Wednesday provides another opportunity for the University of Wisconsin volleyball team to find continuity and shore up areas where it has struggled.
The Badgers, who dropped to ninth in this week's AVCA rankings, split a pair of Big Ten Conference matches last week and look to get above .500 in the league standings at 6:30 p.m. at Rutgers. The Badgers (7-4, 1-1 Big Ten) are coming off a dominant sweep of Northwestern on Saturday. Meanwhile, Rutgers (5-8, 0-2) took Michigan to five sets on the road but lost Sunday.
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Wisconsin lost in five sets at Minnesotato open league play. It was the first time the Badgers have been under .500 in league play since a five-set loss to Maryland to open the 2021 season, which ended in the program's first national championship. The Badgers committed 24 hitting errors and 13 service errors.
They had a get-right match against the Wildcats, though, as they hit .413 with a balanced attack. Defensively, Wisconsin held Northwestern to .105, which included minus-.037 in the final set.
Here are a few things to know about the next match and how to tune in.
Wisconsin has dominated Rutgers
The Badgers have never lost to the Scarlet Knights in a 16-match series that started when Rutgers began Big Ten play in 2014. In fact, the only set Rutgers has won from the Badgers was the opening set (25-22) of the teams' second meeting Nov. 26, 2014.
Sarah Franklin's pace for Wisconsin kills record slows
Sarah Franklin was hitting at a historic pace to open the season, but the Badgers have gotten healthy and different arms are contributing. Anna Smrek has come on strong, Caroline Crawford and Devyn Robinson have filled voids and Julia Orzol swings as part of her all-around game. So Franklin's pace to become Wisconsin's career kills leader has slowed after she had a team-high 11 against Northwestern.
It brought Franklin to 1,583 for her career. She needs 329 kills to match the career record of 1,912 set by Sherisa Livingston. Franklin needs to average 18.3 kills per match to get to that point by the end of the regular season.
Scouting Rutgers volleyball
Alissa Kinkela may pose a problem for the Badgers' block. The redshirt junior from Melbourne, Australia had 24 kills and hit .432, adding 14 digs for her third double-double of the season. Kinkela, a 6-foot-4 outside hitter, averages 3.63 kills per set (.300), which is 12th in the Big Ten, and 6-3 freshman Avery Jesewitz averages 2.10 kills per set (.206).
Sophomore Zora Hardison had a career-high 15 kills in the match against Michigan, and the 6-2 middle hit .500. Freshman middle Natalie Robinson had six blocks, two solo, in that match and is an effective swinger with a team-high .306 hitting percentage (minimum 140 attacks).
Setter Aly Borrelis had a season-high 51 assists in that match, and she showcased plenty of options. The Ole Miss transfer directs an offense which was the second worst team in the Big Ten at 11.55 kills per set (.205). The Scarlet Knights are in the same position but are up to 11.93 (.221).
Where fifth-year Rutgers coach Caitlin Schweihofer's team may put pressure on the Badgers is when they get to the service line. Rutgers is second in the league with 2.00 service aces per set. Lexi Visintine is fourth in the league with 0.48 per set and sophomore Kenzie Dyrstad is coming off a match in which she had a career-high four.
Lola Schumacher back at libero?
The Badgers have yet to fortify their back line. Coach Kelly Sheffield opted to use two liberos early in the season with Gulce Guctekin when the Badgers were serving and Saige Damrow as the receiving specialist.
But then freshman Lola Schumacher wore the oft-colored jersey in Texas and Wisconsin seemed to find some continuity. Schumacher helped the Badgers defensively, and even saved the match at Baylor early on during a six-match winning streak. She has proven to be competitive even before she arrived at Wisconsin as an All-American and AAU national champion.
So it came as a surprise when Guctekin was the libero at Minnesota, which snapped the winning streak. Schumacher had reclaimed it at Northwestern, and an explanation wasn't provided after the matches.
How to watch Wisconsin volleyball at Rutgers on TV
The match will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
Wisconsin volleyball at Rutgers streams
The match will be available for streaming on the Fox Sports app andfoxsports.com.
How to listen to Wisconsin volleyball at Rutgers on the radio
TheBadgers have a new radio homeon100.5 FM in Madisonand 620 AM in Milwaukee.
Photos: Wisconsin volleyball survives 2nd set test to sweep Texas A&M
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