The Wisconsin Badgers start their West Coast road trip on Friday evening, taking on the USC Trojans, with first serve set for 9:00 p.m. Central on Big Ten Plus.
The Badgers are coming off a 1-1 week, as they lost 3-2 at home to the No. 2 Washington Huskies before beating the Michigan Wolverines 3-1. It was a close five-set thriller against Washington, as the Badgers took the first set 25-20 before losing the second 27-25.
Wisconsin was in prime position after taking the third set 25-21, but Washington
had a surge late in the fourth set for an easy 25-18 win. It all came down to the fifth set, which was a complete back-and-forth battle, but a service error and Washington ace got them the final two points of the set to take it 18-16 and win the match.
Wisconsin bounced back against Michigan, winning 20-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-22, but their 1-1 week dropped them two spots to No. 8 in this week’s AVCA poll.
Now, they’ll look to build on their momentum on the road, and they get a 9-11 Trojans that have gone 3-7 in conference play. But USC has beaten Indiana, and they’ll look to play spoiler on Friday night.
Wisconsin follows this up by facing UCLA on Sunday afternoon on Big Ten Network, which will be a tougher matchup, as the Bruins are just on the outskirts of the Top 25.
But first, they need to take care of business on Friday night, with first serve at 9:00 p.m. Central.
