MADISON, Wis. – The fifth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team wasted no time getting to its post-game Senior Night celebration on Friday night. The Badgers (20-5 overall, 16-1 Big Ten) rolled past Iowa (9-19, 3-14) in straight sets, taking the match 25-18, 25-13, 25-15.

Three Badgers finished with double-digit kills, led by junior middle blocker Dana Rettke with 15. Danielle Hart and Madison Duello pitched in 11 and 10 kills, respectively. As a team, Wisconsin hit its second-highest percentage on the season at .410 (50 kills – 9 errors – 100 attempts) while holding Iowa to .131 (29 – 16 – 99). Rettke and Hart both hit better than .500 in the match with Hart leading all players at .688 (11-0-16) and Rettke connecting on .591 percent (15-2-22).

The defense was led by a match-high eight blocks from Rettke, while junior Sydney Hilley added five blocks of her own to go along with a team-high 10 digs.

Following up her return to the floor last Saturday against Michigan State, senior Sarah Dodd once again came to the floor to an ovation from the Badger faithful. The defensive specialist picked up three digs in two sets of play.

Senior M.E. Dodge also received praise from the crowd after her first kill on the season put an exclamation point on the victory near the end of the third set:

Watch ya head @Mdodge19volley, there's a roof on this place 😅

An exclamation point from the senior sets up the #Badgers for the win. pic.twitter.com/He6iZEcGao

— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) November 23, 2019

Straight from the Court

"Up here with our five seniors and we've got more volleyball to play - we've got more volleyball in the Field House - but these are my people, who have given everything of themselves to this program, and they are everything about what is right about being a student athlete. I'm so proud of all five of them. It was awesome to see almost everyone stay around tonight for that presentation - the place was still packed at the end and I think that says an awful lot about these five and their ability to inspire people on and off the court." – Head Coach Kelly Sheffield

"(Us seniors) were talking with the rest of the team and saying the greatest gift you can give us for senior night is to be ready to play. It's really easy to get caught up in all the distractions that tonight offers - all the family, all the pompous circumstances - but I think we did a really good job at focusing and zeroing in." – Tiffany Clark

"It's nice knowing that this is not the last time we're going to play here. I think that it puts it into perspective and lets us enjoy the moment more because we know that we're coming back in two days and we're going to play in front of the same great fans. I just think it's great to get recognized and see all we've done for the program - it was fun." – Madison Duello
   

Notes to Know

• The Badgers improve to 20-5, their seventh-straight 20-win season.
• Sophomore Danielle Hart tied her career best with 11 kills.
• Wisconsin hit .410 (50K-9E-100TA), its fourth time this season over .400.
• Junior Sydney Hilley recorded her team-best eighth double-double on the season with 43 assists and 10 digs.

Up Next

The Badgers host sixth-ranked Nebraska on Sunday for the final regular season match at the UW Field House. First serve will be live on the Big Ten Network at 1:30 p.m.