Badgers, border battles, and brooms

Sunday, October 13

UW Field House

3 p.m.

Wisconsin Badgers

10-4, 6-0

Minnesota

11-3, 5-1

Minnesota

Wisconsin

Photo by: Greg Anderson

Badgers, border battles, and brooms

October 13, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score UWVB vs Minnesota Photo Gallery

Wisconsin sweeps previously undefeated Minnesota, now sits alone atop Big Ten

By: Drew Kocken

Madison, WI – With the top spot in the Big Ten Conference on the line between the only two remaining undefeated teams, the No. 7 Wisconsin volleyball team dominated once again on Sunday afternoon. The Badgers swept No. 6 Minnesota, 25-18, 25-15, 25-20, to earn its third straight sweep, its third win over a top-10 team in its last four matches, and its first Border Battle win since 2014 – also when it won its last Big Ten championship.

Defense was the name of the game for the Badgers, as they held Minnesota to a .188 hitting percentage (31 kills – 12 errors – 101 attempts). Senior libero Tiffany Clark totaled a match-high 14 digs, and Madison Duello and Danielle Hart finished with three blocks a piece, holding down the front line.

Wisconsin's offense was also in sync, hitting .270 (47–16–115). Junior Dana Rettke finished with a match-high 16 kills, hitting an even .500 (16-2-28) on the day. Molly Haggerty added 12 kills for the Badgers.

UW dominated the Gophers in nearly every statistical category. Wisconsin finished with the advantage in kills (47-31), hitting percentage (.270-.188), service aces (8-1), and digs (52-40). Minnesota's lone highlight area was blocks, as they finished with an 11.5 – 4 advantage.

Nothing defines this team quite like GRIT.#Badgers with a series of incredible digs to cap off a 6-1 scoring run...

Now 17-9 good guys in the second 😏#OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/MNFhTm5Ibd
— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) October 13, 2019

Straight from the Court

"It took us a little bit to get settled in to the match. To start out, I thought we were making quite a few hitting errors. Our hitters got a little more comfortable as we were going through and you saw the hitting percentages continuing to climb.

"The team has to continue to evolve. We played a good match today, we did some good things. There are some things we can get better at, and we can go back and watch some film and try to tackle those things before our opponents do." – Head Coach Kelly Sheffiled

"I think we're getting better each and every week and that's all you can really ask for. After every game, the first thing coach says is 'we still gotta get better.' That's our goal every day when we come in. It doesn't matter whether we win or lose, every day we're working our butts off to get one percent better.

"Especially in the Big Ten, it doesn't matter who we're playing. It all counts the same so we prepare the same way, no matter if we've never beaten a team or never lost to them – we prepare the exact same way." – Sydney Hilley

Gallery: (10/13/2019) Volleyball vs. Minnesota

Notes to Know

The Badger took over the top spot in the Big Ten standings with today's win as Michigan fell to Nebraska to drop to 5-1.
Wisconsin snaps an eight-match losing streak to the Golden Gophers, sweeping Minnesota for the first time since Oct. 18, 2014.
UW improves to 4-4 against top-25 teams after sweeping No. 6 Minnesota today.
The Badgers extend their winning streak to six matches, a season best.
Junior Lauren Barnes tied her season high with two service aces against her former team.

Up Next

The Badgers have nearly a week off as the top team in the Big Ten, as No. 18 Illinois comes to the UW Field House on Friday. The match airs live on Big Ten Network, with first serve at 8 p.m.