MADISON, Wis. – The sixth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team gave the UW Field House a lot to cheer about Wednesday night, opening the Big Ten Conference season with a sweep of Ohio State. The Badgers downed the Buckeyes, 25-19, 25-17, 25-15, in front of a sold-out crowd of 7,052.
 
Wisconsin (8-1 overall, 1-0 B1G) hit .269 (40 kills – 11 errors – 108 attempts) while holding Ohio State (7-4, 0-1) to a hitting percentage of .124 (33-19-113). Madison Duello and Dana Rettke each hit .421 to pace the UW offense.
 
Five Badgers recorded five or more kills in tonight's match, including Rettke (11), Duello (9), Grace Loberg (7), Molly Haggerty (6) and Tionna Williams (5).
 
Haggerty was dominant from the service line once again, recording four aces to aid UW to a 10-2 advantage in aced serves. Rettke also tallied a season-high three aces.
 
Libero Tiffany Clark had a team-high 16 digs on the night. OSU had 49 digs, two more than Wisconsin's 47.
 
At the net, UW out blocked OSU, 7-4, led by Williams with four blocks.
 

Wait.... did @dana_rettke and @sydhil_ decide to switch positions today??? pic.twitter.com/HtTfGCjRrz

— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) September 19, 2018

Notes to know

• Junior Tiffany Clark recorded 10-or-more digs in the eighth straight match, tallying a team-high 16 saves.
• Wisconsin outblocked its eighth opponent of the season, stopping the Buckeyes seven times at the net. Ohio State recorded four blocks.
• UW recorded a higher hitting percentage than its ninth-straight opponent, outhitting the Buckeyes .269 to .124.

 

Straight from the court

"I thought it was a good start to the Big Ten season. I thought we did a really good job of serving. Serving into space that was an emphasis going into tonight. We kept our errors down across the board. We had a few errors to start the match but we settled down there.
 
"I think we did a really good job of not allowing them to get on too many scoring runs. That was probably the biggest point of the match. Each set we got on a run and we really limited their runs. That usually starts with a good first pass and a good choice by the setter and I thought both of those things were fairly consistent."
 
-Head coach Kelly Sheffield
 
"Serving is something we practice every single day and I think we're being more mindful instead of just getting the ball and playing. We're trying to do something with it. Like I said, it starts in practice because then it just transfers over in games. I think our team has been doing a great job at working on that a lot in practice and applying it to the match."
 
-Outside hitter Molly Haggerty
 

Up next

The Badgers will be back in action at the UW Field House Saturday afternoon as they host Rutgers in a 1 p.m. match.