MADISON, Wis. – After taking the first two sets without much trouble, the No. 4 Wisconsin volleyball team rallied back in a big way to take the third set and the match in its first-round NCAA matchup on Friday night in the UW Field House. The Badgers (23-6) moved past Illinois State 25-13, 25-14, 26-24 to advance to the second round of tournament play.
The Badgers were propelled by a stellar defensive performance at the net, finishing with 11 blocks, five of them coming during the emphatic third-set comeback. Big Ten Player of the Year
Dana Rettke led the way with seven blocks and redshirt senior
Madison Duello added six as the Badgers held Illinois State (22-12) to a team hitting percentage of .063 (31 kills – 11 errors – 111 attempts).
Rettke was also the lone Badger with double-digit kills, finishing with a match high 13. As a team, Wisconsin hit .248 (42 – 15 – 109). With her eight kills tonight, redshirt junior
Molly Haggerty needs just seven more to reach 1,000 for her career.
Lauren Barnes led Wisconsin with 10 digs, as Big Ten Setter of the Year
Sydney Hilley added nine digs to go along with her 35 assists, narrowly missing yet another double-double. The Redbirds edged UW 49-46 in digs but Wisconsin held the advantage in all other categories, including a 4-2 lead in service aces. Freshman
Izzy Ashburn shared match-high honors with two aces.
Straight from the Court
"Towards the end, that's just good, gritty volleyball right there. We're down, it's getting closer to the end of the set, just really locking in and going for it and that's what we did. We're getting that experience now and playing clean volleyball all the way through is what we want to do." –
Dana Rettke
"I think it's all really important and when you get into the tournament, you have to understand that there's no underdog, everyone has the same record, everyone is fighting for their season, so it doesn't matter what their record was during their conference season. Every team is going to be really good and really scrappy and we have to expect that battle every team we play and enjoy that battle, and I think we did that tonight." –
Sydney Hilley
"For our side, I thought we came out playing. Then in the third set they had a little bit of a late lead there and we just kept chipping away and playing with courage. The crowd was into it and loud, and it wasn't one of those where they're cheering when we're scoring and getting quiet when we're not, they were loud and into it, regardless of what the situation was and that means so much to our team.
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"I thought we did a really good job not panicking and not getting overly frustrated.
Sydney Hilley is on the bench telling everybody to enjoy the moment and smiling as well - it's a new and improved Hilley over there. I thought it was a really good NCAA tournament match." – Head Coach
Kelly Sheffield
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Gallery: (12/6/2019) Volleyball vs. Illinois State
Notes to Know
- Wisconsin opened its seventh-straight NCAA tournament with a first-round win. The Badgers improve to 47-22 in their 23rd year in the championship.
- UW extends its home winning streak to 11 matches. Wisconsin has not lost at home since Sept. 19, 2019.
- The Badgers held its third opponent of the season under .100 as Illinois State hit just .063. Wisconsin has held 19 of its 29 opponents this season under .200.
- Junior Molly Haggerty is counting down to 1,000 career kills, needing seven attacks to achieve the milestone.
- Junior Sydney Hilley will reach 4,000 career assists with 54 helpers. She will become the seventh Badger and the 51st Big Ten setter to hit that landmark.
Up Next
The Badgers advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament and take on UCLA on Saturday night. The Bruins swept Notre Dame in Friday's early match at the UW Field House. First serve will be live on the Big Ten Network at 6 p.m.
