MADISON, Wis. – For the first time in program history, the Wisconsin volleyball team ended the regular season undefeated. In the COVID-shortened, Big Ten-only season, the top-ranked Badgers (15-0, 15-0 B1G) ended the season with a 25-20, 25-14, 25-18 sweep of Michigan on Friday afternoon in the UW Field House.
For the second-straight match, Wisconsin dominated the Wolverines (4-9, 4-9). As a team, Wisconsin hit .313 (46 kills - 10 errors - 115 attempts) while holding Michigan to .168 (35-14-125). The Badgers were consistent throughout the match, hitting .282 in the first set, .333 in the second, and .327 in the third.
Wisconsin was exceptionally tough at the service line where senior Grace Loberg set a new career high with five service aces, more than half of the team's total of nine. On the other side of the net, the Wolverines scored only four aces.
Five Badgers put away seven-or-more kills as senior Dana Rettke and Loberg shared match-high honors with 11 putaways. Both hit over .400 as Rettke hit .455 (11-1-22) and Loberg connected on .423 (11-0-26). Loberg also earned her first double-double of the season and 11th of her career as she added 10 digs.
Senior Molly Haggerty added nine kills while freshman Devyn Robinson (8) and junior Danielle Hart (7) also had strong offensive showings. Michigan was led by Jess Robinson and May Pertofsky with eight kills apiece.
Senior Sydney Hilley put up 34 assists at setter and added nine digs to just miss a double-double. In addition to Loberg in double-figure digs, three other Badgers tallied 10-or-more saves. Lauren Barnes led all players with 19 digs while Giorgia Civita and Haggerty both recorded 10 saves.
On the block, Rettke led the team with five stuffs with the team outblocking Michigan 9-2.
Wisconsin led almost the entire match with the exception of a 2-0 lead by the Wolverines in the first set. The second set was also tied three times early.
Straight from the court
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield:
"One of the goals this weekend, not only just trying to close out a Big Ten title and gets some wins, but to get better as each match went on. That was an emphasis as the sets went on, as the match went on ... and I certainly thought we did that. I thought we were really balanced this afternoon and I love the effort. I just thought our effort was fantastic. I thought we defended well, we defended hard. I actually thought our defense got better as the sets went on.
"We're just hoping to play so the fact that we were able to play two matches feels like an accomplishment right there. You want to try to get some rhythm going into the tournament. I'm really happy and proud of the way the team played this week."
Molly Haggerty
"I think this weekend went as well as we thought it would and planned for. Obviously there are a lot of things we can't control but we try to control what we can. I think just getting a great week of practice in is what we could control and that's what we did. Today we just felt really confident and were just having fun with it. We haven't been able to play a lot of matches so finally getting the chance to be back out in the Field House, playing again, felt amazing. We were just having fun with it."
Grace Loberg
"I felt like as a team, we all had our rhythm. Like Kelly mentioned, we were just flowing really well together, in system a lot of the time. For my serving, I was just going back there and just really focusing on getting good hand contact because when that happens, good things usually happen. All in all, I just feel like our team had good rhythm, which allowed for each of us individually to be able to play some of best volleyball."
Badger Notables
- Wisconsin has won 20 straight matches at home, dating back to the 2019 season.
- Head coach Kelly Sheffield has won 200 matches at Wisconsin, becoming just the second UW coach to hit the 200 mark.
- Senior Grace Loberg recorded a career-high five services aces and also picked up her first double-double of the season. The 6-foot-3 outside hitter had 11 kills and 10 digs for her 11th career double-double.
- Transfer Giorgia Civita went over 1,500 career digs.
- Senior Sydney Hilley put up 34 assists to go over 4,500 career helpers.
- Wisconsin hit better than .300 for the 12th time this season.
Up Next
The bracket for the 2020-21 NCAA Championship will be announced on Sunday at 3 p.m. on ESPNU. Wisconsin is looking for its 24th overall and eighth-straight NCAA tournament appearance under head coach Kelly Sheffield. The Badgers are 51-23 all time in the tournament and have finished as the NCAA runners up three times – 2000, 2013 and 2019.
