Wisconsin volleyball: four Badgers earn AVCA all-region honors

Ahead of Thursday afternoon’s Sweet 16 battle with the No. 13 UCLA Bruins, four players from the No. 4 Wisconsin Badgers volleyball team received AVCA All-Region honors. Dana Rettke, Lauren Barnes, Sydney Hilley and Devyn Robinson were all named to Northeast All-Region teams.

For seniors Rettke (five times), Hilley (four times) and Barnes (two times) this was an honor they had received multiple times before, while Robinson earned honorable mention for the first time in her young career.

Robinson, who started the season on the right side and moved to middle blocker after the injury to Danielle Hart, ranks second on the team and sixth in the Big Ten with a .355 hitting percentage. She also ranks fourth on the Badgers with 2.43 kills per set while adding 0.94 blocks per set.

Rettke was also named the Northeast Region Player of the Year, an award she has now won three years running. She currently leads the Big Ten and ranks third nationally with a .445 hitting percentage. Rettke also ranks second in the Big Ten and sixth nationally with 1.40 blocks per set, and leads the Badgers with 3.47 kills per set.

Barnes ranked eighth in the Big Ten with 4.32 digs per set. She also ranks second on the UW team with 31 service aces, averaging 0.29 per set, and has an impressive .951 reception percentage, getting aced only 21 times in 427 receptions.

Hilley is the first three-time Big Ten Setter of the Year since the award was begun in 2012, leading the nation with 12.04 assists per set. She has set the Badgers to a Big Ten-leading .296 hitting percentage, which ranks seventh nationally. She is averaging season bests of 2.53 digs per set, recording a team-best 11 double-doubles this season, and 0.72 blocks per set.

Freshman MB Arica Davis of Ohio State was named the top freshman while Purdue head coach Dave Shondell was tabbed as the best coach in the region.