IOWA CITY, Iowa – Despite outperforming the Hawkeyes in nearly every statistical category, the sixth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team fell on the road at Iowa in five sets Saturday night The Badgers fell to the Hawkeyes 22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 19-25, 15-12.

Wisconsin (11-3, 4-2 B1G) had five players record double-figure kills to out hit the Hawkeyes 72-68 in kills. Sophomore Grace Loberg led UW with 19 kills while sophomore Dan Rettke chipped in 14. Junior Madison Duello (13), senior Tionna Williams (11) and sophomore Molly Haggerty (10) all added double digits.  

The Badgers struggled to stop the Iowa (11-6, 3-3) hitting duo of Cali Hoye (30 kills) and Taylor Louis (24 kills), who combined for 54 of Iowa's 68 kills in the match.

Wisconsin recorded a higher hitting percentage than the Hawkeyes, connecting on .288 (72 kills – 19 errors -184 total attempts) of its attacks while Iowa hit .254 (68-25-169).

Sophomore Sydney Hilley tied her career high with 57 assists for the Badgers at setter.

UW outblocked Iowa 12.5 – 9.0 behind eight blocks from Rettke.

Both teams recorded six service aces though Wisconsin had 11 service errors compared to six for Iowa.

The Hawkeyes edged the Badgers 74-68 in digs. UW was led by junior Tiffany Clark with 23 saves. Junior M.E. Dodge added 12 digs while Haggerty and Hilley both chipped in 10 saves for double-doubles.
 

Straight from the court

Head coach Kelly Sheffield on the match:
"There wasn't a single element of our game that we were very good at. Part of that has to do with Iowa, certainly give them credit. They played hard and they knew what was working and continued to go with that.

"We get a week off before we play again on Friday. It's been a long time since we've had a stretch where we can add a little bit of time off in and be able to train. We certainly need both of those things and hopefully this one week rejuvenates us."

On the fifth set:
"We just made too many errors out of the gates and dug ourselves to big of a whole. Syd made three poor setting choices there early on. Tiff had a tough pass and Grace had two tough passes. You add those things up and you get in a hole quickly."

Notables

• Wisconsin played its first five-set match of the season.
• The Badgers lose to Iowa for the first time since 2009, stopping a 15-match winning streak.
• Sophomore Sydney Hilley tied her career high with 57 assists and also recorded her fifth double-double of the season, adding 10 digs
• Senior Tionna Williams put away a season-high 11 kills.
• Wisconsin had five players record 10-or-more kills for the first time this season.
• Sophomore Grace Loberg finished with a team-high 19 kills, one off her career high.
• Sophomore Molly Haggerty tallied her third double-double of the season with 10 kills and 10 digs.
• UW recorded season highs in kills (72), attack attempts (184), Assists (72), and digs (68).

Up next

Wisconsin returns home for a four-match home stand. The Badgers kick off the stretch against Northwestern on Friday at 8 p.m. in the UW Field House. The match airs live on the Big Ten Network.