LINCOLN, Neb. -- The No. 3 Wisconsin volleyball team swept their way to the top of the Big Ten standings with a win over No. 6 Nebraska Wednesday night. The Badgers (18-1, 9-1B1G) got their tenth-straight win and are now tied for the conference's top spot by trouncing the Huskers (16-4, 10-1) 26-24, 25-19, 25-23. 

The Badgers were off to the races early in the first set, taking a five point lead 9-4. A rowdy Nebraska crowd of over 8,000 rallied the Huskers back as they tied it up 15-15. The noise didn't seem to bother Wisconsin, as they kept scoring points and responding to Nebraska's plays as they went back and forth to extra points. A Grace Loberg kill put the Badgers in set point position 25-24 and a bad serve from the Huskers sealed the deal for a Wisconsin first set win. 

Wisconsin kept the momentum and carried it on to the second set where UW led the entire time and eventually went on a 5-0 run to get to set point, 24-17. Two Nebraska points were not enough to catch up and a kill by Anna Smrek put the Badgers up 2-0. 

The third set was dominated early by the Badgers before a relentless Husker team rallied to take its first lead since the first set, 8-7. Back and forth points ensued until a 4-0 Wisconsin run put the visiting Badgers ahead by three, 21-18. A Nebraska challenge decreased the lead to two. The Badgers quickly raced to match point, up 24-22. Finally, after a Husker kill and Wisconsin service error, the Badgers won on their third match point, 25-23.

As a team, Wisconsin hit .229 (46 kills - 16 errors - 131 attempts) led by Smrek with a career high 12 kills, hitting a team-best .647 (12-1-17). Rettke followed with .308 (11-3-26). Sydney Hilley put up 37 assists in running the Badger offense and earned a double-double with a 16 digs.

Defensively, the Badgers held Nebraska to .148 hitting percentage (42-21-142). Wisconsin barely outblocked the Huskers, 9-8, led by Devyn Robinson with five stuffs. Lauren Barnes helped give the Badgers the edge in digs, 66-60, recording 20 of her own. Joslyn Boyer chipped in with 11 saves.

Behind the service line, Nebraska was not able to record a single ace, compared to Wisconsin with one from Boyer. 

Straight from the Court
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield 
"It was fun. It was hard to score out there. These are two really good defensive teams. We talked about finding that balance between knowing when to be aggressive and patient. I thought we were excellent at that balance."

"[Smrek's] a factor and keeps getting better. She wants to be really good and she's easy to coach. She comes in wanting to learn, she's such a sponge. The swings I saw her take today were better than the swings I saw a few days ago. This was a great match for her... You don't know how the young ones [Smrek and Orzol] are going to do in an environment like this and I thought they were really composed." 

"I'm proud of how fast the turnaround was this weekend. It's a huge tribute to our kids and the work they did to recover, and our strength and conditioning and training staff for getting them ready to go. Every match is big. It's so hard. In three days we'll play another team that's top 10 in the country. It's fun, it's exciting. On to Purdue!"

Notes to Know

• Sydney Hilley picked up her fifth double-double of the season with 37 assists and 16 digs. She now has 42 double-doubles in her career.
• Lauren Barnes are double-figure digs in the last nine matches. The 5-foot-6 libero finished with a match-high 20 digs, her fifth 20-plus dig match of the season 
• Freshman Anna Smrek recorded a career-high 12 kills while hitting a career-best .647 (12-1-17).
• Wisconsin shares the Big Ten lead for the first time this season, improving to 10-1 in the conference.
• The Badgers held Nebraska to a Big Ten season low hitting percentage of .148.  
• Wisconsin had a season-low one service ace but prevented Nebraska, who entered the match with 1.91 aces per set in Big Ten play, from scoring a service ace.

Up Next
The Badgers stay on the road and travel to No.12 Purdue on Sunday afternoon for a Halloween match-up. First serve will be at 11 a.m. and broadcasted live on ESPNU.