MINNEAPOLIS -- With the 2021 Big Ten Conference championship on the line, the fifth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team edged No. 9 Minnesota, 3-2, in a Border Battle on Sunday evening. The top-10 battle lived up to all of the hype with the Badgers (23-3, 15-3) pulling out a 24-26, 25-19, 25-27, 26-28, 15-12 victory.
With three sets going to extra points, including in the fourth set where Wisconsin held off three Golden Gopher (17-8, 13-5) match points, the Badgers were ready for the decisive fifth-set clash.
In the fifth set, the score was tied three times before the Badgers went up 5-3 off a Jade Demps kill and a Gopher attack error. Minnesota rallied to tie the set at six before Wisconsin went on a 4-0 run, behind two kills from Grace Loberg, to lead 10-6. The Gophers pulled within one point at 13-12 before a block by Sydney Hilley and Dana Rettke gave UW match point at 14-12. A Minnesota hitting error gave the Badgers the win.
Rettke led the Badgers with 21 kills, hitting .372 (21 kills - 5 errors - 43 attempts). Demps followed with 18 kills, a new career high for the sophomore who also recorded her second straight double-double with 14 digs, tying her career best. Devyn Robinson had a team-best hitting percentage of .417 (13-3-24) while Grace Loberg (14) and Julia Orzol (14) also recorded double-digit kills.
Wisconsin's balanced offense with five players putting away double-digit kills was a key to the win as Wisconsin recorded 14 more kills than the Gophers and hit .277 (84-25-213). Minnesota hit .215 (70-24-214) with three players recording 10-or-more kills.
Sydney Hilley put up 65 assists and recorded her fourth-straight double-double with 16 digs. Three UW players recorded double-doubles. In addition to Demps and Hilley, Orzol added a career-high 14 digs for her second-straight double-double. Lauren Barnes tallied a match-high 25 digs, giving the Badgers a 93-90 edge in saves.
Wisconsin came up short behind the service line, recording three aces to Minnesota's four, while tallying 10 service errors. Hilley, Joslyn Boyer and Giorgia Civita each had an ace. .
The Badgers out-blocked the Gophers, 14-11, led by Rettke with nine blocks.
Straight from the Court
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield
"Epic is right. Man, oh man. Absolutely ridiculous, beast mode [Stephanie Samedy]. Who was better at in-game situations? We weren't great in the first and third sets and we gave us a chance in the fourth. We chipped away, chipped away, chipped away.
"They had three match points in the fourth. We talked about trust -- trust yourself, your teammates, the game-plan. There were big plays on both sides of the net. Incredible defense, great shots. It's so hard to score against those guys.
"I thought we served really well and maintained our serve aggressiveness throughout the match. They're one of the few teams where you know where the ball is going to go and it doesn't matter.
"Jade (Demps) was great. Sydney (Hilley) is clearly getting more confident in going to her from the back row. It's huge cause it changes how people block. You can tell she is getting more confident. There's so much more than that. Anna (Smrek) came in to the fifth (set) and made some huge plays for us that was really big. Giorgia (Civita) comes in at the end of the first set and they didn't want anything to do with her. That impacts the match. It's a team win.
"This was just an epic volleyball match. We told them in the fourth set, let's not get too stressed about this thing, stay tuned in and stretch it out. It was two teams that were balling out. Had we been on the losing side, I would not change anything about the match. The locker room is just more fun right now."
Notes to Know
- With only two matches left in the Big Ten Conference season, the Badgers are tied for first in the league at 15-3. Wisconsin can earn a share of its third-straight Big Ten championship with a win over Nebraska on Friday.
- Sophomore Jade Demps recorded her second-straight double-double with a career-high 18 kills and a career-high 16 digs. The 6-foot-2 outside hitter also took a career-high 49 attack attempts.
- Sydney Hilley picked up career double-double No. 47 with 65 assists and 16 digs. The setter has a team-best 10 double-doubles this season.
- Lauren Barnes recorded a match-high 25 digs, her sixth match this season with 20-plus digs.
- Grace Loberg tied her career high with 50 attack attempts.
- Freshman Julia Orzol had a career-high 14 digs and tallied her second-straight double-double, adding 14 kills.
- The Badgers played just their third five-set match of the season, recording season highs for kills (84), assists (75), and digs (93).
Up Next
The Badgers host No. 11 Nebraska (20-6, 15-3) for the Big Ten championship on Friday afternoon at the UW Field House. First serve is at 4:30 p.m. live on the Big Ten Network. The conference season wraps up on Saturday with a match against Indiana at 7 p.m. streamed live on B1G+. Wisconsin will honor their 2021 senior class in post-match ceremonies.
