Box Score 

MADISON, Wis. – A solid team effort propelled the ninth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team to a sweep of Northwestern, 25-17, 25-9, 25-16, at the UW Field House Saturday night.
 
Wisconsin (15-6 overall, 6-6 Big Ten) hit an impressive .357 (46 kills – 10 errors – 93 attempts) while holding Northwestern to .020 (24-22-100), the second lowest by a UW opponent this season.  
 
Senior Lauryn Gillis and freshman Dana Rettke led the offensive charge, collecting 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Setter Sydney Hilley notched 41 assists running the Badger offense.
 
Defensively the Badgers were unstoppable. At the net Tionna Williams and Madison Duello had six blocks apiece with Kelli Bates and Dana Rettke adding five stuffs each giving UW a 13-0 blocking advantage.
 
The Badgers also earn a 50-30 advantage in digs. Libero Tiffany Clark paced the team with 18 ups.
 
Behind the service line, UW notched three aces and Northwestern (13-11, 3-9) nabbed two. Junior Amber MacDonald had two of Wisconsin's aces and Duello added one ace.
 
 
Notable

• Senior Lauryn Gillis led the Badgers with 12 kills, her first double-figure kill performance since Indiana on Oct. 13.
• Sophomore Dana Rettke added 11 kills, her fourth straight match in double figures and her 15^th on the season.
• Sophomore Madison Duello had a career high with five digs.
• Wisconsin did not get blocked by the Wildcats, the second time this season UW has not been blocked in a match.
• UW recorded 13 blocks in the match, its 13^th time this season with 10-plus blocks.
• Sophomore Tiffany Clark had a match-high 18 digs, her 10^th match this season with 10-or-more saves. Her 18 digs was a three-set match high for the Badgers this season.
• Junior Amber MacDonald recorded a season-high two service aces. 

 

Quotable
"There were a lot of things that we did well. This is a really good serving team. I think they're leading the league in aces. They got Kelli (Bates) twice, but the rest of the match she was really, really good. On passing, they were going after (Bates) and it was probably fool's gold there to get her a little bit because that's one of the things I've learned about Kelli; you may get her early but she's going to figure it out. We were in system most of the night off a really good serving team. That's a real tribute to (Bates) for staying with it. So I think it starts with that."

-Head coach Kelly Sheffield  

"I think you learn that really quickly when you play in this conference. You still can't take any opponent lightly, no matter what. It may seem a certain way on paper but it's not how it is. We were just talking about how this is when our team should take off and get hot going into the NCAA tournament. We take every game as an opportunity to get better and to be with each other. I'm excited about the rest of the Big Ten and the challenges we are going to face. This is the time where we need to really emphasize a lot of what we need to do. It's in these games and in these moments right now."

-Senior Kelli Bates
 
It was over when
After a slow start in the first set, the Badgers gained momentum to win the first frame 25-17. They carried the momentum into the second set with an early 9-0 scoring run to take a 13-9 lead. The run was highlighted by four Badger blocks, three kills from Madison Duello, and kills from Kelli Bates and Dana Rettke.
 
Up next
The Badgers are home for two matches in the UW Field House next weekend. On Friday, they face Ohio State at 7 p.m. and host Maryland on Saturday at 7 p.m.