MADISON, Wis. -- For the first time since becoming Badgers, the senior class of the volleyball team claimed a victory over Penn State. No. 4 Wisconsin topped the 10th-ranked Nittany Lions, 25-16, 25-18, 18-25, 25-21, in front of another sold-out crowd at the UW Field House on Friday night.

The 3-1 victory marks the Badgers' first over Penn State since 2011.

"You see a lot of energy from these guys," UW head coach Kelly Sheffield said, "because this is the one team they haven't beaten in this conference. It's a good win. Certainly, not anything we're surprised by. You look at the stats and 20 more digs and I think that says an awful lot about the match right there. I felt our players battled like crazy."

After surging to lead the match 2-0, the Badgers' offense faltered in the third set, hitting only .053 percent (9 kills -7 errors -38 attempts), and PSU was able to take the third set and cut the Wisconsin lead to 2-1.

"We've had a couple rough matches over the past few weeks," senior Haleigh Nelson said. "When we dipped in that third set and we had a chance to come back in the fourth, we welcome that challenge because we've been really trying to work on our grit and our toughness.

"Even though we didn't have a clean sweep with Penn State, it really showed a lot of our heart that we were in it and overcome that dip because we've been really working to face challenges and be strong and confident in challenges. While maybe you can look at it and say we kind of fell off a little bit in the third set, honestly it means a lot more that we were able to take that and respond." 

The Badgers (17-3 overall, 9-2 Big Ten) came out swinging in the final set, taking a 3-0 lead. Wisconsin forced Penn State (17-5, 9-2 Big Ten) to use both of its timeouts early in the set, securing a 16-10 lead after scoring three unanswered points. PSU responded with runs of its own, closing in on the Badgers, 21-19, but a Badger block and a commanding kill from junior Lauryn Gillis sealed the set, 25-21, and the match victory.

"Gilly was great," Sheffield said. "That's what we saw before her injury. I know she's been a little bit frustrated with coming back. She was out and as soon as she was cleared to go, we threw her out there into the wolves that is the Big Ten. There can be some hard lessons when you're not in the gym every single day for an extended period of time, and that's what you run against."

Wisconsin hit .331 percent for the match (67 - 19 - 145), holding the Nittany Lions to .216 percent (44-14-139). Penn State out-blocked the Badgers 12-8 through four sets, while both teams served up five aces.

Four Badgers hit double-figure kills, led by Gillis with a career-high 21 kills. The 6-foot, 1-inch outside hitter committed only three errors on 46 attacks for a .391 attack average. Freshman Molly Haggerty added 16 kills, while senior Haleigh Nelson finished off 13 kills while adding an ace and five digs. Redshirt senior Romana Kriskova contributed 10 kills.

Sophomore Tionna Williams recorded a team-high five blocks to lead the UW defense, while senior Lauren Carlini tallied 17 digs and four blocks.

Carlini dished off a match-high 57 assists for her 67th career double-double, as well as notching two service aces. Kelli Bates saved a match-leading 22 digs, marking the fifth time this season the junior has recorded 20-or-more digs in a match. The Badgers finished with an impressive 73 to 53 advantage in digs.

Wisconsin hit .667 percent (20-0-30) in set one despite starting the set even through 8-8 with the Lions. The Badgers had six consecutive kills during a 10-2 run, taking a 19-10 lead that PSU would be unable to overcome. Wisconsin took the 1-0 match lead, 25-16, on a kill from Nelson.

The second set stayed much closer, featuring 10 ties and three lead changes. At the first media timeout Wisconsin narrowly trailed, 15-14, but won five of the next six points to start pulling away. Another Nelson kill gave the Badgers a 22-18 lead, forcing a PSU timeout. UW closed out the final three points for the 25-18 set win.

Penn State forced a fourth set with its 25-18 win in set three, outscoring UW late in the set while outblocking the Badgers 5-2 and serving up four aces. The teams were tied through 15-15, but the Nittany Lions stormed through a 10-3 run to keep the Badgers from earning a sweep.

The Badgers return to the UW Field House to host Rutgers on Sunday. The sold out match begins at 1 p.m.