| | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | PSU
| 25 | 25 | 25 | -- | -- | Wisconsin
| 17 | 21 | 22 | -- | -- | | Stats Leaders
| | PSU | | WIS | | Lee - 12 | Kills | Chapman - 13 | | Hancock - 38 | Assists | Carlini - 33 | | Hancock - .750 | Hit %
| Thompson - .333 | | Gonzalez - 21 | Digs | Carlini - 13 | | Whitney - 6 | Blocks | Thompson - 4 | | Hancock - 2 | Aces | None | | Stats Comparison
| PSU | WIS | | Kills | 53 | 35 | | Hitting Pct. | .288 | .148 | | Assists | 51 | 34 | | Service Aces | 2 | 0 | | Digs | 59 | 47 | | Total Blocks | 9 | 7 | | |
Sept. 24, 2014
MADISON, Wis. -- In a rematch of the 2013 NCAA Championship, the result was the same as No. 3 Penn State downed the fifth-ranked Badgers in the UW Field House. Penn State downed the Badgers 25-17, 25-21, 25-22 in front of a sold-out crowd of 6,012 during the first Big Ten Conference match of the season for both squads.
Sophomore Lauren Carlini, who was named the Big Ten co-setter of the week on Monday, tallied her seventh double-double of the season with 33 assists and 13 digs. Senior Ellen Chapman all players on the offensive front, putting away 13 of the Badgers’ 35 total kills.
| Fast Facts | | • Wisconsin record falls to 10-2, 0-1 | | • Lauren Carlini records seventh double-double on the season | | • Sell-out crowd brings 6,012 fans to UW Field House | |
“We absolutely love having the crowd there. When we heard it was sold out, we couldn’t have been more excited,” Carlini said. “It makes me really disappointed that we didn’t win this match for them.
“I think it would have definitely shown them that we like their support. So I think it’s just good for them to know that we love their support and we love them being able to come out and cheer us on.”
Wisconsin (9-2 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) recorded a .148 (35 kills – 17 errors – 122 attempts) hitting percentage, as freshman Kelli Bates chipped in nine kills while sophomore Haleigh Nelson and senior Dominique Thompson each added six putaways. PSU marked a .288 (53-17-125) overall attack percentage behind 12 kills from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, native Simone Lee.
“We have to improve whether this was a win or a loss. We’re trying to win all of them, make no mistake,” Wisconsin head coach Kelly Sheffield added. “We’re trying to win all of them but we’re also trying to get better.”
Wisconsin put up seven blocks in the match, led by Thompson with four. The Badger defense recorded 47 digs on the night, 12 shy of Penn State’s 59, as UW’s Taylor Morey was held to just nine digs, her first single-digit dig performance of the season.
The Badgers also failed to score a service ace for the first time this season, while the Nittany Lions had two, both from setter Micha Hancock.
After battling back and forth for the first few points of the set, the Nittany Lions (13-1, 1-0) capitalized on three straight kills and a Wisconsin net violation to take a 9-4 lead. Despite three service errors in the set, PSU managed to put up two kills and two blocks for a four-point streak in the middle of the set, extending its lead to 16-8.
But the Badgers wouldn’t go down without a fight, as three kills by Chapman and a big Badger block closed the PSU advantage to 20-14. After multiple rallies that brought the packed Field House crowd to its feet, a PSU service ace and block gave the Nittany Lions their first set point. Bates held off the PSU victory with her second kill of the set, but PSU’s Lee put away a kill on the next point to give the Nittany Lions a 25-17 win.
“I thought our backcourt defense battled like crazy and we got beat by a team that just played better than us tonight. Every time we got close, they answered,” Sheffield said.
Penn State tallied three team blocks and 22 digs in the first set, keeping Wisconsin to a .122 (9-4-41) attack percentage. Chapman led the Badgers with four kills, while Morey marked six of the team’s 18 digs. PSU hit a .311 (19-5-45) in the first set.
The Nittany Lions came out tough in the second set, taking four points before a kill by Thompson put the Badgers on the board. Back-and-forth kills by the conference rivals kept PSU at a consistent three-point advantage until a pair of put-away shots by Lee created a 17-12 Penn State lead.
Chapman then closed off a five-point comeback with a rocket that brought Badger fans to their feet, knotting the score at 17. PSU retaliated with force, claiming the next five points with three kills and two blocks. The Badgers held off three set points on line drives by Nelson and Bates and a PSU attack error, but a final putaway by PSU’s Ali Frantti awarded the Nittany Lions the 25-21 victory.
“We knew they had some hitters whose tendency was to tip, but something great about Penn State’s offense is that they have huge hitters and then they mix in tips and roll shots randomly,” Chapman explained. “It’s really hard on our defense to see when they are going to do that and to determine when to come up and get the tips. We knew that going in for a couple of hitters, and they just did a great job mixing them in when we least expected it.”
Penn State outblocked Wisconsin 3-2, and held the Badgers to a .150 (12-6-40) hitting percentage in the second set. The Nittany Lions hit .333 (18-5-39).
PSU overcame the Badgers 25-22 in a close third set that saw five tied scores and three lead changes.
Midway through the period, back-and-forth hits left the scoreboard at an intense 13 apiece. The Badgers then followed a three-point Penn State run with three kills of their own, resulting in the last tied score of the set at 16-16.
Both sides battled for a few more points, but a Badger block that deflected out of bounds left the Nittany Lions with their first match point. Wisconsin held on for one more rally that ended in a PSU net violation, but Penn State’s Hancock found a hole in the Badger defense to take the set and match.
“The same thing ended up happening to Penn State last year, and they ended up winning a Big Ten title and national championship,” Carlini said. “They lost to Michigan State in their first game, so anything is possible at this point in the season. The main thing is that we need to get back in the gym, not take any opportunities for granted and get better.”
The Badgers upped their hitting percentage in the final set to .171 (14-7-41), while PSU hit 22 percent (16-7-41).
Wisconsin returns to its home court for another Big Ten match-up Sunday as it takes on Ohio State in the UW Field House at 1 p.m.
