Harms	University of South Dakota	MB	Sr.
Camryn	Haworth	Indiana University	S	Jr.
Hannah	Hogue	University of Arkansas	S	Jr.
Tsvetelina	Ilieva	Binghamton University	OH	Sr.
Claire	Jeter	Arizona State University	MB	Sr.
Emmy	Klika	University of Pittsburgh	L	Jr.
Audrey	Koenig	Florida State University	OH	Jr.
Giovana	Larregui Lopez	Eastern Illinois University	OH	Sr.
Erin	Livingston	Brigham Young University	OH	Sr.
Grace	Lopez	University of Miami Florida	OH	Fr.
Khori	Louis	Florida State University	MB	Jr.
Dylan	Maberry	High Point University	OH	Sr.
Ava	Martin	Creighton University	OH	So.
Callie	Martin	Wright State University	RS	Gr.
Isabel	Martin	UNLV	OH	R-Sr.
Rya	McKinnon	Howard University	OH	So.
Meg	Mersman	Lipscomb University	MB	Sr.
Emma	Monks	University of Pittsburgh	MB	Gr.
Jenaisya	Moore	University of Tennessee	OH	Gr.
Georgia	Murphy	University of Oregon	L	Sr.
Elena	Oglivie	Stanford University	L	Sr.
Michelle	Ohwobete	UC Santa Barbara	OH	Sr.
Tatum	Parrott	Grand Canyon University	OH	So.
Kyndal	Payne	Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi	OH	Jr.
Jada	Rhodes	Alabama State University	OH	Sr.
Jasmine	Rivest	Coastal Carolina University	OH	R-Sr.
Devyn	Robinson	University of Wisconsin	RS	Sr.
Ali	Ruffin	The Citadel	OH	Jr.
Shannon	Shields	Arizona State University	S	Gr.
Bridgette	Smith	California State University, Sacramento	OH	Sr.
Yelianiz	Torres	University of Tennessee	L	Gr.
Camryn	Turner	University of Kansas	S	Jr.
Argentina	Ung	Washington State University	S	Sr.
Zeynep	Uzen	American University	OH	Gr.
Sasha	van der Merwe	Marist College	OH	Sr.

University of Wisconsin Athletics

Four volleyball Badgers named All-America

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Players Mentioned

Carter Booth

Sarah Franklin

Devyn Robinson

Anna Smrek

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