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Hopefully you tuned in to Big Ten Network over this past weekend because there was some absolutely fire volleyball action featuring the No. 3 Wisconsin Badgers. UW ended up beating both Ohio State and Penn State in front of raucous crowds at the UW Field House and now their top performers are being recognized for their play.
On Monday, the Big Ten announced their player of the week awards and senior MB Dana Rettke was named Big Ten Player of the Week and senior S Sydney Hilley won Big Ten co-Setter of the Week.
This is Rettke’s second POTW award this season and No. 11 in her career which moves her into third all time in Big Ten history. She averaged 4.44 kills and 1.11 blocks per set with a .536 hitting percentage against PSU and OSU and, quite frankly, seemed to always pop up with a kill whenever Wisconsin needed her.
: Dana Rettke of @BadgerVB #B1GVolleyball | #OnWisconsin
— Big Ten Volleyball (@B1GVolleyball) October 25, 2021
https://t.co/4zV05fVHep pic.twitter.com/S7MfLPPy8f
She notched a season-high (and match-best) 24 kills on .512 hitting Oct. 23 vs. PSU, one day after posting 16 kills, seven blocks and a .577 hitting percentage against OSU. Just insane numbers.
Hilley won her fourth SOTW award this year and No. 16 (!!!) of her career tying her for second-most in conference history with Penn State’s Micha Hancock from 2011-14. She averaged 12.00 assists, 3.00 digs and 0.89 blocks per set with a double-double against Penn State.
She’s a setter and a dig star!@sydneyhilley recorded 43 assists and 9 digs on Friday, and another 65 assists and 18 digs on Saturday. She also counted her 1,000th career dig this weekend!
— Wisconsin On BTN (@WisconsinOnBTN) October 25, 2021
It’s no surprise she was named 1 - ! pic.twitter.com/aoeSQ0p9to
With 65 assists, a season-high 18 digs (one short of her career best) and four blocks against the Nittany Lions on Saturday, Hilley recorded her 41st double-double of her illustrious career. Hilley shared the award this week with Nebraska’s Nicklin Hames.
In fact, Nebraksa’s Lexi Rodriguez won Freshman of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week which just makes Wednesday night’s clash in Lincoln, Neb. all the more mouth-watering. The two best teams in the conference featuring a laundry list of the best players in the conference? Sign us the hell up!