MADISON, Wis — It may not have been the best played match of the season for the fourth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team but the Badgers still gutted out a sweep over Iowa on Wednesday night. Wisconsin (12-1, 4-1 B1G) downed the Hawkeyes (2-13, 0-5) 25-21, 25-15, 28-26.
After edging Iowa in the first set and dominating the Hawkeyes in the second set, the match came down to the third set, which saw 10 ties and five lead changes.
Wisconsin trailed most of the third set, including at 16-12, before a 4-0 run led by two kills and block from Devyn Robinson tied the set at 16. The set was tied five more times, including at 23 before a kill by Dana Rettke gave UW its first match point at 24-23. Iowa scored two straight to serve for set point at 25-24 but a Hawkeye service error tied the set again at 25. The Badgers served for match point No. 2 at 26-25 but this time it was a UW service error that knotted the score again. Another Iowa service error put Wisconsin at match point for the third time and this time Robinson sealed the deal with a kill.
Offensively, the Badgers hit .298 (47 kills - 16 errors - 104 attempts), only their fourth time under .300 this season, while holding the Hawkeyes to a .165 (34-17-103) hitting percentage.
Orzol was the only Badger to record double-digit kills with 13 while hitting .321 (13-4-28). Rettke and Grace Loberg both added nine kills. Robinson led the team with a .500 (8-1-14) hitting percentage.
Defensively, both teams recorded five blocks with Orzol leading UW with three stuffs.
Lauren Barnes led the Badgers to a 43-37 edge in digs with a match-high 13 saves. Orzol picked up her third double-double of the season, adding 10 digs.
Behind the service line, Wisconsin had a one-point edge in aces over the Hawkeyes, 3-2. Joslyn Boyer, Izzy Ashburn and Orzol each recorded an ace.
Straight from the Court
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield
"There was a little bit of an uneven match here tonight. There's quite a bit of errors probably from both teams quite frankly. But one thing that was different than a couple weeks ago when we found ourselves in a match where we were giving away a lot of points, we kind of just we stayed with it a little bit better. We didn't get down on ourselves and we kept battling.
"We didn't hang our heads, we stuck together. That wasn't something I thought we did very well a couple weeks ago, so there's certainly some growth in that. As with a lot of matches there's positives to take from it and there's some things we got to clean up. That doesn't scare anybody here. It's the first week of October and we will take this one."
Grace Loberg
"We focused on our energy a lot and making sure our energy stays positive no matter what. One thing this team is always working on is next-ball mentality and just being intentional with each time we touch the ball. I think that's what we were zoning in on when things seemed to be a little bit more dead."
Notes to Know
- Fifth-year senior Dana Rettke picked up 11.0 points in the match to go over 2,000 points for her career. The 6-foot-8 middle ranks second on the UW record list with 2,007 points behind Sherisa Livingston (2,256 points) She passed Amy Lee (1994-97), who had 2,004 points in her career.
- Freshman Julia Orzol continues her impressive play, leading all players with 13 kills. The 6-foot outside hitter added 10 digs for her third career double-double.
- Wisconsin upped its school-record home winning streak to 27 matches and its home Big Ten winning streak to 20 contests. The Badgers also improve to 7-0 at home this season.
Up Next
The Badgers host Illinois at the UW Field House after beating the Illini last Sunday on the road. First serve is at 7 p.m. and airs live on the Big Ten Network.
