(UW ATHLETICS) ANN ARBOR, MICH. – The No. 9 Badgers put up 21.0 blocks to set a new program record for most blocks in a four-set match as they took down Michigan 21-25, 25-10, 25-20, 25-16 on Sunday night.
Carter Booth led the team with 12 blocks, setting a new career-high, and Anna Smrek added eight. Charlie Fuerbringer chimed in with a career-high six blocks.
Sarah Franklin tallied 19 kills, as Smrek was not far behind with 17. As a team, UW hit .336 (53 kills – 13 errors – 119 attempts).
Wisconsin held Michigan to just .089 (46 – 33 – 146), as outside Allison Jacobs finished with a team-high 15 kills.
After a slow start to set one, as UW fell behind 1-4, the Badgers went on a 4-0 run to take a 7-5 lead. Michigan responded with two blocks and a kill to regain the lead (8-7). The Badgers tied it up the next point, but from there Michigan tallied a kill and didn’t lose the lead again. Michigan led by as much as three, and Wisconsin brought it back within one to force a Wolverine timeout as UW trailed 21-22. But Michigan came out of the break and scored three-straight points to win set one 25-21.
Wisconsin came out hot in set two, grabbing three kills and two blocks for a 6-1 lead, prompting an early Michigan timeout. Gulce Guctekin registered back-to-back aces to extend the Wisconsin lead to 10-3. Michigan then went on a 3-0 run to keep them within striking distance, but Wisconsin responded with 5-0 run backed by two kills, two blocks and a Michigan hitting error. The Badgers closed out set two on an 11-4 run to take the second frame 25-10.
CC Crawford got the Badgers rolling in set three with two blocks and a kill to give UW an 8-3 edge. Michigan brought it back to a two-point game as they trailed 8-10. Wisconsin scored five-straight points heading into the media timeout as Franklin tallied three kills in that stretch. Michigan came out of the media timeout with a 4-1 run, forcing Wisconsin to take a timeout leading 16-13. The Wolverines continued to chip away as Wisconsin called its final timeout of the set leading 19-18, after three-straight kills from Michigan. Wisconsin held off the Wolverine rally to win set three 25-20.
Set four was the most evenly matched of the night with nine ties before Wisconsin pulled ahead 16-13. Michigan scored just three more points in the rest of the set, and with a perfect ending to a record-setting night, Wisconsin won the set and match 25-16 on a block from Smrek and Booth.
Fuerbringer tallied 45 helpers and one service ace. Gulce Guctekin has the other two service aces for the Badgers. Lola Schumacher had a team-high 14 digs, as Franklin added 13 to complete her sixth double-double of the season.
Notes to know
- Since 25-point rally scoring, the Badgers set a program record for most blocks, 21.0, in a four-set match. The previous record was 19.0 back in October of 2021 against Ohio State.
- With 19 kills and 13 digs, fifth year senior Sarah Franklin reached her sixth double-double of the season 32ndof her career.
- Three Badgers recorded a season-best or career-best in the block stat line against the Wolverines. Junior Carter Booth had 12.0 blocks for a new career-high, senior Anna Smrek with 8.0 for a season-best, and Charlie Fuerbringer with career-best 6.0 blocks.
- Senior Anna Smrek tallied 17 kills, a new season-best.Setter Charlie Fuerbringer neared a triple-double with 45 assists, seven digs, and six blocks.
- For the fourth time this season, Wisconsin held it’s opponent under .100 hitting percentage. The Badgers held the Wolverines to just a .089 (46 kills – 33 errors – 146 attempts).
Up next
The Badgers will head to Indiana next weekend for a match against the Hoosiers on Thursday night at 6 p.m. and a Saturday afternoon match against No. 10 Purdue at 2:30 p.m. The Indiana match will be aired on FS1, while the Purdue match will be live on NBC, marking just the second women’s college volleyball match shown on NBC.
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