(UW ATHLETIC)S) CHAMPAIGN, Ill. –A balanced offensive attack led the No. 7 Badgers to a 25-16, 26-24, 25-17 sweep of Illinois on Sunday afternoon.
A key second set win propelled the Badgers (16-5, 10-2 B1G) to the sweep, as they hit .364 (49 kills – 13 errors – 99 attempts). Sarah Franklin and Anna Smrek both tallied 13 kills, while Carter Booth added 10.
Illinois (15-7, 7-5 B1G) hit .206 (36 – 15 – 102), and outside hitter Raina Terry had a match-high 15 kills.
The Badgers came out swinging, jumping out to a 3-0 lead to begin the match. UW extended its lead to 14-8, forcing Illinois to call a timeout to slow down the Badger run. The timeout did little to calm down the Badger offense, as Wisconsin led by as many as nine points in the set. Sarah Franklin and Anna Smrek both tallied five kills in the first frame, and as a team the Badgers hit .440. Wisconsin took set one 25-16.
Illinois came out in set two with heightened intensity. A kill from Franklin gave UW a 9-5 lead, but the Fighting Illini put together a 6-1 run to take their first lead of the day (11-10). From there the teams went back and forth. A block from Booth and Smrek forced an Illinois timeout as UW went up 21-19. But the Illini rallied back, scoring three-straight points to take back a 22-21 lead, and eventually an ace from Raina Terry gave Illinois set point, leading 24-22. Wisconsin, however, fought off two set points, and scored four-straight points for the comeback win. Wisconsin took the set 26-24.
In the final set, Wisconsin started strong and established a commanding lead. They led 17-5, as Illinois called a timeout. The Badgers held a comfortable 19-7 lead, but the Fighting Illini came charging back with a 6-0 run to bring it back within six points (19-13). From there the Badgers closed it out, taking the set and match 25-17.
Charlie Fuerbringer posted 43 assists on the day and added nine digs. Julia Orzol recorded a team-high 12 digs. The outside hitter also finished with three service aces and as a team, UW tallied eight total.
Wisconsin finished with eight blocks, compared to Illinois’ three. Middles CC Crawford and Booth both recorded three each.
Notes to know
- Freshman setter Charlie Fuerbinger tallied 43 assists, a new three-set match-high on the season.
- The Badgers outblocked it’s opponent for the 18th time this season.
- Junior Carter Booth recorded her second-highest hitting percentage of the season. She had 10 kills with just one hitting errors on 15 attempts.
- Graduate Carly Anderson got the nod at defensive specialist this evening. Anderson recorded six digs and chipped in with two service aces.
- For the seventh time this season, outside hitter Julia Orzol recorded double-digit dig totals. She had 12 against the Fighting Illini.
- The Badgers now even the all-time series out against Illini, 49-49-1, and have improved to 23-23 in Champaign. Wisconsin has now won 10 in a row over Illinois.
Up next
The Badgers will return home next weekend to play Iowa on Friday night at 6 p.m. and No. 3 Penn State on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.
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