(UW ATHLETICS) MADISON – The No. 6 Wisconsin volleyball team battled its way to a 25-21,12-25, 22-25, 25-20, 20-18 five-set victory over No. 16 Minnesota on Wednesday night at the UW Field House.
In the final set, Wisconsin (21-5, 15-2 B1G) came out swinging with two aces and two kills early to grab a 5-2 lead and prompt a Gopher (17-10, 10-7 B1G) timeout. Minnesota tied it back up at 5-all. After switching sides at eight, in favor of Wisconsin, Anna Smrek smashed an overpass to force another Minnesota timeout with Wisconsin leading 9-6. Out of the timeout, Minnesota scored two-straight points to get it back within one. A service ace from Gopher’s Melanie Shaffmaster put Wisconsin on its heels, trailing 12-13. A kill from Franklin and a block by Carter Booth and Franklin set the Badgers up for match point. Wisconsin couldn’t seal the deal, but Booth responded with a kill to set the team up for another match point, but the Gophers held UW off and flipped it to give Minnesota match point. UW scored two straight, a kill and a block, for its third match point. The Gophers tallied a kill but Wisconsin, once again, responded with a block for another match point and the Gophers responded right back with a kill. Wisconsin finally called game with two-straight blocks to win it 20-18. The Badgers’ final four points were blocks.
Sarah Franklin led the team with 19 kills, and Julia Orzol added 14. As a team UW hit .158 (57 kills – 26 errors – 196 attempts) on the night.
Outside hitter Julia Hanson led the Gophers and tallied a match-high 20 kills, leading the Gophers to .208 (63 – 26 – 178).
Charlie Fuerbringer led the team with 25 digs to pair with her 48 assists. With Lola Schumacher and Gulce Guctekin still out with injuries, Saige Damrow started at libero and put up an impressive performance with 21 digs.
Minnesota got off to a hot start in the Silent Set leading by as many as five (7-2) to begin the match. The Badgers responded with a 3-0 run capitalizing off two hitting errors by the Gophers. Minnesota held onto that small lead, but when the UW Field House erupted into cheers at point nine for UW, it was all Wisconsin from there. The Badgers went on a 10-2 run to take a 19-14 lead. From there, the teams traded points back and forth but that was not enough for Minnesota as UW took set one 25-21.
Nothing went well for the Badgers in the second set as the Gophers went on an 11-0 run to take control of the set. UW couldn’t come back from the deficit and Minnesota evened up the match, winning set two 25-12.
Set three brought a much more evenly matched game. Wisconsin established an early lead until Minnesota overtook them at 10-9 with an ace from Alex Acevedo. The teams battled, trading the lead and ties, but a 5-0 run pushed Minnesota ahead 18-14. UW rallied back to tie it up at 21-all after a service ace from Sarah Franklin as Minnesota called a timeout, but the Gophers closed it out on a 4-1 run to win set three 25-22.
Wisconsin got out to a good start in set four taking an early 9-4 lead. Minnesota brought it back within two (10-8) but Wisconsin came right back with two-straight points. The Badgers distanced themselves with 4-0 run highlighted by an ace and a kill from Franklin to give UW a 19-13 lead. The Gophers responded with a 4-0 of their own, trailing by just three points (18-21), but UW closed the fourth set out with a kill from Devyn Robinson to win it 25-20.
Wisconsin recorded eight service aces, with Franklin tallying four of her own and Orzol adding three. On the other hand, the Badgers finished with 13 service errors.
The Badgers outblocked Minnesota 13.0-9.0, but only had seven blocks heading into the final set. Wisconsin tallied six blocks in the last frame.
Straight from the court
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield
On resilience: “It’s been something this group has really worked hard at, when their backs are against the wall, you still have the opportunity to come out and set the world on fire if you stay together. You keep battling, you keep fighting. We really raised our defensive intensity, which was very critical.”
On success of the blocks: “We made some nice serves there at the end, and got their setter scrambling a little bit, which allowed us to set our block. Sometimes one of the worst things you can do in those situations is pressing, not pressing over the net and just trying to do too much. Making strong moves, getting across the net, reading the attacker, get your hands in good space.”
Libero Saige Damrow
On stepping up: “I knew from the beginning, seeing a new libero in the jersey that they were going to be targeting me and I feel like you just have to fight to keep these balls up. We talked going in that this was a really good serving team.”
Outside hitter Julia Orzol
On mentality: “I feel like we focus on the attitude of it’s all about responding, you know, it doesn’t matter what just happened, it doesn’t matter how great of a play or how bad of a play we just made. It’s all about what’s going to happen next.”
Notes to know
- With 48 assists, freshman Charlie Fuerbringer passed Lizzy Fitzgerald (919) for the fifth most assists as a freshman in program history. She now has 960 assists in the regular season.
- Entering the fifth set, Wisconsin had tallied just seven blocks. In the final set alone, the Badgers recorded six blocks for a final total of 13.0.
- For her third-straight match, freshman setter Charlie Fuerbringer recorded a double-double, with 48 assists and 25 digs. Fuerbringer’s dig total is also a career-high.
- With 21 digs, redshirt freshman Saige Damrow tallied a career-best dig total.
- In both matches, Minnesota held Wisconsin to under .200 hitting percentage. On September 25, Wisconsin hit .188, and tonight, the Badgers hit just .153.
- Outside hitter Sarah Franklin tallied her seventh double-double and 33rd of her career with 19 kills and 11 digs. Franklin also served up four aces, a season-best.
- For the 10th time this season, Wisconsin recorded double-digit service errors.
- In the second set, the Badgers were held to just 12 points. That’s the lowest point total in a set since 2018 when Wisconsin lost to No. 1 Penn State. On September 28, 2012, the Badgers scored just seven points in the third and final set.
Up next
The Badgers will head to Lincoln for a rematch with No. 2 Nebraska on Saturday night. The match will begin at 7 p.m. and will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network.
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