Badgers have two big opportunities to boost RPI at home vs. Minnesota, Indiana

• The Wisconsin Badgers volleyball team faces two crucial matches against No. 22 Minnesota and No. 18 Indiana.
• These upcoming matches are important for improving Wisconsin’s No. 20 RPI ranking.
• An improved RPI ranking could help Wisconsin’s chances of hosting in the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.

MADISON – Wisconsin volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield has not shied away from expressing his dislike of RPI.

“There’s a lot of different metrics out there; our sport uses very little of them,” Sheffield said earlier in the season.

But RPI – as Sheffield fully recognizes – underscores how important Wisconsin’s next two matches are as the 11th-ranked Badgers take on No. 22 Minnesota on Nov. 5 and No. 18 Indiana on Nov. 9 at the UW Field House.

Wisconsin is No. 20 in RPI in the Nov. 3 rankings with eight matches remaining in the 2025 schedule. Indiana and Minnesota are tied for No. 12 in RPI.

“Two teams that are above us in the RPI,” Sheffield said. “And you start getting to this time of year that those types of things start mattering a little bit more.”

While RPI obviously is not the only factor that the NCAA selection committee will use when it announces the postseason bracket on Nov. 30, it does suggest the Badgers have some work to do to earn one of the top 16 overall seeds that are required to host the first two rounds.

UW has hosted the first two rounds in all but two seasons during Sheffield’s tenure. The Badgers had to go to Iowa State in 2017, where they knocked off the Cyclones to advance to the regional semifinals. The other time was in 2020, when the NCAA used only one site due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Obviously a big goal is to be hosting that opening weekend of the tournament,” Sheffield said. “It’s a big deal. It’s a big deal to this community and our fan base. … Coaches are always trying to find a way to spin it anyways, but you really want to be home.”

Ohio State transfer Grace Egan hits .667 in return to Columbus

• Outside hitter Mimi Colyer led the Badgers with 17 kills and a .441 hitting percentage.
• Ohio State transfer Grace Egan had a strong homecoming with seven kills and two service aces.
• Wisconsin’s defense held Ohio State to a .078 hitting percentage, a significant improvement from their previous match.

Two days after getting dominated by the best team in the Big Ten, No. 11 Wisconsin volleyball was on the more enjoyable side of a rout against the worst team in the Big Ten.

The Badgers eased past Ohio State in three sets, 25-14, 25-12, 25-14, while hitting above .400 for the first time against a Big Ten foe this season on Sunday, Nov. 2 in Columbus, Ohio.

Wisconsin is now 9-3 in Big Ten play while Ohio State is 0-12. Here are three takeaways from the match:

Mimi Colyer has dominant start

UW coach Kelly Sheffield, with star outside hitter (and postseason award candidate) Mimi Colyer two seats away, said that Nebraska’s Bergen Reilly is “probably the best player in the conference” after the Huskers’ sweep over the Badgers.

Colyer responded two days later with a dominant performance in the Badgers’ next match.

Wisconsin’s first four points were on Colyer’s four kills. Her first eight attempted attacks all ended in kills, and her first attack error did not come until early in the second set. Her ninth kill prompted a “goodness gracious” from the Big Ten Network play-by-play commentator.

As usual, Colyer was a threat in both the front and back rows. She had other attacks that put Ohio State in challenging positions, such as when her attack led to an Ohio State overpass and a joust won by UW teammate Carter Booth in the second set.

Colyer finished the match with 17 kills while hitting .441. She has recorded 10-plus kills in all but one match this season and now is averaging 5.2 kills per set, which trails only Penn State’s Kennedy Martin in the Big Ten.

Grace Egan stands out in multiple ways in her homecoming

Ohio State transfer Grace Egan expressed excitement during a media availability last week to be playing at a “home away from home” for the Badgers’ Nov. 2 match at Ohio State.

She played like she was at a home away from home, too, recording seven kills at an exceptionally efficient .667 clip. She also had two service aces, which were tied for the team lead, and was second on the team with eight digs.

Colyer and Egan were two of the five Badgers who finished the match with a hitting percentage above .400. The others were Carter Booth at .500, Una Vajagic at .444 and Addy Horner at .667.

Badgers thrive again on defense

One match after allowing a season-high .349 hitting percentage against No. 1 Nebraska, Wisconsin’s defense looked the part in its win over Ohio State.

The Badgers held Ohio State to a .078 hitting percentage in the uneventful three-set sweep. The Buckeyes became UW’s seventh opponent to hit below .100, joining Marquette, Rutgers, Iowa, then-No. 23 UCLA, UW-Milwaukee and Chicago State.

Wisconsin “set the tone defensively,” Sheffield said in the postgame radio interview.

“Our backcourt was flying around without hesitation,” Sheffield said. “And it starts with that. I think sometimes when you’re overthinking, you can start hesitating. … I thought we were settled and reading the game and then pursuing aggressively.”