MADISON, Wis. --  Behind a career-high 19 kills from sophomore Devyn Robinson, the fourth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team got back on the winning track with a four-set win over Northwestern on Sunday afternoon. Wisconsin (21-3, 13-3 B1G) completed the season sweep of the Wildcats (11-16, 6-10) with a 25-27, 25-14, 25-22, 25-20 win, just eight days after its first win.

After being swept by the Badgers on Nov. 5, the Wildcats came out strong behind the service line, recording five service aces in the first set. The Badgers were down 18-14 before a 3-0 run behind two Northwestern errors and an Izzy Ashburn ace pulled them within one, 18-17. Back-to-back kills from Robinson gave UW a 19-18 lead, its first advantage since the score was 1-0. Wisconsin led 22-20 before Northwestern went on a 3-0 run to take a 23-22 lead. The score was tied three more times, including at 25-25 before two Northwestern service aces gave the Wildcats the set.

Leading 5-4 in the second set, Wisconsin went on a 5-1 run to take a 10-5 lead. The Badgers kept their foot on the gas and cruised to a 25-14 set win, finished off by a Julia Orzoł kill. 

Kills from Jade Demps and Robinson along with a Sydney Hilley service ace got the Badgers off to a 5-1 lead in the third set. After Northwestern battled back to take a 13-12 lead, Robinson recorded yet another kill to kick off a 3-0 run and putting Wisconsin up 15-13. The Wildcats were able to close the Wisconsin lead to two (21-19) but it wasn't enough as the Badgers held on to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

The fourth set started off with a 10-7 Badger lead and Wisconsin maintained a three-point lead for most of the set. With the Badgers up 19-16, Northwestern took a time out but it wasn't enough to slow down the home team as kills from Orzoł and Demps as well as Wildcat hitting error put UW up 22-16. Northwestern held off two match points before a service error by the Wildcats clinched the win. 

As a team, Wisconsin hit .368 (68 kills - 18 errors - 136 attempts) and held the Wildcats to .246 (50-19-126). Robinson led all players with her career-high 19 kills while hitting a match-high .654 (19-2-26). Orzoł (16 kills) and Dana Rettke (11) each added double-digit kills.

Hilley put up 52 assists for the Badger offense and added 11 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Orzol picked up her fourth double-double, adding 11 digs.

Defensively, Rettke led the team with five blocks, helping the Badgers out-block the Wildcats 9-6.5. Robinson and Anna Smrek contributed four blocks apiece.

Lauren Barnes led all players with 15 digs as Wisconsin got the edge in saves, 52-43. 

Despite scoring five service aces in the first set, Northwestern finished with six aces while the Badgers tallied four behind two service aces from Hilley. 

Straight from the Court
Head coach Kelly Sheffield
"That was a good team effort. Temi (Thomas-Ailara) kind of got going behind the service line in the first set, which she is certainly capable of doing. That's a serve that can get on you in a hurry, it's hard to read. The ball gets over in barely half a second and it gets on you fast and she can change speed on you. She got on a bit of a run there in the first and I thought we did a great job of responding, which is something we talk about a lot. We changed up the matchups a little bit in the second (set) and I thought (Lauren) Barnes did a great job of handling the serve. It was a really good team effort and I think (Orzol and Robinson) had great matches.

"This is a players' game. After the first handful of points, I liked the way we were playing. I don't think we came out of the gate particularly the way that we were hoping to. After those first 10 points or so, I thought we were in a great place. Like Julia was saying, we don't see a serve like Temi's in practice so after we saw it a few times we were alright. I think this team showed the toughness that is in there in how they came out in game two.

"There might have been some nervousness in the building, but there wasn't from these guys. There shouldn't be nervousness. These guys have lost one home match in the last two or three years or so. There ought to be some confidence in these guys even as they're growing. There's a lot of young players and changeable parts but this team fights and it matters to them. They put a lot of work in so I don't see them being worried; us as coaches aren't worried. Let's all just stay in the fight -- coaches, players, fans, everybody. Let's get that momentum moving in the right direction. I was proud of the way that they responded and I thought we did a lot of really good things today."

Julia Orzol
"I feel like especially those last matches teach you how to embrace the adversity and stay with the game and don't let you change your attitude towards it. How we respond is how we control things and that is the most important thing. It's about the game."

Devyn Robinson
"I saw that Dana (Rettke) was struggling a little bit and I saw that I had to pick it up for my team and it was really easy to play with each other because that's been our focus this past week, just playing with each other and lifting each other up and my team did a really good job of lifting me up. I felt like I had the confidence to go up there and swing at every ball."

Notes to Know

• Devyn Robinson recorded a career-high 19 kills, improving upon her previous best of 18 kills at Indiana on Feb. 12, 2021.
• Julia Orzol picked up her fourth double-double of the season 16 kills and 11 digs, her first double-double since Oct. 6.
• Sydney Hilley earned her seventh double-double of the season, putting up 52 assists while adding 11 digs. The setter had 44 double-doubles in her career.
• Jade Demps recorded just the second service ace of her career and a career-high three assists. She also just missed a double-double with nine digs and eight kills. 

Up Next: 

The Badgers have a split week of play next weekend, hosting Michigan State on Friday night before traveling to No. 8 Minnesota on Sunday. First serve on Friday is 8 p.m. streamed live on B1G+. Sunday's match is at 5 p.m. from Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis at 4 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.