BYU women's volleyball to face top-seeded Wisconsin in Sweet 16

BYU women's volleyball to face top-seeded Wisconsin in Sweet 16BYU women's volleyball to face top-seeded Wisconsin in Sweet 16

PROVO, Utah – Following its sweep of UCLA in the second round, No. 16-seed BYU women's volleyball will play top-seeded Wisconsin in the third round of the 2020 NCAA Tournament on Saturday, April 17 at 7 p.m. CDT on ESPN3.

BYU Match Notes

BYU Cougars (17-1, 15-1 WCC)

  • In its ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth, BYU makes its eighth Sweet 16 appearance in nine years.
  • The Cougars will face the top-seeded team in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the rally era (since 2001). BYU faced No. 1 Stanford in the 2018 NCAA Final Four.
  • Currently on a 10-match win streak, the one-loss Cougars have only lost nine of their 60 sets played during the 2020-21 season.
  • BYU is ranked in the top 10 nationally in three major statistical categories: No. 4 in assists per set (13.60), No. 5 in hitting percentage (.309) and No. 6 in kills per set (14.47).
  • Senior middle blocker Kennedy Eschenberg ranks No. 5 in the NCAA Division I in blocks per set (1.59) and No. 7 in hitting percentage (.456).
  • WCC Player and Setter of the Year Whitney Bower ranks No. 18 in assists per set (10.90).
  • BYU head coach Heather Olmstead is 12-5 in the NCAA Tournament in her six seasons at the helm of the Cougar program. She claimed her third WCC Coach of the Year award and her second AVCA Pacific South Region Coach of the Year.
  • The Cougars remained No. 14 in the last AVCA national poll before the tournament.

Series Information

  • BYU and Wisconsin have split the four matches played between the two programs since 1990.
  • The two teams met in the second round of the 1999 NCAA Tournament, with the Cougars winning the match 3-1
  • The Badgers came away victorious in a five-set thriller in the most recent matchup played in 2008.

Wisconsin Badgers (14-0, 13-0 Big 10)

  • Wisconsin makes an appearance in its eighth-straight Sweet 16 (24th total) after sweeping Weber State in the second round.
  • The Badgers are 52-23 all-time in the tournament.
  • One of two final undefeated teams remaining (Western Kentucky).
  • Wisconsin ranks No. 3 nationally in hitting percentage (.347), No. 12 in kills per set (14.20), No. 13 in blocks per set (2.70), and No. 15 in opponent hitting percentage (.132).
  • Middle blocker Dana Rettke ranks No. 6 in hitting percentage (.459) and No. 8 in blocks per set (1.58).
  • Setter Sydney Hilley ranks No. 17 nationally in assists per set (10.98).
  • Middle blocker Devyn Robinson ranks No. 12 nationally in hitting percentage (.437).

Broadcast Information