Middle blockers lead Badgers over Illini

Friday, November 17

Urbana-Champaign, IL

6 p.m.

Wisconsin Badgers

18-8, 9-8B1G

Illinois

18-10, 9-8B1G

Wisconsin

Illinois

Photo by: Greg Anderson

Middle blockers lead Badgers over Illini

November 17, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score PDF Box Score at Illinois

Rettke and Williams combine for 28 kills in win at Illinois

Box Score

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A shaky start was not enough to derail the 12th-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team as it brought down Illinois in four sets. The Badgers won 20-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-20, at Huff Hall Friday night.

Highlighted by a red-hot duo of middle blockers and three Badgers earning double-doubles, Wisconsin (18-8 overall, 9-8 Big Ten) hit .298 (65 kills – 23 errors – 141 attempts) and held Illinois (18-10, 9-8) to a hitting percentage of .201 (47-20-134).

On offense, Dana Rettke and Tionna Williams earned 14 kills apiece. Three other Badgers also hit double-digit kills, including Lauryn Gillis (13), Kelli Bates (11), and Madison Duello (10).

To go along with their double-digit kills, Bates and Gillis also earned double-digit digs, collecting 14 and 12 ups, respectively. Setter Sydney Hilley also notched a double-double with a career-high 57 assists and 10 digs.

Libero Tiffany Clark added an additional 14 digs, helping UW to a 58-48 advantage in the backcourt.

The Illini earned a 12-7 advantage in blocks. The Badgers were led by Williams, Rettke and Duello, who recorded three stuffs each.

Notable

Senior Lauryn Gillis earns her first double-double since 2015 and the eighth of her career with 13 kills and 12 digs.
Gillis also tied her career high with three assists.
Outside hitter Kelli Bates nabbed a double-double notching 14 digs and 11 kills.
Freshman Sydney Hilley put up a career-high 57 assists. The 6-0 setter earned her ninth career double-double, adding 10 digs.
It was the first match of the season with five players in double-figure kills and with three players having a double-double.

Quotable

"Syd's (Hilley) location was a little bit behind early on, especially on her slides. She was undersetting quite a bit and getting frustrated a little bit but she just stuck with it. Really proud of her. I thought she called a great match. I thought she did a really good job of understanding by rotation what we were trying to do. I thought she put her hitters in really good situations.

"I love the way that we played today. I think that started with a great week of practice. Our offense was balanced and that's because our passers did a great job of passing. I thought it was a great team effort. It's hard to find too many things that we just didn't do well against a really good team, against a great blocking team. I thought we did a lot of positive things tonight."

-Head Coach Kelly Sheffield

It was over when

The Badgers got off to a slow start in the first set but bounced back in the second to even the match at 1-1. A dominant third set gave UW a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth frame. With the set tied at 15-15, Gillis took over and sent three straight kills to the floor. Her spark helped the Badgers earn a 20-15 lead. The Illini couldn't counter, giving Wisconsin a 3-1 win on the road.

Up next

After a day off, the Badgers finish their weekend road series on Sunday at Northwestern. First serve is set for 1 p.m., from Evanston Township High School in Evanston, Illinois.