Rettke’s punch not enough to top No. 1 Penn State

Wednesday, October 25

University Park, PA

6 p.m.

Wisconsin Badgers

14-6, 5-6

#1 Penn State

20-1, 10-1

Wisconsin

Penn State

Photo by: Jack McLaughlin

Rettke’s punch not enough to top No. 1 Penn State

October 25, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score PDF Box Score at PSU

No. 9 Badgers drop match to Nittany Lions

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The ninth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team could not find a way to knock off No. 1 Penn State on the road Wednesday night, falling to the Nittany Lions, 25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 25-16, in Rec Hall.

Middle blocker Dana Rettke had another monstrous night, leading all players with 17 kills while adding four blocks and a service ace. Fellow middle blocker Tionna Williams notched 10 kills and five blocks.

Penn State (20-1 overall, 10-1 Big Ten) outhit Wisconsin (14-6, 5-6), hitting .241 (54 kills – 19 errors – 145 attempts) while holding UW to .207 (55-24-150).

Sophomore Tiffany Clark and senior Kelli Bates earned 20 and 15 digs, respectively, helping UW earn the backcourt advantage, 67-62.

The Nittany Lions put up 14 blocks to Wisconsin's nine. Setter Sydney Hilley and Willams lead the team with five stuffs each.

Notable

Freshman Sydney Hilley tied her career high with five blocks.
It was the first time all season the Badgers have lost the first two sets.
UW held PSU to its second-lowest hitting percentage of season of .241. PSU's previous low was .227 vs. Nebraska on September 22nd.
Freshman Dana Rettke hit 10 or more kills for the 14th match this season.
Libero Tiffany Clark earned 20 or more digs for the fourth time this season and for the second-straight match.
Wisconsin won a set at PSU for the first time since 2007.

Quotable
"In some areas of the match I thought we played really well. Defensively, I thought we were awfully good. This team serves the ball so well. I thought our passers did a good job. I thought in the backcourt we were digging the ball. We got great touches at the net. We didn't get much production from our lefts.

"I'll give it to our kids for coming back out in the third and battling and getting right back in the fight. It's the first time we've seen our team down 0-2 so I was really kind of interested to see how they were going to respond and we responded with a little bit of toughness."

-Head coach Kelly Sheffield

Up next
Wisconsin returns to the UW Field House on Saturday for a tilt with Northwestern at 7 p.m.