MADISON, Wis. -- After three straight losses and happy to finally be back home, the 19^th-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team got back to its winning ways by upsetting No. 7 Illinois 3-1 on Wednesday night in the UW Field House. The Badgers downed the Illini 25-16, 25-21, 21-25, 25-22.

"It was a good effort, especially because we've been going for a while without a day off," UW head coach Kelly Sheffield said. "We've been on the road for a long time. A couple five-gamers in there that we lost and some travel issues. I thought our team showed a lot of heart and a lot of fight. We'll finally get a day off and then get back in here and try to find ways to keep getting better."

The Badgers (9-4, 1-2 Big Ten) won their first Big Ten Conference match of the season after falling on the road to No. 1 Penn State and No. 12 Ohio State last week.

Wisconsin's balanced attack shined on offense, hitting .268 (56 kills - 18 errors - 142 total attempts) compared to Illinois's .178 (56-28-157).

"I don't think it mattered who was on the other side of the net," junior Lauren Carlini said. "It was the way that it was played that was more important than who was on the other side.

"All week we've been talking about bringing more energy, connecting, playing with fire, and just bringing it every single point. And that's what we did all the way throughout the night. There's no lulls in our energy, we always fought together and I think that alone gave us the confidence."

Excited to be home after a five-match road swing, the Badgers came out fired up to start the match. Wisconsin connected on all cylinders, breaking a 3-3 tie with a 5-1 run to lead 8-4. UW would up its lead to 18-10 behind four kills apiece from Lauryn Gillis, Romana Kriskova and Haleigh Nelson. The Illini had no answer to the explosive Badger attack as two straight Illinois errors closed the first set in impressive fashion.

After battling early, back-to-back Badger blocks put Wisconsin up 15-11, but an ensuing 5-0 Illini run forced a UW timeout. Leading 18-17, the Badgers went on a 3-0 run keyed by a block and kill from Kriskova. A Wisconsin attack error brought the Illini dangerously close at 22-21, but a kill and block by Gillis brought it to set point. Freshman Amber MacDonald took matters into her own hands to end it with a service ace. MacDonald ended the night with a career-high three service aces.

Errors plagued both teams in the third set, but in the end it was Illinois' ramped up offense that prevented the Badger sweep. Wisconsin led to start, but gave up the lead after two straight Illini kills put the visitors up 15-14. Two kills and another MacDonald service ace put the Badgers up 17-16, but seven kills from Illinois' Jocelyn Birks keyed the win. 

The Illini put up an impressive fight in the fourth set, but the Badgers wanted the upset too badly to back down. Down 14-9, the Badgers struggled with the renewed intensity of the Illini offense. After tying it at 16, two Kriskova kills sparked a 6-0 Wisconsin run to put the Badgers up 21-16. The Illini displayed their tough defense by staving off three match points, but captains Carlini and Nelson completed the upset by combining for the block. 

Kriskova led UW with a season-high 15 kills, followed by Nelson with 12 and Gillis with 11.

Carlini recorded her seventh double-double of the season, tallying 48 assists and 13 digs.

Wisconsin outblocked Illinois 12-10 and outdug it 59-56. Freshman Tionna Williams set a new career high with seven blocks, while Nelson added five and Carlini four. Senior Taylor Morey and Bates each recorded 16 digs.

The Badgers are back in action this Sunday as they take on Northwestern at 1 p.m. in the UW Field House.