 | | |  | 4 Wisconsin 3, Northern Colorado 1
at Northern Colorado/Colorado State Classic
Butler-Hancock Pavilion • Greeley, Colo. • Attendance: 1,502
Box Score | Box Score  |  | |
| | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Wisconsin
| 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | -- | N. Colorado
| 14 | 27 | 22 | 18 | -- | | Stats Leaders
| | WIS | | UNC | | Chapman - 19 | Kills | Cunningham - 17 | | Carlini - 52 | Assists | Guthrie - 29 | | Chapman - .405 | Hit %
| Guthrie - .417 | | Morey - 23 | Digs | Landry - 22 | | Thompson/Nelson-4 | Blocks | Strong - 6 | | Nelson - 2 | Aces | Meier - 2 | | Stats Comparison
| WIS | UNC | | Kills | 71 | 55 | | Hitting Pct. | .272 | .180 | | Assists | 61 | 41 | | Service Aces | 5 | 2 | | Digs | 75 | 61 | | Total Blocks | 8.0 | 8.0 | | | | | | |
Sept. 5, 2014
GREELEY, Colo. - Despite losing its first set of the season, the fourth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team improved to 3-0 on the year with a 25-14, 25-27, 25-22, 25-18 win at Northern Colorado. It was the Badgers' opening match of the Northern Colorado/Colorado State Classic.
"We played a team that played fantastic defense tonight and they really had us scrambling," head coach Kelly Sheffield said. "But we kept battling. As the match went on, (Northern Colorado) felt more and more confident. They were doing a great job of keeping rallies alive and we were having a hard time putting the ball away."
| Fast Facts | | • Four Badgers tally double-figure kills | | • Three UW players record 10-plus digs | | • Bates, Carlini record double-doubles | |
After easily claiming the first set, the Badgers jumped out to a 13-8 lead in the second period. The Northern Colorado (2-3) offense got hot and behind three kills from Kendra Cunningham, the Bears tied the set at 19. The score was tied four more times with Northern Colorado serving for set point at 24-23. UW held off two set points before a Bear kill and block tied the match at one set apiece.
"We not transitioning as well as we needed to," Sheffield said. "We were doing a lot of tipping and not putting the ball away."
The third set was almost a repeat of the second set with the score tied up at 19 but this time Northern Colorado recorded three attack errors before Courtney Thomas put away the set with a line drive.
After the Bears scored the first point of set four, Wisconsin went up 9-6 behind the play of senior Ellen Chapman, who finished with a match-high 19 kills. The Bears would cut the lead to one (13-12) before Dominque Thompson keyed a 4-0 run with a block and a kill to put the Badgers up 17-12. UW served for match point twice before another Thompson kill sealed the win.
The Badgers had four players with 10-or-more kills to dominate on offense. In addition to Chapman, Courtney Thomas finished with 16 kills, Kelli Bates had a career-high 13 kills and Thompson put away 11 kills. Wisconsin finished with a 71-44 advantage in team kills and hit .272 (71 kills - 24 errors - 173 attempts) compared to .180 (44-17-150) for UNC.
"I thought we got a great effort out of Ellen and Courtney," Sheffield said. "I thought those two carried a large load for us offensively."
Sophomore Lauren Carlini put up 52 assists at setter and was one of three UW players with 10-or-more digs. Junior Taylor Morey had a match-high 23 digs while Carlini added 17 saves for a double-double. Bates recorded her first career double-double with a career-best 11 digs. The Badgers outdug the Bears 75-61.
"I thought Kelli had a really good effort," Sheffield said of his lone freshman. "She really, really kept us in the match with her passing. She was someone they were targeting early."
Both teams finished with eight blocks with UW being led by Thompson and Haleigh Nelson with four stuffs apiece. Nelson also recorded a career-best two service aces as the Badgers scored five times from the service line. Wisconsin struggled with serving errors, tallying 10 on the night.
Wisconsin wraps up tournament play on Saturday, traveling to Fort Collins, Colorado, where it will face Florida A&M (0-4) at 12:30 p.m. and No. 13 Colorado State (5-0) at 8 p.m.
