Badgers out claw the Wildcats

Sunday, November 19

Evanston Township High School, Evanston, IL

1 p.m.

Wisconsin Badgers

19-8, 10-8Big Ten

Northwestern

14-16, 4-14Big Ten

Wisconsin

Northwestern

Photo by: Greg Anderson

November 19, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score PDF Box Score at Northwestern

Wisconsin sweeps Northwestern on the road

Box Score

EVANSTON, Ill. – The Badgers may have been on the road, but a healthy contingent of Wisconsin fans helped the 12th-ranked volleyball team beat Northwestern in Beardsley Gymnasium Sunday afternoon. The Cardinal and White swept the Wildcats 25-20, 25-18, 25-17.

The Wisconsin (19-8 overall, 10-8 Big Ten) offense was dominant, hitting .344 (45 kills – 12 errors – 96 attempts) for the match. A stingy UW defense held Northwestern (14-16, 4-14) to a hitting percentage of .119 (31-19-101).

Freshman Dana Rettke earned the first double-double of her career, accumulating a match-high 13 kills and 10 blocks. Senior Lauryn Gillis notched an additional 12 kills to help overpower the Wildcats.

Wisconsin's backcourt collected 41 digs to Northwestern's 29. Sophomore Tiffany Clark led all players with 16 saves.

At the net, Rettke's 10 blocks helped UW out block NU, 12-7.

Notable

Freshman Dana Rettke recorded her first career double-double with 13 kills and a career-high 10 blocks.
Wisconsin outblocked the Wildcats 12-7, its 19th opponent it has outblocked this season.
Badgers held Northwestern to .119 (31-19-101) hitting percentage, their 11th opponent under .200.

Play of the game

Behind the back kill? Not a problem for @dana_rettke. What can't this girl do?? pic.twitter.com/hwfBxJ69Jm
— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) November 19, 2017

Quotable

"We needed to be tough. This is a team that goes back there and their serves are pretty gnarly; they go back there and let it rip. They didn't give us a lot of points behind the service line. They kept a lot of them in play. This is a team that gets a lot of one-option passes. Their setter does a really good job of putting up a nice out-of-system ball. Their (left-side hitters) really get big swings out of system. I thought our backcourt battled really well. I thought Syd (Hilley) did a really nice job.

"Both of them (Kelli Bates and Lauryn Gillis) were good. We went to them early and often, then Syd started going quick and behind later on in the match. Both those guys did a really nice job. When there were openings, they were going up, accelerating and getting good swings. If not they were putting balls in good areas and living to see another day."

-Head Coach Kelly Sheffield

"It was really important just to go out and keep building up our seed for the NCAA tournament. That was our goal for this weekend and I think we did that.

-Middle blocker Dana Rettke

It was over when

In the first set, UW trailed 20-18 before a Northwestern service error gave the Badgers the ball. With Tiffany Clark behind the service line, Wisconsin went on a 7-0 run to secure the first set.

The second set had a similar flavor to it. Trailing 16-15, the Badgers keyed a 10-2 scoring run to claim the second set. The run was highlighted by an incredible defensive and offensive play. Senior Kelli Bates lunged after the ball and got a fist on it, popping it over to Dana Rettke. With her back to the net, Rettke swung at the ball and managed to spike it to the ground in front of a Northwestern defender.

Up next

The Badgers conclude Big Ten Conference play next weekend, hosting No. 1 Penn State on Friday at 7 p.m. and Rutgers on Saturday night at 7 p.m. Both matches are in the UW Field House.