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MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin volleyball team (11-12, 6-8) dropped its third consecutive match on Saturday, losing to Ohio State 25-21, 25-21, 25-19 in the UW Field House. The loss marks Wisconsin’s longest losing streak of the season in both matches (three) and sets (nine).
“I’m disappointed in the way we performed tonight,” said head coach Pete Waite. “That was a team we knew had a hot streak coming in and we had to battle them with everything we had. Our passing wasn’t up to par so our offense wasn’t able to run quite as well. I thought Ohio State blocked very well. There were just too many errors on our part. It was too much to give a good team like them.”
A lack of consistent hitting limited the Badgers as they posted a .123 hitting percentage, while Ohio State connected on .347 percent of its shots. Wisconsin’s offense also could not overcome the Buckeyes’ 16 team blocks. The Badgers, in comparison, only totaled four team blocks.
Wisconsin did surpass Ohio State in several statistical categories. The Badgers out-performed the Buckeyes in kills (41-39), assists (41-35) and digs (46-41). Allison Wack and Brittney Dolgner headlined the UW offense with 14 and 11 kills, respectively. Wack also maintained a solid .273 hitting percentage. Janelle Gabrielsen directed Wisconsin’s offense, putting up 29 assists.
Two Badgers had double-digit digs as Kim Kuzma saved 14 shots, while Gabrielsen added 10 digs.
Ohio State was led by Katie Dull, who put down 11 kills while hitting a .320 percentage. Kelli Barhost followed with nine kills and a match-high .471 hitting percentage. Ashley Hughes dished out a match-high 33 assists.
Kristen Dozier highlighted the Ohio State defense with 11 total blocks, while Chelsea Noble led the Buckeyes with 17 digs.
Waite said that Ohio State has improved a lot since losing to Wisconsin on Oct. 2 in Columbus, Ohio.
“They’ve really evolved as a team and we’ve seen that coming,” Waite said. “We’ve seen them beat some really good teams along the way since we beat them. That happens sometimes—you beat someone and they change things.”
Both teams continuously exchanged points in the first set where there were 10 ties. With the score knotted up at 15, Ohio State put down two straight kills to take a 17-15 advantage. Poor hitting prevented the Badgers from retrieving the deficit as the Buckeyes took the set 25-21. UW hit just .053 percent for the set.
After nine ties, the Buckeyes grabbed a 16-13 lead in the second set. The UW responded by scoring three consecutive points to equal the score at 16 apiece. Ohio State would then regroup following a timeout to take a 19-16 lead, which it would not lose en route to a 25-21 set victory. Wisconsin bettered its hitting with a .265 percentage, but was overshadowed by Ohio State ’s impressive hitting percentage of .452.
Wisconsin came out strong in the third set and seized an early 6-4 lead over Ohio State. A kill from Caity DuPont evened the set at 11, but the Badgers then lost control of the set as the Buckeyes scored three straight points to take a 14-11 lead. Although the Badgers narrowed the margin to one at 18-17, Ohio State’s .414 hitting percentage helped them earn a 25-19 match victory.
“We come out next week and we’ve got another opportunity on Monday to train and watch tape and get better,” Waite said. “That’s been our goal and we’ve hit a plateau as far as the energy level on the court. Last week at Michigan we did really well and our energy level was great, then a little notch down against Michigan State. In the Big Ten, if you have any sort of a flat day, you’re going to pay for it.”
Wisconsin has a tough week ahead as it travels to Iowa City on Wednesday to take on Iowa before it returns home to face Minnesota on Nov. 15. The Badgers look to split the season series after losing to Iowa, 3-1, in its Big Ten opener on Sept. 23. UW also lost at Minnesota, 3-0, on Sept. 25.
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JT Luljak
Wisconsin Athletic Communications
