Sydney Hilley

Personal: Hilley graduated from Wisconsin with degrees in genetics and genomics in December 2020. She also earned a master's degree in applied biotechnology. She currently works as a scientist for Beckman Coulter, a medical diagnostics company. Her mother, Christy, played volleyball at North Dakota State in 1986. Her father, Mike, played basketball at North Dakota State from 1986-90. Her older brother, Alex, played club volleyball at North Dakota State and her younger sister, Sami, played volleyball at Wisconsin-River Falls. Her boyfriend, Jack, plays for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. She lists Wisconsin head volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield as a person who has made a difference in her life. She played soccer and basketball as a child in addition to volleyball. Her hobbies include reading, watching TV shows and movies, and spending time with friends and family.

2023 Season: Hilley secured an eighth-place finish in the league standings after compiling 3,114 leaderboard points. She ranked sixth in the league with 1,474 stat points and earned Match MVP honors five times. Hilley, a three-time team captain, posted a 4-5 record and recorded the second-highest single-season total in league history after leading the circuit with 545 assists. She also had a league-high 13 matches with 30 or more assists, including four outings with 40 or more assists. Furthermore, Hilley was the Match MVP recipient in four consecutive matches from October 8-15. She secured her first career Match MVP award with MVP 2 distinction against Team Valentin-Anderson on October 8, notching 29 assists. Hilley also collected her first career double-double with 28 assists and 13 digs in an MVP 3 performance against Team Nootsara to close Week One and opened Week Two with an MVP 3 effort against Team Edmond with 41 assists. Additionally, she dished out 38 assists with four digs in an MVP 2 outing against Team Linnehan and set a season-high with 340 leaderboard points against Team Rosenthal in the Week Three finale on October 23, notching 37 assists with a season-high 23 digs. Hilley started Week Four with 44 assists and 10 digs against Team Edmond and garnered 100 or more leaderboard points in 12 out of 15 matches. She also participated in the Athletes Unlimited Volleyball Exhibition Tour.

Other Professional Experience: Hilley embarked on her professional career as a practice player for VakifBank Sports Club in Istanbul before joining the Manati Volleyball Club in Puerto Rico during the summer of 2022. She won the inaugural Pro Volleyball Federation championship with the Omaha Supernovas in 2024. She ranked seventh in the league by averaging 9.25 assists per set. She also tallied 26 kills while appearing in 64 sets. 

International Experience: Hilley earned a Bronze medal in her debut with the United States Women’s National Team at the 2023 Pan American Cup. Additionally, she guided Team USA to a Gold medal at the 2023 NORCECA Pan Am Cup Final Six. Her journey with USA Volleyball dates back to her time as a member of the 2016 U.S. Women’s Junior National Team and the 2015 Girls Youth National Team. During her junior career, she collected a Silver medal at the 2016 NORCECA U-20 Continental Championship and another Silver medal at the 2015 FIVB U-18 World Championship.

At Wisconsin: Hilley was a five-year letter winner and four-time captain at the University of Wisconsin. She made her mark by appearing in a program-record 148 matches from 2017 to 2021, starting every match of her career to set a Wisconsin career record. Hilley accumulated an impressive school-record 6,138 career assists along with 349 blocks. Her versatility shone through as she also collected 276 kills and 1,214 digs during her collegiate career. She stands 12th on Wisconsin’s career digs list. Her accolades include being a five-time American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America selection, with three First-Team honors. She also garnered VolleyballMag.com All-America recognition four times. Hilley was a five-time AVCA All-Region recipient, including First-Team nods in each of her final four seasons. She was named the Big Ten Conference Setter of the Year three times (2019, 2020, 2021) and earned First-Team All-Big Ten distinction in each of her final four seasons. Her impact was felt early in her career as a member of the 2017 Big Ten All-Rookie Team. Hilley's commitment to academics was evident through her three-time CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team honors and four-time Academic All-Big Ten recognition. She claimed the AVCA National Player of the Week notice on October 7, 2019. A significant highlight in her collegiate journey was being a member of the 2021 NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team, leading the Badgers to the title. Hilley also received MVP honors in the NCAA Championship All-Regional Team in 2021. Her excellence extended to receiving the Big Ten Setter of the Week award 17 times during her career. She was the recipient of the 2021 Big Ten Medal of Honor and earned three-time Athletic Board Scholar selections. Hilley's impact on the court included setting a Wisconsin single-match rally-scoring era record with 78 assists in a four-set match against Minnesota on November 14, 2019. She also holds the Badgers’ single-match mark for assists in a five-set match with 66 assists against Maryland on September 14, 2021. Her name appears on three of the top five single-season school records during the 25-point rally-scoring era. Hilley is one of four players in program history to start 100 or more consecutive contests, having played in 378 straight sets, the fourth-highest mark in program history. She boasts 52 career double-double efforts, ranking third all-time at Wisconsin. Her contributions were further recognized with the 2021 Steve Lowe Memorial Scholarship. Notably, she played alongside AU Pro Volleyball athlete Danielle Hart at Wisconsin.