(UW ATHLETICS) MADISON – The No. 7 Wisconsin volleyball team led a balanced offensive attack, as it swept Troy 25-18, 25-13, 25-14 on Friday night at the UW Field House.
The Badgers (5-3) led a balanced offensive attack tonight, as Anna Smrek led the way as the only Badger in double figures with 10 kills. Sarah Franklin and Devyn Robinson were not far behind with nine and eight kills, respectively. As a team UW hit .416 (40 kills – 8 errors – 77 attempts) – a season-best in three sets.
Troy (5-4) was held to just .057 (26 kills – 21 errors – 88 attempts), and the second time this season where Wisconsin held its opponent under .100 hitting percentage. Troy’s outside hitter Tori Hester had a match-high 13 kills.
Charlie Fuerbringer was back in the starting lineup tonight, putting up 36 assists. The Badgers came strong from behind the service line, with eight total service aces. Gulce Guctekin had a match-high three aces. Franklin led the team with 10 digs.
Tied up at three apiece, Wisconsin took the lead thanks to kills from Robinson and Franklin, followed by an ace from Guctekin. Julia Orzol added another service ace to double the Trojans’ score at 8-4. Troy got Wisconsin on its toes with a 4-0 run, taking a one-point edge over UW (12-11). A block from Smrek and Robinson streamlined an 8-1 run for Wisconsin, highlighted by back-to-back kills from Orzol, back-to-back kills from Robinson and Guctekin’s second service ace of the night. The Trojans sided out after a timeout, as they trailed 21-15. The Badgers allowed just three more points, as CC Crawford sealed the set with a tip down the line to win it 25-18.
After Troy scored the first point of the second set, they did not score again until the tenth point of the match, as UW led 8-2. Wisconsin maintained a steady lead, as Troy tried to chip away. The Trojans brought it back within seven after a UW attack error, but Wisconsin rattled off four-straight points to take an 11-point lead at 22-11. Troy scored just two more points, as the Badgers won the second set 25-13.
It was all Wisconsin to start the third set, as Troy tailed 7-1 and took an early timeout. The Badgers pushed out to a ten-point lead (13-3) after a kill from Franklin. The teams traded points back and forth, but that was not enough for Troy to overcome the large deficit. Trinity Shadd-Ceres and Saige Damrow both saw the court in the final set, as the Badgers won the set and match, 25-14.
Straight from the court
Head coach Kelly Sheffield
On Charlie’s performance: “It’s pretty nice to say a setter is a little bit rusty when you’re hitting over .400 that, you know, I guess there’s good problems to have.”
On difficult serving: “And when you’re serving well, it allows you to set up your block. And I thought our serve and block, for the most part, did a pretty good job tonight.”
Middle blocker Devyn Robinson
On getting ready for tomorrow night: “I feel like we went in and did our jobs. So now it’s time for us to recover and get ready for Texas A&M. That’s all there is to it. Just get ready for the next team because we know we got a pretty good team tomorrow night.”
Defensive specialist Gulce Guctekin
On her serving tonight: “I think it’s the mindset just trying to serve really good, like every time, and trying to do that over and over again. I think it’s power of the mind and the practice.”
Notes to know
- In the three-set match, Wisconsin hit a season-best .487 (40-8-77).
- For a second match in a row, senior Anna Smrek recorded double-digit kills. Against Marquette, Smrek had 15 kills while tonight she tallied 10 kills and hit .412 (10-3-17).
- Tonight’s 12.5 blocks marks the fourth time where Wisconsin recorded double-digit blocks.
Up next
The Badgers will be back in action tomorrow night, as they welcome Texas A&M to the Field House. First serve is set for 7 pm and the match will be aired on the Big Ten Network.
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