Wisconsin Badgers
1-1
Colgate
0-2
Wisconsin picks up first win of the season with sweep of Colgate
August 29, 2015 | Volleyball
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Aug. 28, 2015
MADISON, Wis. -- The fifth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team earned its first win of the season with a 3-0 sweep over Colgate on Saturday afternoon in the UW Field House.
The Badger victory improved Wisconsin's record to 1-1 in the HotelRED Invitational. After being plagued with unforced hitting errors in the first two sets, the Badgers ended the match in dominating fashion, winning 25-20, 27-25, 25-8.
"We talked about between (sets) two and three, 19 of their 45 points were off of our errors," UW head coach Kelly Sheffield said. "We made an awful lot of errors, and we were aggressive, but it's us… we just have to clean up our side of the net.
"We did that a lot more in that third set and that was probably the difference. I don't know if it's anything different than that."
Wisconsin hit .225 (48 kills - 21 errors - 120 total attempts), including .423 (12-1-26) in the third set while Colgate hit just .025 (26-23-120) for the match.
Colgate came out ready to play in the first set, making the Badgers fight for every point. Wisconsin grabbed its largest lead at 16-12 thanks to back-to-back kills by freshman Tionna Williams. At 21-17, a kill by sophomore Lauryn Gillis forced Colgate to call a timeout, but the break couldn't stop the Badgers' newfound momentum. A service ace and kill by Gillis put the Badgers up 23-20 and an attack error followed by a Williams' kill brought the first set to a close.
The second set got off to a quick start, as Wisconsin jumped out to a 10-3 lead. A surge by the Raider offense spurred a 6-1 run, but a Gillis kill brought an end to the streak to make it 16-14.
The Colgate rally continued as it tied the set at 19 all. The set was knotted three more times before Gillis, a transfer product out of USC, rose to the occasion to make it 24-23 with back-to-back kills. A Badger service error tied it up again at 24 and Wisconsin held off a Colgate set point at 25-24 on another Gillis kill. Two kills by Bates sealed the Badger set victory and put Wisconsin up 2-0 in the match.Â
Coming off a thrilling second set, the Badgers entered the third set with plenty of energy. A kill by freshman Madison Duello sparked an 8-0 run to make it 13-3. At 16-7, Bates' kill sparked a 7-0 run to bring the score to 23-7. The Raiders would score only one more point as a service ace by Lauren Carlini completed the sweep.
Gillis recorded a new career high of 17 kills with a hitting percentage of .400 (17-3-35), followed by Bates with 13.
Carlini once again managed the Wisconsin offense, accumulating 43 assists and UW's only service ace.
On defense, senior Taylor Morey recorded 16 digs, followed by freshman Amber MacDonald with a career-high 15. Bates recorded her second straight double-double with 14 digs. The Badgers out-blocked Colgate, 10-7, thanks to Williams' six blocks.
Williams and Duello earned their first starts as Badgers with Williams adding six kills. Duello put away five kills and added two blocks.
"We eliminated a lot of errors and we played against a team that really played hard," Sheffield said of set three. "All three of these teams that are here in this tournament are teams that don't lie down. They're a fighting spirit, which is why I'm excited that our team is having to play against these types of squads."
The Badgers conclude HotelRED Invitational play tonight at 7 p.m. against College of Charleston, while Colgate faces Western Kentucky at 4:30 in the UW Field House.
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