Wisconsin Volleyball: Sarah Franklin wins Big Ten Player of the Week

Sarah Franklin’s performance this weekend earned her Big Ten Player of the Week honors, the second time she has earned those plaudits this season.

The 6-foot-4 outside hitter propelled the Wisconsin Badgers to a weekend sweep against the Michigan State Spartans Friday night and the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Sunday evening during the first ever Big Ten game broadcast on network television.

(Side note, that Minnesota match broke a record for TV viewership for a women’s volleyball match with over 1.6 million people tuning in for the Border Battle. Funny enough, two other Badger matches are in the top three of viewership: the 2021 National title match against Nebraska (1.2 million people on ESPN) and this year’s battle against Nebraska (612K on Big Ten Network). Maybe women’s sports should continue being shown on TV or something!!!)

Frank the Tank had 38 kills over the weekend for an average of 6.33 kills per set. Against the rival Gophers, she had 21 kills alone while hitting above .450 in both matches. Along with her offensive stats, Franklin added nine digs, five blocks, and tallied three service aces.

The outside hitter from Lake Worth, Florida last won conference honors on Oct. 16 for her performances against Rutgers and Maryland, and she’s been playing some incredible volleyball heading into the meat of conference play.

Earlier this season, sophomore middle blocker Carter Booth and middle blocker CC Crawford earned Defensive Player of the Week awards for the conference.