Aug. 24, 2012
Wisconsin 3, South Florida 0
The Corral • Tampa, Fla. | |
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| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Wisconsin
| 25 | 25 | 25 | -- | -- | South Florida
| 17 | 23 | 22 | -- | -- | | | | Stats Leaders
| | WIS | | USF | | Chapman - 15 | Kills | El Houssine - 11 | | Thomas 35 | Assists | Devlin - 16 | | Mitchell - .429 | Hit %
| El Houssine - .241 | | Hickey - 19 | Digs | Cabrera - 14 | | Ording - 4 | Blocks | Rodriguez -5 | | Morales - 3 | Aces | Burgghart - 1 | | Stats Comparison
| WIS | USF | | Kills | 40 | 39 | | Hitting Pct. | .184 | .241 | | Assists | 40 | 37 | | Service Aces | 3 | 1 | | Digs | 50 | 56 | | Total Blocks | 6 | 9 | | |
• Box Score | Box Score 
TAMPA, Fla. -- The University of Wisconsin volleyball team held off late runs by South Florida in the second and third sets to open the season with a 25-17, 25-23, 25-22 win in the first round of the USF Invitational.
“I’m pleased with our start,” said UW head coach Pete Waite. “We came in here for South Florida’s home opener, in a small gym, with a big crowd and a lot of atmosphere. We really held them off when they were coming on strong at different points in the match.”
After easily winning the first set, breaking a 7-7 tie with four straight points to take an insurmountable lead, the Badgers had to battle late in the second and third sets to win. Wisconsin broke a 22-22 tie in the second set, outscoring the Bulls 3-1 late. In the third set, UW led 22-19 but USF battled back to pull within one (23-22). That was when Mary Ording scored a kill and teamed with Ellen Chapman on a block to win the match.
Chapman finished with a match-high 15 kills while Alexis Mitchell added eight kills, hitting a team-best .429 (8-2-14). Wisconsin had just a 40-39 advantage in team kills but the Badgers hit .194 (40-16-124) compared to .128 (39-24-117) for the Bulls. Valerie El Houssine led USF with 11 kills.
“Ellen did well in the front row for us, got a lot of kills,” said Waite. “But we have to spread our offense out better. We have to pass better to get more players involved.”
Sophomore Courtney Thomas put up a career-high 35 assists in running the Badger offense while sophomore Deme Morales had all three Wisconsin service aces. The Badgers were aced only once in the match.
“I thought we served well,” said Waite. “I thought we were low error and kept the pressure on South Florida.”
Junior Annemarie Hickey continued her outstanding defensive play from last season, tallying a match-high 19 digs. The libero has saved 10-or-more attacks in five straight matches, dating back to 2011.
“I thought Annemarie dug a lot of balls and put up some big numbers for us,” said Waite. “She helped us get the win. Bottom line, she controlled the back court.”
The Bulls had two players in double-digit digs to finish with a 56-50 advantage in saves. USF also out-blocked Wisconsin 9-6. The Badgers were led by Ording’s five blocks.
Wisconsin continues tournament play on Saturday, taking on UCF (0-1) at 10 a.m. and Creighton (1-0) at 6 p.m.
