Box Score
| | | |  | 11 Wisconsin 3, Kansas State 1
Creighton Classic
D.J. Sokol Arena • Omaha, Neb. • Attendance: 1,198 Box Score | Box Score  |  | |
| | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | | Wisconsin | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | -- | | Kansas State | 20 | 14 | 27 | 23 | -- | | Stats Leaders
| | WIS | | KSU | | Gillis - 18 | Kills | Schultejans - 14 | | Carlini - 53 | Assists | Brand - 42 | | Nelson - .286 | Hit %
| Schultejans - .306 | | Morey - 29 | Digs | Kober - 21 | | Nelson - 5 | Blocks | Gyimes - 7 | | MacDonald - 1 | Aces | Brand - 1 | | Stats Comparison
| WIS | KSU | | Kills | 65 | 52 | | Hitting Pct. | .206 | .162 | | Assists | 61 | 49 | | Service Aces | 1 | 1 | | Digs | 83 | 80 | | Total Blocks | 7 | 9 | | |
Sept. 18, 2015
OMAHA, Neb. - It may have not been the prettiest match of the year for the 11th-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team but it was its toughest. The Badgers downed Kansas State, the top team receiving votes in the top-25 coaches' poll, 25-20, 25-14, 25-27, 25-23 on Friday evening at the Creighton Classic.
Wisconsin won its seventh straight match to improve to 7-1 on the season.
"What I'm most proud of is we just hung in there," head coach Kelly Sheffield said. "We just stayed tough, we were gritty that match even when it wasn't a thing of beauty. We did a better job of that against an elite team, we did a better job of that than we've done all year."
| Fast Facts | | • Gillis records career high 18 kills, 16 digs | | • Morey ties career high with 29 digs | | • Badgers win seventh straight match | |
After winning the first two sets, the Badgers scored for match point twice in the third set before the Wildcats (8-2) forced a fourth set with an extra points win. Wisconsin led 20-15 in the fourth period before KSU rallied to tie the set at 20. K-State led 23-22 before three straight UW points gave Wisconsin the win.
"You have to be able to do it," Sheffield said of UW's comeback. "You're going to be in a lot of those games. We're young, we're learning … to be able to come out there in game four when it's close, when we weren't able to close it out in game three, that's certainly nice to see."
The two teams finished the match very evenly in statistics. Wisconsin had three players finish in double-figure kills behind a career-high 18 from Lauryn Gillis. Kelli Bates, who moved to the right side for today's match, added 13 kills while Haleigh Nelson put away 11.
The Badgers hit .206 (65 kills - 26 errors - 189 attempts) while holding Kansas State, which entered the match hitting better than .300, to just .162 (52-25-167). The Wildcats were led by Alyssa Schultejans with 14 kills.
Five UW players tallied double-figure digs as the Badgers outdug K-State 83-80. Senior Taylor Morey tied her career high with a match-high 29 digs while Gillis tied her career best with 16 digs for her third career double-double. Bates also had a double-double with 11 digs while junior Lauren Carlini put up 53 assists and added 14 digs for her 44th career double-double. Freshman Amber MacDonald added 10 saves for the Badgers.
Wisconsin was outblocked for only the second time this season, getting edged 9-7. Nelson led UW with five stuffs.
After K-State scored the first four points of the first set, Wisconsin got back into the set with its offense, pulling within two at 9-8 off a kill by Nelson. The Badger block keyed a 4-0 run to tie the set at 14. Freshman Madison Duello came off the bench and put away three kills in the set, including one to put UW up 16-15. Wisconsin never relinquished its lead the rest of the set as two straight kills by Gillis gave the Badgers the win.
"Madison really gave us a lift in game one" Sheffield added. "She really turned the tide there in set one. She got us three really quick kills."
The second set was all Wisconsin as the Badgers broke a 6-6 tie with three straight points, including two kills from Bates. The Wildcats never got closer than three points (16-13) as UW outscored KSU 9-1 over the stretch. The Badgers hit an impressive .517 (18-3-29) in the period behind Gillis at .538 (8-1-13).
The Wildcats came out on fire in the third set, jumping out to a 14-7 lead as Wisconsin struggled on offense. An 11-4 Badger run tied the game at 18 as Romana Kriskova put away three kills. The set was tied three more times, including at 23-23 before another Gillis kill allowed UW to serve for match point. A Bates service error tied the set for the ninth time but another Gillis kill gave Wisconsin its second match point at 25-24. Three straight kills gave K-State the set win, ending the Badgers' 10-set winning streak.
"There at the end of game three, we made a couple of errors - a service error by Bates that I kind of chirped at her quite a bit about that," Sheffield said. "She got redialed in and played a little bit better in the fourth."
The Badgers led most of set four, including at 20-15, before the Wildcats scored six straight to take a 21-20 lead. KSU led 23-22 before a kill from Bates put Wisconsin up 23-22. Carlini had the athletic play of the day as she punched the ball from the net into the back corner, giving UW its third match point at 24-23. One final kill from Gillis sealed the win.
"She's just went in there and punched at it and got it to drop over there," said Sheffield of Carlini's punch. "(It was) just a very athletic play at a critical time."
Wisconsin wraps up tournament play on Saturday, taking on Creighton at 1 p.m. and Arkansas at 8 p.m.
