Madison, WI – It was lucky No. 21 on Wednesday night for outside hitter Grace Loberg. The junior finished with a career-high 21 kills to go along with the number on her back, carrying the 13^th-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team to an emphatic win over No. 5 Penn State.

The Badgers (7-4 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) took the match in four sets, 23-25, 25-23, 25-13, 25-13, on Wednesday night in front of a raucous sold out crowd at the UW Field House, staying perfect to begin Big Ten play.

Three Badgers finished with double-digit kills, led by the aforementioned Loberg. Junior Dana Rettke added 14 kills and Madison Duello put away 11 kills as Wisconsin hit .310 (57 kills – 18 errors – 126 attempts) in the match.

Wisconsin was able to limit the attacking power of Penn State (9-2, 2-1), as it took the advantage in digs (63-47) and blocks (10-8) to hold Penn State to a .175 hitting percentage (46-22-137).

It was a great team defensive effort as four Badgers finished with double-digit digs – Tiffany Clark and Izzy Ashburn led UW with 12 saves while Lauren Barnes and Sydney Hilley both added 10 digs. UW's front line held down the net, led by Dana Rettke with six blocks. Duello and redshirt sophomore Danielle Hart both added four blocks.

By putting up 46 assists to go along with her 10 digs, junior captain Sydney Hilley totaled her fifth double-double on the year.

🚨PSA🚨: @gv11loberg has been spotted with a cannon attached to her right shoulder, all opponents are advised to clear the Field House immediately‼️😱

That's a new season-high 15 kills for her, and we're just getting started...#Badgers pic.twitter.com/Zv1bS2vVCj

— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) October 3, 2019

Straight from the Court

"That's obviously a good win, but more than that it's just how we played is better than even the result. We bounced back after that first set. We fell behind a bit in the second set and I thought our serving really kicked into another gear. Those last two sets of holding them to (a hitting percentage) .050 or so - those are pretty low numbers against a team that has as much offensive talent as Penn State does.

"I thought offensively we were awfully good and we got even better as the match went on. Grace (Loberg) was really aggressive, working with what she was getting and working the entire court and Syd (Hilley) was awfully special getting everyone involved and putting hitters in good positions."

– Head Coach Kelly Sheffield

"I felt pretty confident the whole match and I think a lot of that comes from Syd (Hilley). She puts so much confidence in each and every one of us so I think she plays a big role in that. And then of course our servers and our defenders were amazing and that made my job easier.

"We talked about how we might have surprised some people tonight but us as a team, we were not surprised at all. We work hard every day and we know what we are capable of and I think we showed that tonight."

 – Grace Loberg

Notes to Know

• Tonight's win was the 1,000^th in program history for Badger volleyball. Wisconsin is now 1,000-540-12 in its 46^th year of play.
• Wisconsin won back-to-back matches against the Nittany Lions for the first time after also winning in University Park, Pa., on Nov. 24, 2018.
• Penn State scored just 13 points in the third and fourth sets, the fewest points Wisconsin has allowed the Nittany Lions to score under 25-point rally scoring.
• Junior Grace Loberg recorded a career high 21 kills to lead all hitters.
• Senior Tiffany Clark put up a career best six assists.
• UW defeats its second ranked team of the season after sweeping No. 15 Purdue on Sept. 27.

Up Next

The Badgers face their biggest challenge yet as they travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, to match up with No. 3 Nebraska on Saturday night. The match will be broadcast live on BTN at 7 p.m. from the Bob Devaney Sports Center.