(UW ATHLETICS) MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 6 Wisconsin volleyball team (10-4, 4-0) downed No. 20 Minnesota (7-5, 1-3) in four sets (25-21, 22-25, 25-15, 25-23) at Maturi Pavilion on Sunday evening.
Sophomore Kristen Simon surpassed the 500-career dig milestone against the Gophers, tallying a 13 dig performance on the night.
Freshman Audrey Flanagan led the Wisconsin offense with 14 kills and eight digs. Decelise Champion added 11 kills of her own, coupled with seven digs and three blocks, as Jaela Auguste contributed nine kills and six blocks.
Wisconsin jumped out to an early 7-3 lead in the first set with the help of a set of kills from Champion and Auguste. Minnesota swiftly responded with a 9-2 run of their own to take the advantage, before taking a 15-13 edge into the media timeout.
The Badgers continued to chip away, embarking on a 5-0 run. The freshmen led a Wisconsin push down the stretch, with Tarnow and Flanagan providing the final two kills to seal the set win, 25-21.
Wisconsin provided a 4-0 spark out of the media timeout to cut Minnesota’s lead down to one in the second set, with Jaela Auguste adding two kills and two block assists in that frame. The Badger Block continued to produce late in the set, helping build an 11-3 run to take a 21-18 lead, but the effort fell short as Minnesota claimed seven of the last eight rallies to win the set.
In the third set, Champion caught a spark early. The freshman tallied four kills in the opening frame to help build a 15-7 lead. From there, Wisconsin continued to cruise past the Gophers as a final ace from Isabelle Hoppe sealed the 25-15 set victory.
The Badgers saw their highest hitting percentage in the third set, clipping in a .333 (13 – 2 – 33) performance, while holding the Gophers to a .091 showing.
Minnesota held a narrow advantage late into the third set, but Wisconsin found a 4-0 burst to tie the set at 19 apiece thanks to a kill from Travis. The Badgers continued to chip away from there with the help of four kills from four different Badgers, before a final kill from Flanagan sealed the four set win over the Gophers.
With the win, the Badgers picked up their fourth consecutive win over the Gophers. Wisconsin posted a .241 hitting percentage (54 – 19 – 145) and its physicality at the net helped hold Minnesota to a .187 (45 – 19 – 37) performance, turning in 12.5 blocks in the process.
Straight from the Court:
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield (on the fan presence on the road):
“I was not expecting a whole lot of Badger fans in here. It’s a Sunday night, and they’ve got quite a drive back tomorrow, but this fan base travels well.”
(on earning the win over Minnesota)
“The stress that you feel, that they have you under in this building that’s packed, it’s just a great win for a young group. They battled.”
Notes:
-
Wisconsin improves to 42-51 all-time against Minnesota with the 3-1 win, and fourth in a row.
-
Wisconsin outblocked the Golden Gophers 12.5 to 7.5. This marks the fourth match where the Badgers have tallied double-digit blocks.
-
Setter Charlie Fuerbringer dished out 42 assists, added eight blocks, and six kills.
-
Libero Anna Bardaro tallied her 11th match with double-figure digs. Bardaro matched a career and season best 19 digs in which she had done three other times this season. The last time she totaled 19 digs was against Florida on Sept. 2.
-
In the first set, sophomore Kristen Simon reached career dig total number 500.
-
The Badgers held their opponent to a .187 (45-19-239) hitting percentage and marks the fourth match this season where they held their opponent under .200 hitting percentage.
-
For the fourth match of her career, freshman Decelise Champion recorded double-figure kills, tallying 11 against the Gophers.
-
Also tallying double-figure kills for the match was freshman Audrey Flanagan with 14 kills. Flanagan now has eight matches where she has tallied double-digit kills.
Up Next: Wisconsin continues its road stint, taking on Illinois on Thursday, Oct. 8. First serve is slated for 7:30 p.m., with the match airing on Big Ten Network.
Comments