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The Wisconsin Badgers volleyball just finished a magical season that included a B1G title, a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament, multiple AVCA All-Americans and a berth in the national title game. Sadly, their appearance in the national title game didn’t end as they hoped and the Badgers were swept by an excellent Stanford Cardinal team.
All things considered, though, this was a successful season for the Badgers and head coach Kelly Sheffield. The final AVCA rankings reflect that as Wisconsin finished the season ranked No. 2 behind only national champion Stanford.
AVCA Top-25:
— AVCA (@AVCAVolleyball) December 23, 2019
1. Stanford
2. Wisconsin
3. Baylor
4. Minn
5. Neb
6. Wash
7. Penn St
8. Texas
9. Utah
10. Florida
11. Pitt
12. Kentucky
13. Purdue
14. Louisville
15. Hawai'i
16. Creighton
17. BYU
18. Texas A&M
19. Cincy
20. Marquette
21. USD
22. WKU
23. Colo St
24. Rice
25. UCLA
Per usual, the B1G was well represented in the final rankings. Minnesota, who lost to Stanford in the national semifinals, was ranked No. 4, Nebraska, who lost to Wisconsin all three times they played this year, was No. 5, Penn State was No. 7 and Purdue finished the season ranked No. 13.
Since this is the internet and there must always be something to argue about, there is a Way Too Early Top-10 released for next season and I am ready to be outrag...oh, would you look at that? The Badgers are No.1
The Way Too Early Power 10 by @michellachester for 2020:
— NCAA Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 23, 2019
1️⃣ @BadgerVB
2️⃣ @StanfordWVB
3️⃣ @BaylorVBall
4️⃣ @GopherVBall
5️⃣ @TexasVolleyball
6️⃣ @Huskervball
7️⃣ @PennStateVBALL
8️⃣ @UtahVolleyball
9️⃣ @GatorsVB
@Pitt_VB #NCAAVB https://t.co/2qpEH5ZSsf
Actually, these Way Too Early rankings are good and should continue.
The Badgers return most of their team from this past season including first team All-Americans middle blocker Dana Rettke and setter Sydney Hilley, second team All-American outside hitter Molly Haggerty, middle blocker Danielle Hart and outside hitter Grace Loberg also return along with freshman sensation and service expert Izzy Ashburn.
Libero Tiffany Clark and outside hitter Madison Duello will be missed, but the Badgers should be in “reload not rebuild” mode for the 2020 season.
Here is what Michella Chester of NCAA.com noted about the team heading into next season: “This is a team that peaked in the second half of the season and got really hot, and will get to pick up right where they left off without much of an adjustment period. Plus, they might have some fire in their hearts after a heartbreaking sweep for them in the title game.”