No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 2 Nebraska: A volleyball showdown between teams used to spotlight

MADISON – While the volleyball world is fired up about the 1 vs. 2 showdown between top-ranked Wisconsin and Nebraska, there is a sense of calm in the Badgers' camp and probably in the Cornhuskers’, too.

The beauty of this matchup is that you can have two 18-0 teams square off in the most anticipated match of the season and it's a space in which both programs are comfortable.

Name two bigger draws in the sport when they hit the road. And when each plays at home, they put more butts in the seats than anyone.

So when Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield is asked if he expects to feel different when he steps onto the court at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln on Saturday night (7 p.m. start, Big Ten Network), he can honestly say it won’t.

“They sell out every single match, so every match there is loud and every match is a big deal when you go there,” he said. “Both teams have been good for a while. When I was I coaching at Dayton and we’d go into Nebraska, it was, ‘Whoa, this is like going to Mars and it was awesome. … We’ve got an experienced team that has been playing for a while. Some have been there for a few times.”

The matchup will be the third straight when both teams have been ranked in the top five. The first two were memorable: UW knocked off the then-No. 1 ranked Cornhuskers in straight sets at the Field House last October and clinched the Big Ten title on Nebraska's floor later in the year.

They also played an epic NCAA final in 2021 that netted the Badgers the national championship. This time the winner grabs the Big Ten lead at the midpoint of the conference season.

“It’s great for volleyball,” Nebraska coach John Cook said. “We’re used to playing in these matches. It’s where you want to be. You want to be playing in these types of matches. For us it’s business as usual. I don’t feel it’s any different.”

This will be first 1-2 matchup since 2019

According to the Nebraska communications department, the match Saturday is believed to be the 42nd time No. 1 has played No. 2, including the 33rd time in the regular season. It is the first 1-2 matchup since Nebraska-Stanford in 2019.

Wisconsin and Nebraska have held the top two spots in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll for the last five weeks.

Not only are Wisconsin and Nebraska the top two teams in the nation, they’re the cream of the crop in the Big Ten in a handful of statistical categories. The teams are 1-2 in hitting percentage and opponent hitting percentage. They’re also the two hardest teams to ace and dig.

Both squads are also playing through key injuries.

UW setter MJ Hammill (head) and right-side hitter Devyn Robinson (shoulder) have missed the last three matches and their availability for the match will be game-time decisions, Sheffield said. According to the Lincoln Journal Star, Nebraska will play without junior outside hitter Lindsay Krause (ankle). She ranks third on the team in kills (2.5 per set) and fourth in hitting percentage (.285).

Wisconsin fueled by experience, Nebraska sparked by youth movement

The biggest difference between the teams is their age. The average eligibility of the members of UW’s rotation is 3.7 years, or old juniors. Nebraska’s average year in school equates to a young sophomore. The Cornhuskers’ setter, Bergen Reilly, and No. 2 hitter, Harper Murray, are freshmen. Their top blocker, Bekka Allick, is a sophomore. Their best veteran players, outside hitter Merritt Beason and libero Lexi Rodriguez, are juniors.

"They’ve got really talented players that have great futures in front of them, (but) it’s not only the freshmen,” Sheffield said. “The freshmen class has come in. They don’t flinch. There is a toughness and a skill level that’s really good. A lot of them have played international with USA over the years.”

UW’s experience has prevented it from missing a beat without one of its starting setters (Hammill) and a two-time All-American in Robinson.

Graduate student Izzy Ashburn has taken the setting reins full time and has posted back-to-back career-highs in assists. Senior Sarah Franklin, junior Anna Smrek and graduate student Temi Thomas-Ailara have helped compensate for Robinson’s absence.

The Badgers hit .325 during that run while holding opponents to .083. Before the injuries UW was hitting .350 in the Big Ten while holding opponents to a .126 hitting percentage.

For Wisconsin, the match starts a run of seven in the final 11 against opponents that are either ranked or receiving votes in the poll.

It's the start of a critical stretch of the regular season, but UW's approach remains the same.

“The spotlight is always on ourselves," sophomore middle blocker Carter Booth said. "What can we do to get better this week not thinking ahead to games because it’s about our improvement as a unit rather than how we’re going to go up against X team or Y team."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 1 vs. 2 clash puts Wisconsin, Nebraska volleyball in spotlight again