Madison, WI – The No. 9 Wisconsin volleyball team (4-3) took a tough loss to the No. 10 Washington (8-1) at the UW Field House on Thursday night. The Huskies won the match 25-23, 27-25, 19-25, 25-22.
Three Badgers finished with double-digit kills, led by
Molly Haggerty with 19, but it was the unsuccessful attacks that hurt Wisconsin, as the team finished with 30 attack errors compared to Washington's 14.
UW hit a season-low .208 (63 kills – 30 errors – 159 attempts) while Washington hit .276 (56-14-152).
The Huskies were able to stifle the Badgers' front line, doubling up Wisconsin in total blocks, 14 – 7. The Badgers held their own on the defensive side, however, edging the Huskies 73-59 in total digs.
Tiffany Clark led Wisconsin with 15 saves.
Junior captain
Sydney Hilley was a bright spot for Wisconsin, dishing out 50 assists en route to becoming just the ninth Badger to eclipse the 3,000 career assists mark. The setter also added 13 digs for her third double-double of the season.
Straight from the Court
"I think this is a good team. But nobody's going to feel sorry for us, and we're certainly not going to fall into that either. It's not about us trying harder, the team works hard in practice. It just comes down to if you make a couple more plays than your opponent. They scored one more point than us the entire match, it was just about when those points were scored.
"I want (the team) to stretch, hydrate, sleep and catch the plane. They're going to have to shut down tonight as quick as possible and move past it if they want to be good 36 hours from now. This is a unique challenge of playing the same top-10 team twice within 36 hours across a couple time zones. We will see how we handle it." – Head Coach
Kelly Sheffield
Notes to Know
- With her 25th assist of the match, which came in the third set when a kill by Molly Haggerty put the Badgers up 8-5, junior Sydney Hilley recorded her 3,000th career assist. She became the ninth UW player to tally 3,000 career assists. The setter finished with 50 assists in the match and added 13 digs for her third double-double of the season and the 27th of her career.
- The Badgers hit a season-low .208 (63K-30E-159TA) against the Huskies as Washington outblocked Wisconsin 14-7.
- UW had three players record 10-or-more kills behind 19 putaways by Molly Haggerty to share match-high honors. Dana Rettke (15) and Grace Loberg (13) also scored in double figures. Rettke has recorded 10-or-more kills in all seven matches this season.
- Wisconsin had four players hit double digits in digs for the first time this season. Tiffany Clark led UW with 15 saves while Hilley added 13. Lauren Barnes and Izzy Ashburn both recorded 12 digs. It was a career high for the freshman Ashburn.
- The Badgers continued their strong serving, recording seven service aces and only four service errors. Ashburn tallied a match-high three scores while Rettke and Hilly both scored twice from the service line.
Up Next
The Badgers travel to Seattle on Saturday for the second half of a home-and-home series against the ninth-ranked Huskies. Match time is 8 p.m. CT from Alaska Airlines Arena and will be shown live on the Pac-12 Networks.
