Nov. 27, 2009

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MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin volleyball team rallied to force a fifth set Friday, but the Badgers dropped the decisive final frame and fell, 3-2, to Indiana in a Big Ten Conference match at the UW Field House.

The Hoosiers claimed the win by a score of 22-25, 25-21, 25-15, 23-25, 15-12.

“I thought we really battled tonight to get back in the match after being down 1-2 in sets, especially after losing Kirby Toon to an injured finger,” UW head coach Pete Waite said. “I feel good about a lot of things but, unfortunately, we couldn’t quite finish it off in the end, in the fifth set.”

The Badgers racked up a season-high 15 blocks against the Hoosiers but hit just .136 for the match, including percentages of .079 in the second set and negative .094 in the third set.

Indiana hit .222 for the match and got 22 kills from Jordan Haverly and another 18 from Ashley Benson, who finished with a double-double after also tallying 10 blocks.

Senior Caity DuPont led the charge for the Badgers offensively, putting down a season-high 14 kills. Fellow senior Brittney Dolgner added 12 kills, while freshman Alexis Mitchell pounded down nine.

Defensively, Mary Ording tallied a career-high five blocks to lead the way for UW, with freshman Kirby Toon adding three solo stuffs of her own.

Janelle Gabrielsen also finished with a career-high 21 digs, while Kim Kuzma added 18 and Dolgner had 13 to go along with her 12 kills and complete a double-double.

“We had to change our lineup to something we haven’t tried most of the year,” Waite said. “(Allison) Wack did a nice job coming in on the right side and scoring for us. Caity DuPont scored well all night. (Janelle) Gabrielsen had a high dig total, a personal-best, and our blocking was very good tonight.”

Kills by Gabrielsen and Dolgner helped the Badgers open the match with three-consecutive points, as they jumped out to an early 3-0 lead. That advantage turned out to be UW’s largest of the set, and one they didn’t match until finishing off the opener with four straight points.

A pair of kills by Benson helped the Hoosiers draw back to even at 5-5, but she then committed a service error to return the lead to UW. Of Wisconsin’s first seven points, three came off service errors by IU.

It was difficult for either team to pull away, as the set featured 14 ties and four lead changes.

The final lead change came as the Badgers broke a 22-22 tie by forcing an IU ball-handling error and having Ording combine for a pair of clutch blocks on consecutive plays to seal the win. Ording and DuPont teamed up for a block of Haverly to set up set point, and Ording and Gabrielson then combined for a block of Kelci Marschall to claim the set for the Badgers.

The stuffs were two of the six UW racked up as a team in the set, with Ording recording a solo block and four block assists to lead the way.

The Hoosiers evened the match with a 25-21 win in the second set, with the victory keyed by a late 7-3 run.

After Mitchell slammed down a kill that cut IU’s lead to a single point, at 14-13, the Hoosiers put together a 10-5 surge and built a six-point lead at 24-18. Faced with set point, the Badgers battled back with three-consecutive points, including a solo block by Toon, to draw within 24-21.

A big swing by Benson found the floor, however, and Indiana escaped with the set. The Badgers hit just .079 for the frame, which included 10 attack errors compared to 13 kills.

The Hoosiers picked up where they left off to start the third set, running out to a 14-6 lead and withstanding a pair of small runs by the Badgers on their way to a 25-15 win.

Wisconsin converted just eight of its 32 attacks in the set into kills, finishing with a negative .094 hitting percentage for the set. After UW cut the Hoosiers’ lead to 16-12 with a 3-0 run, Indiana answered with an 9-3 run of its own to finish off the set.

The Badgers battled back in the fourth set, rallying after Waite called a timeout with his team trailing, 10-6. Out of the break, UW put together an 11-7 run that included three kills by Dolgner and evened the score at 17-17.

The Hoosiers retaliated, but after Waite called another timeout with UW trailing, 20-18, Wisconsin finished the set on a 7-3 run on the strength of three kills from DuPont.

Wisconsin carried the momentum into the final set and led, 12-10, when the Hoosiers called a timeout. From there, IU rattled off five consecutive points to seal the win.

“We have one more match and the main thing is that we battle and never give up,” Waite said. “That was one of our goals this year, never give up in what we’re doing, and we keep improving.

“We’re seeing different people step up and we just have to finish off with a win. We know Purdue’s a very good team and we’re going to have a battle on our hands.”

After suffering their eighth-consecutive defeat – their longest losing streak since the 1984 season – the Badgers look to bounce back in their home finale Saturday, as Purdue comes to the UW Field House for a 7 p.m. match.

Wisconsin will honor seniors Dolgner and DuPont prior to the match. Saturday is also Waupun and Muskego Hometown Days, with residents of those communities receiving admission for $1.