MILWAUKEE, Wis. – In the final match of the non-conference season, the sixth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team defeated Illinois State, 3-1, to go 2-0 at the Marquette Invitational. The Badgers took down the Redbirds 22-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-15.
 
Middle Blocker Dana Rettke was dominant throughout the match, collecting a team-high 16 kills and seven blocks. The sophomore hit .500 (16 kills – 2 errors – 28 attempts) on the day.
 
As a team, Wisconsin (7-1) hit .296 (50-13-125) while holding Illinois State (8-3) to a .097 (48-34-145) hitting percentage, the second lowest by an opponent this season.
 
UW also came out on top in blocks, earning 14 stuffs to ISU's six. On top of Rettke's seven blocks, redshirt freshman Danielle Hart tallied a career-best six blocks, including two solo stuffs.
 
Libero Tiffany Clark topped all players with 25 digs on the day, tying her career best. The Badgers and Redbirds both had 52 digs in the match.
 
Behind the service line, redshirt sophomore Molly Haggerty had another standout day, recording two of Wisconsin's four aces.
 

Match point Wisconsin! pic.twitter.com/LIj4siprl4

— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) September 15, 2018

Notes to know

• Sophomore Dana Rettke was named to the Marquette Invitational All-Tournament team after averaging 3.43 kills and 2.14 blocks per set on the weekend. The 6-8 middle blocker also hit a team-best .477 over two matches.
• Rettke recorded her fifth-straight match with seven-or-more blocks. She currently leads the Big Ten with 1.90 blocks per set.
• Redshirt freshman Danielle Hart tied her career high with six blocks against the Redbirds. The 6-4 middle blocker earned the second start of her career today.
• Junior Tiffany Clark tied her career best with 25 digs. It marked the seventh-straight match in double-figure digs for the libero.
• Junior M.E. Dodge tied her career high with one service ace.
• The Badgers outblocked their seventh opponent of the season, stopping the Redbirds 14 times in the match while getting blocked six times. Wisconsin has also had a higher hitting percentage than all eight opponents this season.

 

Straight from the court

"After the first set, we cleaned up some mistakes on our end and started playing better but I think that's a good team that will give their conference a run for their money.
 
"One of the things I like with our block was that as the match was going on they sped up the tempo of their 'go' sets and their sets to the left side. I thought we recognized that and made some really quick, really nice moves. I think the players were probably on top of it before the coaches were."
 
-Head coach Kelly Sheffield
 
"Going into it, we knew that Illinois State was a really scrappy team. We said going into it that we wanted to match their defensive level, we wanted to match their grit and play well, especially in the backcourt, because that's how you're going to beat a scrappy team like them."
 
-Libero Tiffany Clark
 

Up next

The Badgers open up their Big Ten Conference season at home on Wednesday against Ohio State at 6 p.m. The match airs live on the Big Ten Network.