Former Ankeny Centennial volleyball star Devyn Robinson will try to close out her collegiate career in style.
The fifth-year senior is headed to the NCAA Tournament along with second-seeded Wisconsin, which was placed in the Nebraska regional when the NCAA pairings were announced on Sunday. The Badgers (23-6) have earned a bid to the tournament for the 12th straight season and the 28th time in program history.
Wisconsin will host Fairfield (21-11) in the opening round on Thursday at 7 p.m., following a matchup between No. 7 Georgia Tech (20-9) and Tennessee (15-11) at 4:30 p.m. The winners advance to the second round on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Field House.
“You play the entire regular season to kind of prepare yourself for the NCAA Tournament and this is probably the deepest that I’ve ever seen the tournament. I mean, the number of teams that I could see getting into a regional final or a Final Four is probably the most that I could ever remember,” said Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield. “You’ve got to be really, really good at just taking one week at a time, one little mini tournament at a time.
“We’re trending in the right direction, which is certainly what you want to be doing this time of the year. It feels like we’re knocking on the door of just putting things together,” he added.
Robinson, a two-time all-American, was selected a team captain this season. She has played in 28 of the 29 matches with 14 starts, ranking fourth on the team with 1.79 kills per set.
Robinson, a middle blocker and right-side hitter, was named to the NCAA Championship all-tournament team in 2020. One year later, she helped UW to the national championship.
The Badgers hold a 67-21 (.761) all-time record in the program’s 27 NCAA Tournament appearances. UW is 39-10 under Sheffield in 11 years in the championship, advancing to at least the Sweet 16 round of play each season, including five appearances in the national championship Final Four.
UW finished third overall in the Big Ten in 2024 with a record of 17-3. The Badgers racked up seven wins against ranked teams, including sweeping No. 3 Penn State at the Field House. Wisconsin was near perfect at home with a 13-1 record, with the one loss coming to No. 2 Nebraska.
Nine Big Ten Conference teams made it into the NCAA Tournament with Penn State and Nebraska earning top seeds in the tournament. Wisconsin is the only other Big Ten team in Nebraska’s region.