| | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Wisconsin
| 25 | 26 | 25 | -- | -- | Michigan
| 19 | 24 | 18 | -- | -- | | Stats Leaders
| | WIS | | MICH | | Thomas - 11 | Kills | Cole - 12 | | Carlini - 37 | Assists | Dannemiller - 33 | | Thompson - .389 | Hit %
| Cole - .290 | | Morey - 21 | Digs | Morales - 22 | | Nelson - 5 | Blocks | Cole - 3 | | Thomas, Chapman, Kvas - 1 | Aces | Morales - 1 | | Stats Comparison
| WIS | MICH | | Kills | 43 | 38 | | Hitting Pct. | .220 | .130 | | Assists | 43 | 36 | | Service Aces | 3 | 1 | | Digs | 70 | 58 | | Total Blocks | 7 | 5 | | |
Nov. 12, 2014
MADISON, Wis. -- Despite an intense five-set win just five days ago at Michigan, the fourth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team knew it had to make a statement against the Wolverines on Wednesday night. The Badgers made a big statement, sweeping the Wolverines 25-19, 25-24, 25-18 at the UW Field House.
"I mean this definitely had to be a statement match," sophomore Lauren Carlini said. "We had to prove to people that the other game wasn't entirely who we are. They stuck with us and played a great game, but we didn't do all that we could do. So, we came out today and said 'We have to show them who the real Wisconsin Badgers are.' We are a lot fesitier than we showed, and today we came out and killed it. We did really well."
The win marks Wisconsin’s 14th straight victory and moves the Badgers to 23-2 on the season and 14-1 in the Big Ten Conference.
| Fast Facts | | • Wisconsin extends winning streak to 14. | | • Four UW players mark double-figure digs. | | • Courtney Thomas and Lauren Carlini record double-doubles for Wisconsin. | |
Senior Courtney Thomas led the team with 11 kills and recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 11 digs. Carlini also marked double-figures in two categories, putting up 37 assists and 15 digs for her 13th double-double this season.
Wisconsin ended the match with a .220 (43-15-27) attack percentage, while U-M hit .130 (38-20-138) overall. The Wolverines (11-15, 6-9) were led by Abby Cole with 12 kills while Caroline Knop added 11 putaways.
Haleigh Nelson added 10 kills while Dominique Thompson put away nine attacks.
Junior Taylor Morey and freshman Kelli Bates contributed 21 and 10 digs, respectively, in the tough defensive effort as UW outdug U-M 70-58. Wisconsin also outblocked Michigan 7-5, led by Nelson with five.
After battling to an 11-11 tie in the first set, the Badgers went on an 11-4 run with six kills from four different hitters to create a 22-15 advantage. U-M struggled from the service line, recording five service errors in the set, including one to put the Badgers up 23-16. Michigan had just two more kills in the set before Thompson brought the crowd to its feet with a laser that awarded Wisconsin a 25-19 victory.
UW recorded a .171 (13-6-41) hitting percentage in the first set, led by senior Dominique Thompson with four kills. Cole marked five kills for the Wolverines, who hit .116 (11-6-43). The Badgers outblocked UM 3-1 in the period.
Set two was a game of streaks as Wisconsin went on a 4-0 streak to claim an 11-6 lead. The Wolverines retaliated with a 5-0 run to knot the score at 11-11. The streaks continued as a 3-0 run by UW was followed with a 3-0 comeback by U-M tied the set at 15. Wisconsin scored three straight to take a 22-19 lead but Michigan claimed the next three points to balance the scoreboard at 22. The Wolverines held off on Badger set point at 24-23, resulting in the 15th tie of the set but Bates drove home a kill to create another set-point opportunity for UW at 25-24. An out-of-bounds attack by Michigan, granted Wisconsin the 26-24 set win.
The Wolverines’ hitting percentage dropped to .127 (13-6-55) in the set. Despite being outblocked 3-0 in the second period, Wisconsin upped its attack percentage to .212 (17-6-52) behind five kills each by Bates and Nelson.
The Wolverines jumped to a 4-1 lead early in the third set, but three U-M errors pushed Wisconsin on a 4-0 run to take the lead, 5-4. The teams alternated points until, with the score knotted at 9-9, Thompson put away two kills and assisted in another to aid UW in a 5-0 run that left the Badgers leading 13-9.
Michigan was unable to make up the difference as a UW block and another Thomas smack extended UW’s advantage to 22-15. Michigan tallied three more kills before Carlini and Nelson teamed up on match-point to stop a Michigan hit, granting Wisconsin the 25-18 win.
"It feels like we just won one match and we have another one in a few days," Nelson said. "It's kind of just next game, train keeps moving and we forget about the other ones. The streak is awesome, it's kept us in the lead in the Big Ten so that's great, but we are already focused on Iowa."
The Badgers continue their march through the Big Ten schedule Saturday with a 7 p.m. match-up against Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.
