Wisconsin
Wisconsin volleyball pushed to five sets before advancing to NCAA regional final
Wisconsin volleyball unveils Final Four banner inside UW Field House
The Badgers unveiled the banner from their 2023 Final Four appearance before their exhibition match against Bradley on Aug. 20.
Sarah Franklin loves a challenge.
The Wisconsin Badgers’ fifth-year senior used that mentality to mold herself into a national player of the year. The mindset also helps her keep her cool in tense moments and dig deep in situations like what she and her teammates were faced with Friday night.
Texas A&M refused to be pushed off the court. UW swept in the Aggies in September, but in the NCAA regional semifinal the underdogs forced the Badgers to go the distance.
Franklin embraced the moment.
“At that point it’s let’s just ball out,” she said. “Let’s play the ball that we know we’ve been playing. Look forward. You see red, go for it.”
That fire helped Wisconsin score a 25-21, 18-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-13 victory over A&M at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Nebraska that sends the Badgers to the regional final for the eighth straight season.
Next up: Wisconsin vs. Nebraska for a spot in the Final Four at 2 p.m. Sunday.
But first excuse the Badgers as they catch enjoy the moment.
“This tournament has been something else,” UW coach Kelly Sheffield said. “I mean, it’s just balanced. … I think everybody that watched that match was in for a treat. I thought it was two teams that were laying it all out there just making big time plays.”
A&M upset Arizona State, the No. 3 seed in that quarter of the bracket in the second round last week. Friday they put UW on its heels with outstanding play from outside hitter Logan Lednicky (23 kills, .271 hitting percentage), efficient swings from their middle hitters and a defense that earned the rare distinction of out-blocking UW, 14.5 to 13.5.
UW, however, survived with an all-hands-on-deck effort that included a team-high 21 kills for Franklin. Her 66 swings were three short of her career high.
Junior middle blocker Carter Booth finished with a career-high 14 kills with a .444 hitting percentage and nine blocks. Senior right-side hitter Anna Smrek also had nine blocks to go along with 10 kills.
Freshman Charlie Fuerbringer (56 assists, 12 digs) had her 11th double-double and freshman libero Lola Schumacher’s 24 digs were her second-highest total of the season.
The match lasted 2 hours 35 minutes, but three moments proved critical.
* UW took the first set, but it needed to hit .543 without any errors to do it. Any less and A&M, which hit . .390 in that frame, may have been able to grab the early lead.
*The Badgers closed the third set with a 6-0 run that broke a 19-19 tie that gave them a 2-1 match lead. Seniors Julia Orzol (eight kills) had two kills during the run and senior Devyn Robinson (seven kills) added one.
* Wisconsin went on 5-0 run in the fifth set that gave it an 11-6 lead, a huge advantage in the abbreviated final frame. The lead provided just just enough cushion to withstand an Aggies comeback that cut the lead to one point before Franklin closed the match with a kill.
The Badgers survive to play another match.
“A lot of emotion,” Franklin said when asked to sum up her feels in the moment. “We have the privilege to (continue) to play and I think at that point it’s just so much gratitude for the people around me and how much they have continued to fight together to get to that point … we can just continue to play another day.”
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde reflects on early March Madness exit
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde said the Badgers ‘thought we could do so many things’ in the NCAA Tournament before it ended abrupty with an upset loss.
Wisconsin men’s basketball has added a sharpshooting wing via the transfer portal.
Miami (Ohio) transfer Eian Elmer has signed with the Badgers, the team announced April 18. The 6-foot-7 wing will join UW with one year of eligibility remaining.
Elmer averaged a career-high 12.7 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 49.8% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range in 2025-26. His production helped the RedHawks go 32-2 and earn an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
“We are really excited to add another excellent addition to our spring signees,” UW coach Greg Gard said in a release. “Eian brings a wealth of experience and scoring punch as a 6-7 wing. … A terrific shooter, his skillset and production fit excellently into our plan as we build out next year’s team. Throughout our evaluation process, our staff loved his size, power and skill and truly believe he will thrive in our system.”
Elmer is Wisconsin’s third transfer portal addition since the end of the 2025-26 season, joining former George Washington guard Trey Autry and former Hofstra forward Victory Onuetu. UW also added Australian guard Owen Foxwell.
The additions of Autry, Onuetu and now Elmer leave Gard’s staff with three more roster spots to fill ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The Badgers are looking to replace much of their production from a 2025-26 team that went 24-11. Nolan Winter is expected to be the team’s only returning starter after John Blackwell and Aleksas Bieliauskas entered the transfer portal and Nick Boyd and Andrew Rohde exhausted their eligibility.
MILWAUKEE – Friday’s severe storms have passed. And with that, the threat of any severe weather has also passed for the immediate future as no storms or rain are expected for several days.
However, plenty of damage remains across southeastern Wisconsin as of Saturday morning, in addition to the ongoing flooding threat.
Several area rivers are at flood stage, and there are multiple river flood warnings in effect.
FOX6 Weekend WakeUp on Saturday begins at 6 a.m.
On the scene in the morning
What we know:
Farmstead damage in Franklin
FOX6’s Hayley Spitler is in Franklin on Saturday morning, April 18, getting a daylight look at the damage from last night’s storms.
Storm damage in Caledonia
Friday’s storms left quite the mark across southern and southeastern Wisconsin, including at L and L Farms and Greenhouse in Caledonia.
FOX6 Weather Extras
Local perspective:
Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:
FOX6 Storm Center app
FOX LOCAL Mobile app
FOX Weather app
Maps and radar
We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.
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School and business closings
When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.
FOX6 Weather Experts in social media
The Source: Information in this post was compiled by the FOX6 Weather Experts.
How Aleksas Bieliauskas has grown in first season with Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin coach Greg Gard has high praise for Aleksas Bieliauskas about a month into the Lithuania native’s freshman season.
MADISON – One of Wisconsin men’s basketball’s departing transfers is headed to an SEC program with some connections to the Badgers.
Ex-UW forward Aleksas Bieliauskas has committed to South Carolina, he announced on April 17.
Bieliauskas left the Badgers after appearing in all 35 games as a freshman and making 28 starts. He averaged 4.9 points and 4.4 points in 20.2 minutes, and highlights of his freshman year included his five 3-pointers in UW’s upset over eventual national champion Michigan.
He’ll join a program with plenty of Wisconsin ties. South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris was an assistant coach at Wisconsin from 2010-17 on Bo Ryan and Greg Gard’s staffs. South Carolina assistant coach Tanner Bronson and director of video services Roman DiPasquale also are UW alumni.
Bieliauskas is the second of UW’s four departing transfers to commit to a new school. Reserve forward Jack Robison committed to North Dakota State on April 15. Starting guard John Blackwell and reserve forward Riccardo Greppi have not announced their next schools yet.
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