West Lafayette, Ind. -- In the regular season finale, the No. 10 Wisconsin volleyball team made a statement by sweeping No. 14 Purdue to head into the NCAA Tournament on a 12-match winning streak.
 
The 25-22, 25-19, 25-19 victory on Saturday afternoon in Holloway Gymnasium marked the third-straight Badger sweep. With the regular season wrapped up, Wisconsin finished 24-6 overall and 16-4 in the Big Ten.
 
After a 4-4 start to conference play, the Badgers picked up 12 straight victories as the young team gained more and more experience with each other. Throughout the stretch, UW dropped just four sets.
 
"It was a great victory. I thought we played really, really well in a lot of different aspects," UW head coach Kelly Sheffield said. "We're getting better, but I think the things we're getting better with is when things get tight, our team seems to be embracing it. They don't go soft and or be afraid to make mistakes."
 
UW hit .319 (52 kills - 15 total errors - 116 total attempts) and held Purdue (22-9, 13-7 Big Ten) to .222 (37-13-108).
 
Sophomore Lauryn Gillis led the balanced Badger attack with 14 kills, followed by redshirt junior Romana Kriskova with 13 and junior Haleigh Nelson with 11.
 
To start the match, the Badgers fought a high-powered Boilermaker attack with a balanced offense of their own. After tying it at 10-10 behind two kills apiece from Kriskova, Gillis and Nelson, a 4-0 run fueled by two Kriskova kills forced Purdue to take a timeout. The Boilermakers then stormed back, however, with a 6-1 run to tie the score at 19-19 behind two swings and an ace from Annie Drews. Following a Badger timeout, UW responded with a 4-1 run to put the Cardinal and White up 23-20. Two straight Boilermakers kills brought Purdue dangerously close, but one swing apiece from Gillis and Kriskova sealed the first set victory.
 
The Badgers carried their momentum into the second set. Behind one service ace each from senior Taylor Morey and junior Lauren Carlini, UW grabbed a 9-3 lead as UW overwhelmed the Purdue backcourt. The Badgers continued to pile it on as the set continued, and a 3-0 run sparked by a Gillis kill forced the Purdue timeout at 15-10. The stoppage didn't slow the Cardinal and White as the Boilermakers had no response to the five different Badgers who recorded a swing following the break. Purdue came as close as 20-17 after two Badger errors, but UW got back to its hard-hitting ways as a two-set lead came within reach. To bring the set to a close, sophomore Kelli Bates recorded two straight kills and the Badgers headed to the locker room with plenty of momentum.
 
Much like the first two sets, the Badgers raced to a 12-5 lead to start the third set after three straight swings and Morey's second ace of the match propelled UW past Purdue to start. Following a 4-1 Purdue run that cut the UW lead to 13-9, the Badgers took a timeout to regain their footing. With one last Big Ten victory in sight, UW came back and fired on all cylinders to conclude the match. After a 4-1 Badger run highlighted by three Nelson kills put UW up 23-16, a Gillis swing brought match point. One Boilermaker block combined with a kill by Drews staved off the first two match points, but Gillis rose to the occasion to end the regular season with a sweep.
 
On defense, Purdue outblocked UW 9-5 but the Badgers had a 52-39 advantage in digs. Morey guided the backcourt with 15 digs while freshman Amber MacDonald added 11 of her own.  Freshman Tionna Williams and Carlini paced the Badgers at the net with three blocks apiece.
 
"I like where we're at and I know everyone is excited for the tournament," Sheffield said. "It's just about bringing your best game every match and if you can play good volleyball for extended periods of time. I thought we did that tonight."
 
The 64-team bracket for the 2015 NCAA Tournament will be announced on Sunday at 8 p.m., live on ESPNU.