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Anna Smrek having her best season for Wisconsin Badgers volleyball

MADISON – This is the best we’ve seen Anna Smrek.

Hitting. Scoring. Even digs and serves. The Wisconsin volleyball team’s right-side hitter is having a career season in many categories.

“I’m in a very good place, mentally physically all around,” she said. “I feel like I’m progressing the way I want to."

The 6-foot-9 junior from Ontario, Canada, enters the team’s match with Illinois on Saturday night at the UW Field House (7 p.m. start) averaging 2.51 kills and 1.03 blocks per kills per set.

She ranked third on the team in kills behind seniors Sarah Franklin (.411) and Devyn Robinson (2.71). Smrek is aslo third in the team in blocks behind sophomore Carter Booth (1.48) and senior Caroline Crawford (1.26).

Smrek's kills average and .394 hitting percentage are career-highs. So is her point total, which sits at 237. She is even ahead of her past performance in a couple of categories she isn’t well-known for: digs (.44 dps) and aces (three for the season).

One of her best performances of the Big Ten season came at Illinois on Oct. 7: 10 kills, .409 hitting percentage and seven blocks.

That effort is one of eight matches with double-digit kills this season. That equals her total from her first two years.

Wisconsin right-side hitter Anna Smrek (14) is having a career year in many stat categories this season.
Wisconsin right-side hitter Anna Smrek (14) is having a career year in many stat categories this season.

Ask Smrek what has gone into her improved play and she talks about the time she put in working on her hand contact and improving her ball control in not-perfect situations.

“I think that is what I was missing in my previous years,” she said.

There has also been an increased connection with senior setter MJ Hammill. In the Badgers’ 6-2 offense, Smrek is usually paired with Hammill, and Robinson, the other right-side, hits off Izzy Ashburn.

That was the setter/right-side combination for the majority of last season, too. Smrek felt gaining Hammill's trust that she'd get to every pass was key as well.

“It’s building good on top of good. Each day in practice we want to get better with each ball,” Smrek said. “We want to progress throughout the season. I think we’re just in a really good mindset for that and it’s helping a lot.”

With that added trust, Smrek has performed her best in some of the team’s most trying circumstances.

She posted 13 kills, a .346 hitting percentage, and five blocks in a five-set win at Arkansas on Aug. 30. She finished with 15 kills and a .346 hitting percentage in a four-set win over Marquette. Four days later she had a season-high 16 kills and five blocks in a 3-2 reverse-sweep win at Florida.

It's been a strong season so far, but the biggest matches have yet to come. We're in the stretch run of the regular season. Following the match with Illinois, Wisconsin will have six matches over a three-week span, including a much-anticipated rematch with top-ranked Nebraska on Nov. 24.

"We want to keep getting better. You’re never at the top of your game," she said. "I’ve got years to go and I eventually want to play pro, too, and there is still going to be stuff to work on then, too. I wouldn’t say (I'm) satisfied because there are always ways you can better your game, but we are in a very good place."

More: What channel is Wisconsin volleyball vs. Illinois on Saturday? Time, TV radio for Badgers' match against Illini

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Anna Smrek having career season for second-ranked Wisconsin volleyball