After last week’s trip to Orlando, Quinnipiac volleyball will travel to Madison, Wisconsin to face off against the No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers on Dec. 2, in the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

Quinnipiac is coming off a monumental 3-1 upset over the top-seeded Fairfield Stags to win its first MAAC Championship and the university’s fourth conference championship of the fall sports season. 

The Bobcats and the Badgers are two of the nation’s hottest teams heading into the tournament. 

Quinnipiac has won 11 of its last 12 matches after starting the season with a 3-13 overall record. Much of the team’s postseason push can be credited to the return of freshman hitter Ginevra Giovagnoni.

After missing much of the season due to injury, the Italian native made her full return in time for the MAAC Tournament. Once there, Giovagnoni worked her way to receiving All-Championship honors, racking up 47 kills and 45 digs across three tournament matches. 

On the other hand, the Badgers are looking to defend their 2021 national championship. They secured the program’s fourth-straight Big Ten regular season championship and also won their past 18-straight matches, dating back to Sept. 25, when they lost in straight sets to the No. 8 Minnesota Golden Gophers. 

This will be the first ever meeting between the two programs, and despite Wisconsin’s national name, the Bobcats will be again looking at this like another day at the office. 

“It’s a business trip,” senior hitter Aryanah Diaz said. “We’re going to a new atmosphere, a new environment. There’s going to be people there that we don’t know, but we’re going to be treated with the respect that I think we deserve.” 

The winner will face off against the winner of No. 8 Washington vs. TCU in the second round on Dec. 3.