MADISON, Wis.-- One year, one month, and one day later, the long-awaited return of the No. 1 Wisconsin volleyball team did not disappoint on Friday night. The well-rounded Badgers (1-0, 1-0 B1G) dominated No. 13 Purdue, 25-14, 25-15, 25-16, at the UW Field House.
New and experienced players alike powered the Badgers to their first win of the season. Senior
Dana Rettke did
Dana Rettke things, notching 11 kills, four blocks, three digs and a .733 hitting percentage (11 kills-0 errors-15 attempts). Freshman
Devyn Robinson had a fantastic collegiate debut with nine kills, two digs, a block while hitting .750 (9-0-12). Senior
Lauren Barnes tallied a team-high 11 digs in the back row.
As a team, Wisconsin hit .415 (45-6-94) while holding the Boilermakers to just .116 (30-19-95). The Badgers served three aces to Purdue's two, with senior
Grace Loberg scoring both aces. UW finished with a 41-32 advantage in digs while outblocking the Boilermakers 4-2.
Five players made their Badger debuts -- freshman
Jade Demps, redshirt senior
Deahna Kraft, freshman
MJ Hammill, senior
Giorgia Civita and Robinson.
Straight from the court
Head coach Kelly Sheffield:
On Robinson...
"The first thing is, she wasn't small out there. She knows she belongs in this type of environment. She was ready for it and sometimes you get people who play a little bit small, a little bit scared, a little bit anxious, but that wasn't her and I really liked her demeanor."
On the quick turnaround...
"You know it never carries over. We've got too much respect for (Purdue) and their coaching staff over there. Truthfully, I'm already looking forward to tomorrow. I'm already fired up for tomorrow of the adjustments and see how our team responds after tonight."
Freshman Devyn Robinson:
On the energy in her first game...
"It was just amazing. I love the energy that the bench gives. It was awesome to go back to the bench and be shoved around a bunch"
Senior Dana Rettke:
On the win..
"I think it was a great first night. We were fairly clean across the board, there are definitely some things that we can clean up, but going in kind of without a scouting report, going in and playing some volleyball, I thought our communication was incredible and I think there are definitely areas to improve on, but that was one that stood out."
Notes to Know
- The Badgers improve to 33-14 in season openers, including a 13-7 mark at home, and improved to 23-15 in Big Ten openers.
- Wisconsin extended its home winning streak to 15 matches and its Big Ten winning streak to 13 matches, having not lost a home conference match since November of 2018.
- Freshman Devyn Robinson earned her first start in the Cardinal and White. The 6-foot-2 right-side hitter finished with nine kills for second on the team. Robinson went 4-for-4 on her attacks in the first set. She also added two digs and one block in the match.
- In addition to Robinson, five other newcomers saw their first action as Badgers. Redshirt freshman Liz Gregorski played in one set, serving twice. Freshman MJ Hammill played in one set, serving once. Redshirt senior Giorgia Civita played in all three sets, finished third on the team with eight digs. Freshman Jade Demps played in two sets, tallying two kills. Redshirt senior Deahna Kraft played in one set, tallying two kills on four attempts.
- Senior Dana Rettke finished with four blocks on the night, needing only one more block to earn 500 in her career.
Up Next
The Badgers wrap up their series with Purdue tomorrow at 8 p.m. The match airs live from the UW Field House on the Big Ten Network.
