Setting the stage: Texas and Stanford in Cream City

MADISON, Wis. — The No. 3 Wisconsin volleyball team will be one of four teams participating in the State Farm Women’s College Volleyball Showcase at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wis. The Badgers will play No. 1 Texas at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, a rematch of the 2023 national semifinal game that ended the Badgers’ title run. UW will then play No. 5 Stanford at 4 p.m. Monday afternoon. Both games will be broadcast on FOX.

Here are six things you should know before the games:

1. LAST TIME: The Wisconsin volleyball team lost its first game of the 2024 season, falling to No. 6 Louisville on Tuesday night at the AVCA First Serve Showcase. The Badgers started the first set strong, winning convincingly 25-18. However, Louisville won the next three sets 17-25, 24-26 and 20-25.

2. 2023 BEST: Six Badgers had the best season of their careers in at least one statistical category in 2023. Carter Booth hit a season-high .431 and averaged 1.56 blocks, 0.07 assists and 0.19 digs per set. C.C. Crawford reached a season high of .329. Sarah Franklin hit a season-high .300 and averaged 4.15 kills per set, also a season-high. Senior Julia Orzoł averaged 3.46 digs, 0.52 assists and 0.31 service aces per set, also a season-high. Devyn Robinson averaged 0.05 assists per set for the season, the best performance. Anna Smrek averaged 2.67 kills per set and a season-high .401. She also averaged 1.15 blocks, 0.37 digs and 0.03 service aces per set (season-high).

3. CHARLIE WITH A FAMILY TREE: The young setter had her first real start in Louisville, where she made 42 assists and nine digs. Both Charlie Fürbringers His parents played and coached college volleyball. Father Matt played at Stanford (1992-1997) and was a former AVP pro. Mother Joy played (1990-1994) and coached at Long Beach State. Matt also helped the men’s national indoor volleyball team to a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics as an assistant coach. Matt was also named head coach of the LOVB team in Madison.



4. TOP FIVE OF THE LAST FIVE: Wisconsin Volleyball is the only Division I team that has finished in the top five for the last five years. This includes football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and volleyball.

5. Exploring the Longhorns: This will be the 10th meeting between the two teams, as Texas is 5-4 overall. The last game was the 2023 national semifinals in Tampa last December, where Texas defeated Wisconsin 22-25, 25-20, 13-25 and 16-25. The Longhorns went on to win the national championship and have been champions for two years in a row. Texas will return four key players, including outside hitter Madisen Skinner, who was named Big 12 Player of the Year, AVCA Southwest Region Player of the Year and Final Four Player of the Year. Emma Halter, Ella Swindle and Reagan Rutherford will also be back for Texas.

6. Scouting Stanford: The Badgers have yet to win a game against Stanford, as they have a 5-0 overall record against UW. The last meeting was in the 2019 National Championship Match, where Stanford defeated the Badgers 16-25, 17-25 and 20-25. No. 6 Stanford was picked to finish second in the ACC in its inaugural season in the conference. Middle blocker Sami Frances, setter Kami Miner, libero Elena Oglivie and outside hitter Elia Rubin were all selected to the 18-man Preseason All-ACC Team.