(UW ATHLETICS) MADISON, Wis. –The No. 2 seed Wisconsin volleyball team shared the offensive wealth as the team bounced back after a set one loss, to beat the No.7 seed Georgia Tech, 25-27, 25-20, 25-23, 25-21 in the Second Round of the NCAA tournament on Friday night at the UW Field House.
Sarah Franklin tallied 20 kills on the night, with three of kills coming in the final three points of the match. Anna Smrek added 13 and Carter Booth rounded out double-figure kills with 10. As a team, Wisconsin hit .265 (61 kills – 17 errors – 166 attempts).
Georgia Tech’s Tamara Otene had a match-high 21 kills, while Bianca Bertolini chipped in 17. The Yellow Jackets hit .217 (66 – 27 – 180) on the night.
The teams went kill-for-kill to start the match before a 6-2 Wisconsin (25-6) run fueled by five kills and a block gave UW a 12-7 advantage and forced a Yellow Jacket (21-10) timeout. The teams traded runs, amounting to Wisconsin’s five first set blocks. The Badgers held a 22-16 lead, but Georgia Tech went on an 11-3 run to close it out, holding off two Badger set points, before winning it 27-25.
Neither team led by more than three points in set two until Wisconsin grabbed a 19-15 lead after a kill from Booth. Georgia Tech sided out after that, but Wisconsin kept it’s foot on the gas with back-to-back aces from Charlie Fuerbringer. The Badgers needed just two more points, leading 23-16. The Yellow Jackets didn’t go down without a fight, holding off three UW set points and forcing a timeout as they came back, trailing 20-24. Anna Smrek called set with a kill out of timeout and win it 25-20.
Wisconsin got off to a hot start in set three, jumping out to a 6-1 lead to prompt an early GT timeout. Georgia Tech slowly chipped away at the lead, getting it as close as two at 13-11 with two kills in a row from Tamara Otene. Eight points later, GT’s Bianca Bertolino notched two more kills in a row, as the Badgers called a timeout leading by just two points (18-16). The teams traded runs until it was knotted it up at 23-all. Smrek set up set point with a kill, and Crawford and Fuerbringer put down a block to win it 25-23.
Set four was an all-out battle, as neither team led by more than three points once again. The Badgers created a bit of distance with a 3-0 run as UW went up 14-11 with a Devyn Robinson’s 500th career block. GT brought it back within one a couple times, until they tied it up at 20-all. Franklin took over in the final points, racking up three kills in a row to win it 25-20 and send the Badgers to the Sweet 16.
Fuerbringer owned all four service aces for the Badgers on the night, tying her career high. The freshman setter put up 49 assists and a team-high 21 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.
The Badgers more than doubled GT on blocks, with 14.0 total compared to their 6.0 blocks. Booth and Smrek both tallied eight blocks of their own.
Straight from the court
Head coach Kelly Sheffield
On match their grittiness: “NCAA Volleyball at its finest right there. Just two teams that were just going at it and slugging out. Congratulations to just a tremendous Georgia Tech team and you know how gritty that team is and we knew we had to match their grit to give ourselves a chance to win. And I thought we did a great job with that, their outsides are a handful.”
On Charlie’s performance: “We scored a lot of points off of her serve, and we’ve done that quite a few times. She serves with pace and it’s flat and she locates it really well and when she gets really good hand contact the ball dances and we’ve got a front row that is, when she’s back there, that’s her best blocking.”
Captain and senior Sarah Franklin
On moving forward after set one: “I mean, Georgia Tech was gonna be a team that was not gonna give up and put their heart out on the line, and I think just going into those next sets, it was: ‘Alright, no judgment here. We’re continuing to move forward and continuing to press on everything.’ So I think we did a really good job of staying calm and just working towards that next point, which is what Kelly emphasized before the game.”
On her love for Badger volleyball: “I just love Badger volleyball. Every time we get to step in the Field House we know how much love the fans have for us. It just showed so much when we stood out there on the court together and I don’t think, like they said, we wanted to go out any other way.”
Captain and senior Julia Orzol
On being grateful for Badger volleyball: “Hey you know the train keeps moving and tomorrow we’ll be back in this gym, but like standing in front of everybody who gives you heart every time they come and step into this gym and just knowing that is the last time we were doing this together and being a part of it as a player. It’s hard, but we are so grateful to be a part of something like that. As Frank said, Wisconsin volleyball is something so unique. It’s gonna be so hard to beat that, but I love that we’ll have a place like that to come back.”
Captain and senior Devyn Robinson
On playing her last match in the Field House: “I mean you know its a lot, you don’t realize that you just played your last point, that I took my last swing in the Field House until it’s over and you look around and I’m seeing fans that I’ve seen since my freshman year, even before when they were like “we’re so excited for your career” and now that it’s come to, not the end, but the end here at the Field House is overwhelming. I’m just so grateful that I was able to spend the last five years of my life in this program with these girls and I met my best friends here.”
Notes to know
- Head coach Kelly Sheffield will once again take his team to a Sweet 16 appearance or higher with the win over No. 7 Georgia Tech.
- Wisconsin improves to 68-28 overall in the NCAA Tournament and 20-5 in the Second Round.
- The win concludes matches at the UW Field House, and the Badgers improve to 49-5 when hosting matches in the NCAA Tournament at the UW Field House, and 27-2 during the Sheffield era.
- Freshman Charlie Fuerbringer tied a career-high with four aces tonight. Fuerbringer initially achieved this against Purdue on October 26.
- Fuerbringer also recorded her ninth double-double with 49 assists and 21 digs.
- Fifth year Devyn Robinson hit a career milestone. Robinson now joins the 500 block party, recording the milestone in the fourth set.
- Senior Anna Smrek tied a season-best eight blocks. Smrek also tallied eight blocks against Michigan on October 20.
- Fifth year Sarah Franklin recorded her 25th straight match and 29th match this season, with double-figure kills.
- Franklin accumulated 20 kills for the eighth time this season, and three of the last four matches with 20+ kills.
- Wisconsin reached double-figure blocks (14.0) for the 20th time this season and seventh consecutive match with double-figure block totals.
Up next
The Badgers advance to their 12th-straight NCAA Regional appearance with the site and date to be announced.
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