DEKALB, Ill. -- Behind the freshman duo of Julia Orzol and Anna Smrek, the second-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team swept Green Bay, 25-17, 25-11, 25-19 on Friday night.

Orzol led all hitters with a career-high 14 kills while Smrek earned her first career start and was perfect in hitting, putting away six kills on six attempts with no errors for a 1.000 hitting percentage.

Graduate student Dana Rettke added 12 kills while hitting .688 (12 kills - 1 error - 16 attempts).

As a team, Wisconsin (7-0)  hit a season's best .437 (45-7-87) while holding Green Bay (5-7) to a .156 (32-17-96) hitting percentage. Sydney Hilley put up 39 assists at setter.

The Badgers outblocked the Phoenix, 6-0, behind five blocks from Rettke, and finished with a 41-28 advantage in digs with Lauren Barnes leading all players with 16 saves.

The first set started off slow with Green Bay leading, 3-1, but the Badger offense picked up the pace and put points on the board. Wisconsin hit .387 in the set, putting away 15 kills in the set. Sydney Hilley and Giorgia Civita both service aces during the set, including one but it was Izzy Ashburn who scored the set-winning service ace.

The Badgers dominated the attack and came out swinging in the second set. As a team, Wisconsin hit .500 (13-1-24) in the set while holding Green Bay to negative .034 (8-9-29).

After back-and-forth points early in the third set, the Phoenix came out strong with a four-point streak to lead 14-11. Wisconsin began its comeback, scoring seven of the next eight points to lead 18-15 behind the service of Anna MacDonald. Green Bay held off one match point at 24-9 but it was a kill from Smrek that sealed the win.

Straight from the court

Head Coach Kelly Sheffield
"I think (Anna Smrek) spent a lot of the match frustrated. If you're going to be frustrated a lot during the match when you hit 1.000 what are you going to do when you hit .500? She just wants to be good and perfect and she's really driven. She's a great player and just going to get better.

"She got stuffed a couple times early but then she sees how she's being defended and starts changing her shots… She sees things so well. She hasn't done much the past few weeks and certainly made her presence known tonight."

"I thought Anna McDonald came in and did a really good job behind the service line. That's something she's been working on. She was not an elite service hitter when she got here but she's in the gym all the time. I'm really proud of her and a lot of hard work has gone into today."

Middle blocker Anna Smrek
"At first I was definitely a little bit jittery, as it was my first college match. I was able to relax though throughout and I know there are some things I need to work on.

"Going into training in the gym you just gotta do everything you can, especially as a freshman too. I have so much ahead of me and so much work too… [Danielle] has been texting me and talking to me before the game. She's very supportive and she's definitely playing with me out there when I think about it. I'm really lucky to have Dan as a teammate."

Notes to Know

• Freshman Julia Orzol recorded or t.ied career highs in four statistical categories against Green Bay. The 6-foot outside hitter recorded a career-high 14 kills on 34 attacks. She also recorded a career-high seven digs and tied her career best with one service ace.
• Freshman Anna Smrek earned her first career start and had a career-high six kills on six attempts for a perfect 1.000 (6-0-6) hitting percentage. The 6-foot-9 middle blocker also tied her career best with one block.
• Grad Lauren Barnes recorded a match-high 16 digs, her fourth-straight match with 10-plus digs.
• The Badgers hit a season-high .437 (45K - 7E - 87TA) while holding their sixth opponent of the season under .200.
• Wisconsin improves to 7-0 on the season, the third time in the last seven years that UW has won at least seven matches to start the season.

Up Next

The Badgers stay in DeKalb one more night for a Saturday match-up against Northern Illinois. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ and first serve takes place at 6 p.m.