(UW ATHLETICS) MADISON — The No. 9 Badgers put down 14 blocks en route to a 25-15, 25-11, 25-15 sweep against Maryland at the UW Field House on Friday night.
CC Crawford tallied nine blocks, as Anna Smrek added five. Sarah Franklin led the team offensively with 11 kills, as the team hit .333 (33 kills – 8 errors – 75 attempts).
Maryland (10-6, 1-4 B1G) hit .043 (27 – 23 – 92) on the night, as Samantha Schnitta put up a team-high nine kills.
Smrek got the Badgers (10-4, 4-1 B1G) going out of the gate with two-straight kills. The Badgers used that momentum to take a 7-2 lead. Maryland responded with a 5-1 run to bring it back within one (8-7). Charlie Fuerbringer put down two service aces in the Badgers’ five-point run to force a Maryland timeout as they trailed 8-14. The Badgers maintained a steady lead, leading by as much as nine at 20-11. Wisconsin closed it out from there, taking the first set 25-15.
Once again, the Badgers got out to a quick start with a 4-1 lead, but the Terrapins climbed back in to tie at six-all. The teams traded points back and forth until Wisconsin went on a 8-0 run. Maryland burned both timeouts in hopes of slowing down the Badger run, and finally stopped them as UW led 18-10. The Terrapins scored just one more point, as the Badgers finished set two on a 15-2 run to finish it 25-11 with nine blocks in the frame.
An ace from Lola Schumacher and back-to-back kills from CC Crawford propelled the Badgers to an 8-2 lead and forced a Maryland timeout to kick off the third set. The Terrapins sided out after the timeout, but another service ace from Julia Orzol prompted another Terrapin timeout. Maryland brought it back within five, trailing 13-18. Wisconsin finished the set on a 6-1 run. The Badgers tallied three more aces in the set for six total. UW won the set, and match, 25-15.
Charlie Fuerbringer put up 29 helpers and chipped in with three blocks and a couple of service aces. The Badgers tallied 12 service aces for a season-best and ties for the third-most in a three set match, as Orzol tied a career-high with four of her own.
Orzol and Schumacher both recorded eight digs and Guctekin chipped in five.
Straight from the court
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield
On defensive intensity: “Our blocking and backcourt defense was awfully good and that was an emphasis coming into tonight. I thought the last few points were really good examples of our team scrambling and refusing to let the ball hit the floor. It’s a good win for us”
On Charlie: “She’s a very different setter than she was earlier in the year. I think everybody can tell she puts the work in, she studies film. She works really hard with all of our attackers. It’s important to her to be really good for them.”
Setter Charlie Fuerbringer
On establishing connections: “I think we are doing a really good job in practice just connecting with one another after every set just letting each other know what works and what doesn’t. And just doing that pretty consistently had brought us to this point which I think is a really good point right now with our connections.”
Middle blocker CC Crawford
On rotating players: “I think our team in my position is stacked and that’s a great quality for us to have for anyone to jump in at any time and just being ready and working with each other. I mean at the end of the day whoever’s put in is gonna ball out and I think all four of us are great in that aspect.”
Notes to know
- With 14 blocks against Maryland, Wisconsin tied for fifth for most blocks in a three-set match in program history.
- Senior CC Crawford totaled XX blocks, a new season-high. She also set a season-best with a .438 hitting percentage (8-1-16).
- For the sixth time this season, the Badger’s tallied double-digit blocks.
- Fifth year senior Sarah Franklin reached double-digit kills for the 12th time this season.
- From the service line, Julia Orzol tied a career-best four aces.
- As a team, the Badgers totaled 12 service aces, a team-best this season, and ties for the third-most aces in a three-set match in program history.
Up next
The Badgers will return to action on Sunday afternoon to take on Northwestern at home. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m.
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