MADISON, Wis. – An explosive start to the match help the fifth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team to a first set win over No. 3 Minnesota, but the Golden Gophers fought back to win the next three sets and ultimately the match, 3-1. Wisconsin fell 16-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-19 at the UW Field House Wednesday night.
 
Sophomore middle blocker Dana Rettke terrorized the Minnesota (19-2 overall, 13-0 B1G) defense, earning 30 kills and four blocks, both team highs for Wisconsin (16-5, 9-4). She is only the third player in the Big Ten Conference this year to get 30-or-more kills in a match and the only one to do so in a four-set match.
 
As a team, the Badgers hit .296 (60 kills – 13 errors – 159 attempts), slightly better than Minnesota's .272 (66-20-169) hitting percentage.
 
UW also out blocked the Golden Gophers 8-6 as both teams struggled to slow opposing hitters down. The backcourts ended the match deadlocked at 71 digs apiece. UW's Tiffany Clark led all players with 19 digs. Clark also tallied Wisconsin's only service ace of the night. 
 

Dana just over here breaking records and stuff. @dana_rettke set a new school record 30 kills. Yes, you read that right. #OnWisconsin

"I've been doing this a long time and this is about as good as a performance that I've ever seen." KPS pic.twitter.com/4cHZPXz5GE

— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) November 1, 2018

 

Notes to know

• Sophomore Dana Rettke set a school record with 30 kills in the match. The previous mark was 27 kills by three athletes under 25-point rally scoring. She is the first Badger since Brittney Dolger in 2006 to record 30 kills in a match. Rettke is the third Big Ten athlete to record 30 kills in a match this season and the first to do it in four sets.
• Wisconsin took a set off the Golden Gophers, only the third set they have lost this Big Ten season.
• The Badgers recorded a higher hitting percentage than Minnesota, hitting .296 (60 kills – 13 errors – 159 attempts) while holding the Golden Gophers to .272 (66-20-169). Minnesota entered the match at .302 for the season, the top team in the Big Ten and the No. 3 team nationally.
• Junior Tiffany Clark led all players with 19 digs, her ninth straight match with 10-or-more digs.
• Sophomore Sydney Hilley recorded 56 assists in the match to bring her career total to 2,224, which ranks her 10^th on the UW career record list.

 

Straight from the court

"I thought it was a really good volleyball match with a lot of high-level stuff going on out there. For us to have 13 errors in 159 swings is pretty low.
 
"The difference tonight was that each team got on one or two scoring runs. We got one or two in the first set, and then the next three (sets), they got on one run each set, and that was the difference. We have to shorten that up a little bit. I'm proud of the effort. We still have a little bit more work to do to close the gap on those guys."
 
On Dana Rettke's performance
"I've been doing this a long time, and that was about as good of a performance as I've ever seen. And it wasn't just Dana, it was the combination of her and Sydney."
 
-Head coach Kelly Sheffield

"It really didn't feel different. I just go in and play every game and I go up on every attack with the intent of getting a kill. Syd was doing a great job giving me good balls and she made some risky sets. It would've been really easy for her just to go to the outside and make an easy set but she worked really hard to get me good balls. That's something I noticed halfway through the match and I just knew that if she's going to do that, if she's going to put me and herself in that situation, I just have to terminate."

-Middle blocker Dana Rettke
 

Up next

The Badgers face another ranked foe on Sunday when No. 14 Michigan comes to the UW Field House for a 1 p.m. match.