Five Badgers earn all-region volleyball honors

(UWATHLETICS) MADISON, Wis. – Five players on the third-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team earned American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Region honors, the organization announced on Tuesday. Head Coach Kelly Sheffield was named Co-Coach of the Year and senior Sarah Franklin was named Northeast All-Region Player of the Year. Anna Smrek, Carter Booth and Devyn Robinson round out the list of Badgers named to the All-Region team.
 
2023 marks back-to-back years where Sheffield has been AVCA Northeast Coach of the Year. Sheffield shares this year’s honors with Travers Green of Wright State. Sheffield has led the Badgers to 11-straight NCAA Sweet 16-or-better tournament appearances, and wrapped the regular season with a 26-3, 17-3 (B1G) record. He has now totaled six AVCA Northeast Coach of the Year awards in his career.
 
The 6-foot-4 outside hitter, Franklin can now add AVCA Northeast All-Region Player of the Year to her resume after being named Big Ten Player of the Year and unanimous first-team All-Big Ten just a week ago. Franklin leads the team and ranks fifth in the Big Ten with 4.17 kills, racking up 413 kills and double-figure kills in 23 of 29 matches. In the backcourt, Franklin adds 2.02 digs per set, claiming seven double-doubles on the season. The senior tallies 4.64 points per set, while adding 0.52 blocks and 0.19 service aces per set. Finishing the regular season strong, Franklin earned AVCA National Player of the Week to go along with three Big Ten Player of the Week awards throughout the season. Franklin now has three AVCA All-Region honors in her prolific career.
 
Playing in all 29 matches and 101 sets, Booth leads the team, the Big Ten and ranks third in the NCAA with 1.55 blocks per set, tallying 157 total blocks. The sophomore middle blocker adds 1.77 kills per set, clipping a team-high .440 hitting percentage, which also ranks first in the Big Ten and second in the NCAA. She is a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week during the regular season and is the reigning 2020 AVCA North Region Freshman of the Year. This marks Booth’s second time in her young career earning AVCA All-Region honors.
 
In her third season with the Badgers, Smrek ranks second on the team with 2.62 kills per set, putting away double-figure kills in 10 matches. Hitting a season-best .406, the opposite comes in at third in the Big Ten and 20th in the NCAA, hitting .500 or better in nine matches. The 6-foot-9 junior adds 1.09 blocks per set. Last week, Smrek earned her first B1G post season honors with first-team honors and can now add AVCA All-Region honors to her resume.
 
Senior Robinson ranks third on the team, registering 2.58 kills per set. The opposite tallied double-figure kills in 10 matches, including tying her career high with 21 kills vs Arkansas. The 6-foot-2 right-side is hitting .312 on the season, has accumulated 237 kills in 26 matches and add 0.88 blocks per set. Robinson was named to second-team All-Big Ten in 2023 and had previously earned AVCA All-Region awards in 2020 and 2022.
 
No. 3 Wisconsin (28-3) has advanced to NCAA Regional play for the 11th-straight season, hosting action in the UW Field House for the third-straight season. The Badgers open regional play on Thursday taking on No. 14 Penn State (23-8) at 6 p.m. live on ESPN2. No. 6 Oregon (28-5) faces off against Purdue (23-8) in the second regional semifinal at 8:30 p.m. live on ESPNU.

Regional semifinal winners play on Saturday at 7 p.m. for the right to the advance to the NCAA Championship on  Dec. 14 and 17 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.