 | | |  | 5 Washington 3, 4 Wisconsin 2
Pac-12/Big Ten Showcase
Alaska Airlines Arena • Seattle, Wash. • Attendance: 3,548
Box Score | Box Score  |  | |
| | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Wisconsin
| 25 | 23 | 25 | 16 | 12 | Washington
| 22 | 25 | 22 | 25 | 15 | | Stats Leaders
| | WIS | | WASH | | Thomas - 18 | Kills | Vansant - 17 | | Carlini - 61 | Assists | Beals - 33 | | Thomas - .406 | Hit %
| Sybeldon - .455 | | Morey - 29 | Digs | Strickland - 20 | | Thompson - 4 | Blocks | Sybeldon - 10 | | Three tied - 1 | Aces | Three tied - 1 | | Stats Comparison
| WIS | WASH | | Kills | 69 | 56 | | Hitting Pct. | .178 | .253 | | Assists | 67 | 52 | | Service Aces | 3 | 3 | | Digs | 82 | 62 | | Total Blocks | 7.5 | 22.0 | | |
Sept. 19, 2014
SEATTLE -- In its toughest match of the season, the fourth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team lost for the first time this season, falling in a five-set match at No. 5 Washington on Friday night. The Huskies downed the Badgers 22-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-16, 15-12 to remain undefeated on the year at 11-0. Wisconsin falls to 9-1 on the season.
“I thought both teams played really hard,” said Wisconsin head coach Kelly Sheffield. “Both teams are going to be able to go to the video and find things they need to get better at. It was just that kind of a match.”
| Fast Facts | | • Badgers lose for first time in 2014 | | • Thomas, Morey named all-tournament | | • Huskies outblocked Wisconsin 22 - 7.5 | |
Blocking was the difference in the match as the Huskies outblocked the Badgers 22 – 7.5. The Washington defense held Wisconsin to a season low .178 (69 kills – 36 errors – 185 attempts). The Badgers also held the Huskies, the national leader in hitting percentage, to a season-low .253 (56-15-162).
“At the end of the day, (we had) too many errors,” Sheffield added. “That’s a lot of blocks that they had but that’s one of the better blocking teams.
“A few times, we kind of trapped our hitters a bit. At times our attackers were making a lot of errors.”
The Badgers had five players in double-figure kills, led by a match-high 18 from all-tournament selection Courtney Thomas. Kelli Bates (14), Ellen Chapman (14) and Dominique Thompson (12) also had 10-or-more kills. Thomas hit .406 (18-5-32) while Thompson hit .318 but Chapman and Bates struggled, hitting just .154 and .023, respectively.
“I thought Courtney Thomas was spectacular tonight, I thought she was really, really good,” said Sheffield. “I thought Taylor Morey was spectacular again defensively. Those two were really great.
Washington was led by the reigning national player of the year Krista Vansant, who put away 17 kills. Kaleigh Nelson and Lianna Sybeldon both added 11 kills.
“I thought we did a good job on their pin hitters (but) we had a tough time with their middles,” said Sheffield. “We were digging great. Defensively, I thought we were really good. That’s just a really good team, playing their home court.
Sophomore Lauren Carlini put up a season-high 61 assists and added 16 digs to record her fifth double-double of the season.
Junior Taylor Morey was also named to the all-tournament team after tying her career high of 29 digs for the second straight match. She lead Wisconsin to an 82-62 advantage in saves. Thomas also recorded a double-double by adding 13 digs.
“(It was the) little things here and there when games are on the line,” Sheffield said. “I think a lot of it is being able to move on to the next point. I think a lot of players spent a lot of tonight frustrated. You just have to go through these type of matches and learn from it. Win or lose, you play matches like this to get better, to learn something about it. The loss doesn’t overly frustrate me, we’re going to go back to the video and look at a lot of things that we can get better at.”
Wisconsin broke a 9-9 tie in the first set, going on a 6-1 run to take a 15-10 lead. Thomas and Chapman each had two kills to lead the rally. The Huskies got their block going, tying the set at 16 behind two team blocks. The score stayed close through 21 all until two hitting errors by Washington gave the Badgers a 24-21 lead. The Huskies held off one set point but another kill by Thomas gave Wisconsin the first set.
Washington controlled the second set, leading by four points four times, including at 20-16. The Badgers went on a 4-0 run to tie set at 20 behind two kills from Thompson. Wisconsin led 23-22 off another Huskie hitting error but a 3-0 run by Washington tied the match at 1-1.
The third set featured 12 ties, including at 18-18 before two straight kills put the Badgers up 20-18. The Huskies cut the lead to one at 21-20 but two kills by Bates gave Wisconsin its first set point at 24-21. Washington held off one set point with a block but a kill by Thompson put the Badgers up 2-1 in the match.
The Huskies dominated the fourth set, taking a 14-6 lead and evening the match at two sets apiece. Washington used its momentum from the fourth set to take a 7-4 lead in the decisive period. Wisconsin outscored the Huskies 4-1 to tie the period at eight off a block solo by Thompson but that was as close as the Badgers would get. Wisconsin held off one match point at 14-11 but a Husky kill gave the home team the match.
Wisconsin opens Big Ten Conference play on Wednesday when it hosts No. 3 Penn State in the UW Field House. First serve is a 6:30 p.m. live on the Big Ten Network.
