No letdown for the Badgers

Sunday, March 21

Minneapolis, MN

7 p.m.

Wisconsin Badgers

11-0,11-0Big Ten

Minnesota

11-2,11-2Big Ten

Wisconsin

Minnesota

March 21, 2021 | Volleyball

Box Score Minnesota Boxscore

Volleyball returns with 3-1 win at No. 4 Minnesota

By: Diane Nordstrom

MINNEAPOLIS – It was exactly a month to the day since the top-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team last stepped on the court against another opponent. But the Badgers (11-0, 11-0 B1G) didn't lose a step as they beat fourth-ranked Minnesota (11-2, 11-2) in four sets on Sunday evening. The Badgers downed the Gophers 25-14, 22-25, 25-15, 25-23.

The Badgers danced through the first and third sets as they won both games by 10-or-more points. Minnesota claimed the second set, only the third set Wisconsin has lost this season. It all came down to the fourth set where there were eight ties and two lead changes. The score was tied up at 20 before a 3-0 run put Wisconsin up 23-20. But a 3-0 Minnesota run knotted the score at 23 before a Gopher service error put momentum back in Wisconsin's favor. A kill by Grace Loberg gave the Badgers the win.

The Badgers outperformed Minnesota in every statistical category, though blocks were close. Dana Rettke tied her season high with seven blocks leading UW to a 9-8 edge over Minnesota at the net. In the back row, the Badgers had 52 digs, 20 of them coming from libero Lauren Barnes, while UM recorded 47 saves.

Loberg and Rettke shared match-high honors with 17 kills apiece, both setting new season highs. Loberg hit .317 with four errors on 41 attempts while Rettke hit .371 with four errors on 35 attempts. Freshman Devyn Robinson added 10 kills, marking only the second time this season that the Badgers had three players in double-digit kills.

As a team, Wisconsin hit .303 (63 kills -20 errors – 142 attempts) and held Minnesota to .205 (44-19-122).

Freshman MJ Hammill earned her first career start at setter, stepping in for senior Sydney Hilley, who was out due to COVID protocols. Hamill put up 46 assists and added nine digs to just miss a double-double. Barnes added a career-high six assists for UW.

Wisconsin dominated from the service line, recording a season-high 10 aces. Four Badgers had two aces apiece—Loberg, Giorgia Civita, Molly Haggerty and Deahna Kraft.

Straight from the Court

Head coach Kelly Sheffield
"Man it's been long time. I thought our kids were fired up to play. I thought our resiliency was really good after errors, we didn't let one error turn into two, turn into three. I thought we did a really good job on serve-pass and our defensive game, I thought was really good. I thought MJ (Hammill) did a solid job for her first collegiate match against a pretty good team. A lot of things to feel pretty good about.

"We're just so happy to be playing. This was a month to the day without playing. For two of those weeks, we didn't even get a practice. It's really hard to find some type of practice rhythm. These guys really stuck with it. You're just so happy that they get a chance to play. They got themselves ready to go. They got a win out of it.

On wearing masks in the match
"That was something we're going to try to be doing here a little bit. We've kind of learned our lesson. Minnesota was certainly on board when we asked them if they were interested in doing that so we were pretty thankful for that. We're just trying to progress and move through the season, trying to make decisions for give us the best chance for that. That's certainly to me to be a pretty idea right now.

MJ Hammill
"It was fun first of all. It was fun being able to play, this is what you do it for. We have to be a really deep roster in order to be prepared for this year. It wasn't really a panic when we knew that it was going to happen, it was business almost as usual.

"Everyone was really excited to play again from our break off. I think it felt really just comfortable to train that way. Who's ever in front is you, you're ready to go in and fill that spot whenever need be. It was okay, here's what we're facing and let's do it. "

Lauren Barnes
"Getting to play again, that was awesome. It honestly made the whole month worth it. We made sure to stay safe, we made sure to stay strong. We all took care of workouts individually. In the two weeks since we got into practice, our scrimmaging each other is just like playing another Big Ten team. We have so much depth that really helped."

Notes

Freshman MJ Hammill earned her first collegiate start at setter as senior Sydney Hilley is going through COVID 19 protocols. Hammill put up 46 assists and added nine digs to just miss a double-double. She also added two blocks and one kill.
Hilley missed the first sets and matches of her career as a Badger. The 6-foot-setter had played in all 108 matches and 378 sets since her freshman season.
Wisconsin ties its best start in program history at 11-0. The 2010 team also started 11-0.
The Badgers had three players record double-figure kills for the just the second time this season and the first time since Jan. 30 at Illinois. Grace Loberg and Dana Rettke shared match-high honors with 17 kills apiece while Devyn Robinson added 10 kills.
UW recorded a season-high 10 service aces behind two apiece from Loberg, Giorgia Civita, Molly Haggerty and Deahna Kraft.

Up Next

The Badgers stay on the road as they travel to No. 12 Penn State on Friday and Saturday. First serve is at 8 p.m. on Friday and TBA on Saturday. Both matches air live on Big Ten Network.