Aug. 27, 2010
Wisconsin 3, Winthrop 0
Kaplan Arena • Williamsburg, Va.
| |
| |
 |
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Wisconsin
| 25
| 25 | 25
| -- | -- | Winthrop
| 14
| 22
| 14
| -- | -- | | | | Stats Leaders
| Wisconsin
|
| Winthrop
| | Kuzma - 17 | Digs | Hall/Viola - 11 | | Gabrielsen - 39 | Assists | Hall - 17 | | Walch - 13 | Kills | Viola - 9 | | Thompson - .643 | Hit % | Viola - .081 | Thompson - 6
| Blocks | Felts - 5 | | Stats Comparison
| WIS
| WIN
| Kills
| 47
| 22
| Hitting Pct.
| .285
| -.008
| Assists
| 44
| 18
| | Service Aces | 3
| 5
| Digs
| 63
| 56
| Total Blocks
| 6
| 10
| | |
| |
• Final Stats | Final Stats 
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- Behind the balanced scoring attack of three freshmen, the University of Wisconsin volleyball team opened the 2010 season with a sweep of Winthrop. The Badgers defeated the Eagles 25-14, 25-22, 25-14 on Friday morning to start the year 1-0.
"It was a good start for us," UW coach Pete Waite said. "With four freshmen on the court, it's going to take them a while to get used to each other, against new competition and learning to flow together out there. I thought they did a good job."
Fast Facts
| • Three freshmen lead offensive attack
| • Walch leads all hitters with 13 kills
| • Three Badgers record double-digit digs
| |
Freshman Elise Walch led all players with a match-high 13 kills. Freshman Julie Mikaelsen added 10 kills and freshman Dominique Thompson had nine kills for the Badgers. Wisconsin finished with a 47-22 advantage in kills and hit .285 compared to a negative .008 for Winthrop. The Eagles were led by Kaley Viola with nine kills.
"Its' a good sign for the future that our young players are hitting at a high hitting percentage and we're balancing the attack," Waite said. "I think (Janelle Gabrielsen) did a good job dispersing the ball to everybody."
Thompson led all hitters at .643 while Walch hit .400 and Mikaelsen was .308. Sophomore Alexis Mitchell also added eight kills to the UW offense. Gabrielsen put up 39 assists for the Badgers.
Wisconsin had three players record double-digit digs, led by Kim Kuzma with a match-high 17 digs. Freshman Annemarie Hickey chipped in 14 digs while Gabrielsen added 11 digs.
The Badgers also had 10 blocks, led by six from Thompson and four from Allison Wack.
The first set was tied at 7-7 before Wisconsin went on a 7-0 rally to go up 14-7 off the service of Gabrielsen. The 6-1 setter had one of the Badgers three aces in the match during the run.
Set two was much more of a battle with the score being tied five times. Wisconsin broke a 15-15 tie with three straight points to go up 18-15 off an ace from Hickey.
"Winthrop is a scrappy team and they dig a lot of balls, keep a lot of balls in play so there were some rallies that went quite a few times across the net but we were finishing them," said Waite. "That's what we've been looking for, a team that could terminate and finish those long rallies."
Wisconsin used a 4-0 stretch in the third set to go up 9-4 and never looked back. The Badgers allowed only four kills by the Eagles in the third set as Wisconsin had three blocks and hit .516 for the period.
"I thought there were times that Winthrop had some good rallies and tightened the game up and we would pull ahead and steady out," Waite said. "We're really just seeing the beginning of what's forming for us right now. I thought for a young crew like that, they did a nice job."
The Badgers continue play in the tournament tonight, taking on host William & Mary at 6 p.m.
