ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- It was another match and another sweep for the No. 11 Wisconsin volleyball team as the Badgers downed Michigan, 25-20, 25-19, 25-19, on Wednesday night for the second sweep against the Wolverines in just five days.
 
With the win, the Badgers (19-6, 11-4 Big Ten) picked up their fourth-straight three-set sweep and extended their winning streak to seven matches, having lost just two sets during that stretch.
 
"We played a really good, solid team twice in five days," UW Head Coach Kelly Sheffield said. "It's a team that's well-coached and has really good athletes. To beat them in six straight sets, you certainly don't anticipate that."
 
Wisconsin relied on its dominating presence at the net to overwhelm the Wolverines. The Badgers hit .295 (42 kills - 11 errors - 105 total attempts) and held Michigan to just .103 (33-22-107).
 
On defense, UW outblocked Michigan 13-7 to tie its season-high. Leading the way for the Badgers was junior Haleigh Nelson, who recorded eight blocks, including two block solos, to shut down the Wolverine attack. Sophomore Kelli Bates and freshman Tionna Williams followed with five blocks apiece.
 
"The thing that I like about Haleigh is that she's having a really strong match every single night," Sheffield said. "Mentally, she's just in a place that's really good and she's taking the game plan but also reading what is going on during the match."
 
"Sometimes over the course of a match, you've got to be able to see other things and not be so stubborn that you're going to follow exactly what you planned. Those worlds have really meshed for her and it's fun to watch."
 
In the backcourt, UW had a 45-43 advantage in digs. Junior Lauren Carlini tallied a match-high 14 digs and 36 assists to record her 11th double-double of the season. Senior Taylor Morey followed with 12 digs.
 
UW raced to a 12-7 lead to start the match and force a Michigan timeout. The stoppage tripped up the Badgers as an ensuing 7-2 Wolverine run tied the score at 14-14. After tying it back up again at 16-16, the Badgers gained momentum that would carry throughout the set thanks to a 3-0 run sparked by a hard swing from sophomore Lauryn Gillis.
 
Despite struggling against the Michigan block to start, the Badger attack found its stride to close the set on a high note. Bates fired off a kill to bring the score to 24-20 and a Michigan error gave the Badgers a one-set advantage.
 
Three Badger blocks put UW up 8-5 in the second set despite renewed energy from Michigan's attack. Two straight kills by Bates followed by the second service ace of the match from Morey fueled a 7-2 Badger run to give UW a comfortable 16-9 lead.
 
Refusing to go down without a fight, four straight Michigan kills chipped away at the Badger lead to make it 21-18. Putting an end to the quelling Michigan comeback was Bates, who put down two straight kills to make it 23-18. A swing by Nelson brought set point and a final Gillis kill brought the set to a close.  
 
With the match on the line, every point was a battle in the third set. A block by Bates and Nelson put the Badgers up 11-8, but the Wolverines later cut the lead to one thanks to a block of their own. After both teams struggled to gain momentum at the start of the set, Nelson's two block solos and one kill in three points brought the score to 14-10 and swayed the momentum in favor of the Badgers.
 
Retaliating for a Wolverine ace the point before, a swing by Gillis sparked a 6-2 Badger run that put UW up 21-16 and resulted in the Michigan timeout. After the break, the Wolverines grabbed two points from Badger errors, but another swing by Nelson brought set point and one final Bates kill completed the sweep.
 
On offense, Bates led with a match-high 14 kills and a season-best hitting percentage of .400. Nelson followed with 10 kills, while Williams and Gillis each totaled seven.
 
The Badgers are back in action this Saturday at the UW Field House to take on Iowa at 7 p.m. (CT).