MADISON, Wis. — Rallying from a 2-1 set deficit in the match, the third-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team rallied to defeat No. 14 Penn State in five sets on Saturday night. The Badgers (17-1, 8-1 B1G) edged Penn State (14-6, 7-3), 25-27, 32-30, 20-25, 25-23, 15-7. 

Trailing 2-1 heading into the fourth set, freshman Julia Orzol got the Badgers off to a quick start, scoring five of the first seven points off kills. Wisconsin led 7-2 before the Nittany Lions were able to cut the lead to three, 7-4. UW was able to maintain that three-point advantage through 13-10 before three straight points put Wisconsin up 16-10. Penn State cut the lead to just two (23-21) and held off two Badger set points before Orzol, who had nine kills in the set, evened the match with a kill.

The Badgers continued their momentum heading into the fifth set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead. Penn State cut the lead to three (6-3) before a 3-0 UW run put Wisconsin up 9-3 and the set out of reach.

As a team, the Badgers hit .222 (74 kills - 30 errors - 198 attempts), struggling against the Big Ten's top blocking team. Penn State finished with an 18 to 13.5 advantage in blocks. Wisconsin's block picked up as the match went on, holding Penn State to a .185 (67-30-200) hitting percentage. UW also finished with a 90-77 advantage in digs.

Dana Rettke led the team with a season-high 24 kills, followed by Orzol with 19, a career high for the freshman. Rettke also had a team-best hitting percentage of .512 (24-2-43). Sophomore Devyn Robinson added 11 kills and recorded her first career double-double with a match-high 10 blocks.

Sydney Hilley put up 65 assists in running the Badger offense and earned a double-double with a season-high 18 digs.

Lauren Barnes led all players with a career-high 29 digs while Giorgia Civita chipped in 10 saves. Barnes also tied her career-best with three service aces, giving Wisconsin a 7-3 edge in aces.

The first and third sets were battles that the Nittany Lions pulled from Wisconsin's grasp late. The Penn State defense was able to hold the Badgers below a .200 hitting percentage in both of the sets (.136 in the first and .162 in the third) while out-blocking Wisconsin, 16-6, through the first three sets. 

Wisconsin was able to pull out a win in the second set, which was also the highest scoring of the season at 32-30. The Badgers were up 19-13 before the Nittany Lions went on a 5-0 run to close the gap, 19-18. From then on, back and forth scoring ensued as a total of seven (five for Wisconsin and two for Penn State) set-points were held off before kills by Rettke and Orzol ended the lengthy set. 

Straight from the Court
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield
"I thought there was a period of time that we were playing not to make mistakes. And then there became a time, the latter part of the match, where we were in attack mode and in that mindset I think is a very important mindset to be in. You got to tap into that and it's a challenge."

Dana Rettke
 "I thought that was just a gritty match. We came out not playing our best volleyball. I think everyone could see that, and we grew together throughout that match. I think we found our groove. I think we found just some strength and some competence that we know we have and that we need to be playing with more often, and I was just I was really proud of how we all came together and just worked as a team throughout the whole match super great, great team win." 

Julia Orzol
"We were in attack mode, we showed what it means to play Badger volleyball in the second part of the game. And I'm waiting for what the effects of this game will bring us because I think we can grow from it and learn a lot. Learn that even with a bad start we are still Badgers and we can still play our best. "

Notes to Know

• Graduate student Sydney Hilley picked career double-double No. 41 with 65 assists and a season-high 18 digs. It was also her fourth double-double of the season.
• Freshman Anna Smrek recorded a career-high five blocks and took a career best 17 attack attempts.
• Fifth-year senior Dana Rettke led all players with a season-high 24 kills while hitting .512 (24-2-43).  
• Freshman Julia Orzol put away a career-high 19 kills, including nine kills in the fourth set. The 6-foot outside hitter also had a career-high 58 attack attempts and tied her career best with three blocks.
• Fifth-year senior Lauren Barnes led all players with a career-high 29 digs. The libero also tied her career best with three service aces.
• Sophomore Devyn Robinson led all players with 10 blocks, tying her career best which she set Friday night vs. Ohio State. The 6-foot-2 middle blocker earned her first career double-double as she added 11 kills.
• Junior Izzy ashburn recorded one service ace on the night, her ninth-straight straight match with at least one ace.
• The Badgers upped their school-record home winning streak to 30 matches and their Big Ten home winning streak to 23 matches.
• Wisconsin won the second set over Penn State, 32-30, the third most points in a set under 25-point rally scoring.
• UW recorded season highs of 74 kills, 71 assists and 90 digs.  
• The Badgers held Penn State to its third-lowest hitting percentage of the season at .185.
• Wisconsin and Penn State battled on the court for 2 hours and 52 minutes, UW's longest match under 25-point rally scoring.

Up Next

The Badgers continue their four-match stretch against ranked teams as they get back on the road, traveling to No. 9 Nebraska (16-3, 10-0) on Wednesday night. First serve is at 8 p.m. from the Devaney Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, and broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.