Wisconsin volleyball: 2021 non-conference schedule released

Wisconsin volleyball has released their 2021 conference schedule. The main release, was in a Tik Tok, so let my Gen Z or whatever self explain it — along with the Twitter post that is literally just the schedule.

First up, the Badgers will host a couple of teams from the Lone Star State at what should be a packed Field House, facing TCU and Baylor during the last weekend of August (the 27-28). The Frogs aren’t great, but Baylor will likely be a tough test with superstar Yossiana Pressley coming back as a matchup of the Final Four game in 2019.

Wisconsin will then play the Dayton Flyers twice back-to-back at the Field House before they play the reigning National Champion Kentucky Wildcats on Sept. 10 at the Field House.

The Badgers will then go on the road to in-state rival Marquette on Sept. 12 and then go down to DeKalb, Ill. — author’s side note: I lived in Dekalb County in Atlanta, Georgia, and it is pronounced properly “Duh-CAB” and not “Dee-Kalb” like the silly Illinoisians do — to warm up for the Big Ten season against Green Bay and Northern Illinois.

Certainly, there will be some good early tests for the Badgers with the Baylor Bears and the Kentucky Wildcats. Baylor still has aforementioned incredible volleyball player Yossiana Pressley coming back for a fifth-year like our pal Dana Rettke. Meanwhile, Kentucky beat Texas in the national title game last year — something the Badgers couldn’t muster last year.

That Kentucky squad will not include setter Madison Lilley who was named the 2020-21 Roy F. Kramer Southeastern Conference Female Athlete of the Year, a title she shares with Heisman Trophy winner Devonta Smith who earned it as the male athlete. That — along with the Baylor game — will likely be good signs of what the rotation will look like for the meat of the Big Ten season.

However, there are a good amount of games in non-conference play where I’d hope to see the younger players — especially a dynamite and very international 2021 freshman class — get some time on the floor. Teams like TCU and NIU struggled last year, and could be good times to see Wisconsin try some things out.

But hey, a non-conference schedule at the very least is a sign of things getting back to what things normally are in college sports.

And I’m gonna hope to be in the Field House for that home opener against TCU.