PITTSBURGH, Penn. – Despite losing its first set of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, the No. 4 Wisconsin volleyball team moved past No. 1 Baylor to advance to its third national championship match in school history.
The Badgers (27-6) rallied after losing the first set, taking the match 25-27, 25-21, 25-17, 25-19, avenging a 3-1 loss to the top-ranked Bears (29-2) on Sept. 6.
Three-time All-American
Dana Rettke came through big on the big stage, finishing with a team-high 19 kills and a match-high eight blocks. All-American
Molly Haggerty added 15 kills for the Badgers, just missing a double-double by adding nine digs.
Once again, the Badgers came through at the service line, totaling nine aces – three apiece from Rettke and three-time All-American
Sydney Hilley to lead the way. The Bears scored four aces on Wisconsin.
As a team, the Badgers hit .267 (54 kills – 19 errors – 131 attempts) while the stellar defense continued its ways, holding the Bears to .183 (54 – 26 – 153).
Wisconsin finished with 14.5 team blocks as
Danielle Hart and
Madison Duello pitched in six and five stuffs, respectively. The Bears tallied 10 blocks behind seven strops by Kara McGhee.
In the back line, senior libero
Tiffany Clark showed off with a match-high 18 digs. Senior
M.E. Dodge added 10 saves, as the Badgers edged the Bears 62-56 in total digs.
Baylor's Yossiana Pressley impressed with a match-high 25 kills on 68 attempts with 12 errors to hit just .191. The Wisconsin defense was able to limit the rest of the Bears as six players combined for the remaining 29 kills.
Straight from the Court
"It was a whale of a volleyball match right there, to be able to be a part of that and to watch two teams and a lot of players just going at it. There's a lot of toughness on the court. (Baylor) puts a lot of pressure on you, and it starts with behind the service line. And I thought our fight on our side of the net, starting with our back court, was fantastic.
"I thought our back-court defense was special. I thought our blockers got some really good touches. To hold that team to under 200, to hold an elite player like Pressley under .200 … -- it was a great defensive effort. And to lose a close first one, to have our team just continue to believe and fight and stay together and stay aggressive, we're excited to still be playing.
"Those are pretty nice numbers for a middle (Rettke) – .484, 19 kills, eight blocks. And then got three aces – that's a pretty nice night. She was aggressive. And I thought everybody was behind the service line. You look at some of these serving numbers, and everybody seemed to have a run tonight. It wasn't just one or two servers. I thought we were putting pressure on them for six rotations. And that tells me we've got a team that's in a pretty good place." – Head Coach
Kelly Sheffield
"We didn't panic and we knew there was a lot of volleyball left (after the first set loss), and we knew the match wouldn't be decided by one set. I thought we did a good job staying positive and staying aggressive after that." –
Sydney Hilley
"I think it will hit me after tomorrow. We've all dreamed about being in these moments, and I think we're just really excited to be here and, like we always talk about, live in the moment, be where our feet are. I think we did a great job of that tonight for sure." –
Molly Haggerty
Notes to Know
- Wisconsin advances to its third NCAA national championship match and its first since 2013.
- The Badgers handed Baylor just its second loss of the season as the Bears lost just 17 sets all season long, including three by UW tonight.
- UW loses its first set in NCAA tournament play this season, falling to 15-1 in set play in the championship.
- Wisconsin held Baylor to a .183 hitting percentage in the match, its 22nd opponent under .200 this season.
- Senior Tiffany Clark tied her career high with six assists.
Up Next
The Badgers advance to the national championship match on Saturday night, and will await the winner of the second national semifinal between No. 3 Stanford and No. 7 Minnesota. The match will be live on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. CT.
