MADISON, Wis. – In a rematch of the 2021 NCAA Championship match and a top-five matchup, the fifth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team swept No. 1 Nebraska, 25-23, 25-23, 25-18, Wednesday night in the UW Field House.
 
Wisconsin (16-3, 10-1 BIG) hit .207 (44 kills - 19 errors - 121 attempts) while holding Nebraska (18-2, 10-1 BIG) to its fourth-lowest hitting percentage of the season at .162 (37-18-117).

Sarah Franklin put away a match-high 21 kills while Devyn Robinson added nine kills as Wisconsin finished with seven more kills than the Huskers. Franklin also hit an impressive .381 (21-5-42) to lead UW. Nebraska was led by Bekka Allick with 13 kills.
 
Izzy Ashburn led the Badgers in assists, putting up 25 helpers.
 
UW also dominated Nebraska from the service line, scoring six aces behind a team-high three aces from Ashburn. The Badgers were aced just once by Nebraska.
 
Nebraska outblocked Wisconsin, 9.5 - 9.0, but Danielle Hart led all players with nine blocks while Robinson followed with six stops.
 
Wisconsin finished with a 52-46 advantage in digs with Orzol leading the Badgers with 11 saves. Ashburn followed with 10 saves for her second career double-double.
 
Nebraska got off to a hot start in set one, jumping out to a 5-1 lead. The Badgers rallied, using a 4-0 run to take a 12-10 lead. Wisconsin led the rest of the set the with Huskers cutting the score to 21-20. UW served for set point at 24-21 before two Badger errors cut the lead made it 24-23. A Franklin kill sealed the deal for Wisconsin.
 
Wisconsin controlled the second set, leading by as many as 10 (22-12) before the Huskers went on an 8-0 run to make it 22-20. A kill by Jade Demps stopped the run but Nebraska wasn't done, tying the set at 23. Hart and Orzol combined for a block to give the Badgers set point before Hart and Robinson teamed up for the set-winning stop.
 
The third set was tied six times early, including at 8-8 before a 6-0 run put UW up 16-9. Nebraska would cut the lead to six (21-15) before Wisconsin served for match point at 24-17. The Huskers held off one match point before a kill from Hart completed the sweep.   

Straight from the Court

Head Coach Kelly Sheffield
"That was a good team effort. Tonight going into it, we talked about balancing aggression and patience, and I thought we did a really really good job of that. I thought we defended well in transition and turned the digs into points. And that was a lot of blocks that Dan [Hart] came up with and an awful lot of kills that [Sarah Franklin] had tonight. It was a good team win.

"It got a little dicey there in the second set which is fine. Those are things you end up growing from. When a team is charging and we are able to close that out and get back to work in the third set. If you want to be an elite team, you have to be able to do that. You have to be able to withstand a charge and then get back to work in the next and I think that took a lot of maturity.
 
"We respect that team on the other side of the net so much and their talent, experience and preparation. You have to be on top of your game when you go up against them. I thought it was a good match but that is the awesome thing about this. We just played the No. 1 team in the country and in three days we get to play a team that just swept us a few weeks ago. How awesome is that? I am so jealous of what these guys get to do day in and day out, it's gotta be awesome. The crowd was incredible tonight and that was the first match of the second half of the Big Ten. We get right back to work."
 
Sarah Franklin
"This is what I came here for, I couldn't stop smiling the whole game. This is what I want to do and it's just so awesome that when I'm in the game, sometime I don't even realize how well we're doing. It's fun to be on the court with all of these girls… I'm just super grateful for everything that we got here.
 
"I know Nebraska and Wisconsin are the top programs and I knew it was going to be a battle, and that's what I want. I just loved it from the start."
 
Danielle Hart
 "I think it's full team effort. It's people like Sarah going up and working smart shots and not trying to put the ball in the ground because they want to, but putting it in smart scenarios that make it really easy to defend out of. For blockers, our hitters were putting us in great scenarios that were making it really easy to read and get dynamic block moves up. And then we make the back row's job easier. It's a full team effort of working together and making sure that you're seeing the court really well and knowing what they're giving you and making those adjustments throughout the match"

Notes to know

• Wisconsin wins its ninth-straight match over Nebraska.
• UW has defeated the No. 1-ranked team in the country the last three times it has faced the top team. Wisconsin downed No. 1 Louisville in the 2021 NCAA National Semifinals and No. 1 Baylor in the 2019 NCAA National Semifinals. 
• The Badgers held the Huskers to their fourth-lowest hitting percentage of the season (.162) while recording the second-highest hitting percentage against Nebraska (.207).
• UW snapped an 11-match winning streak by the Huskers and the Badgers up their winning streak to nine matches. Wisconsin has also won 10-straight home Big Ten matches.
• Redshirt sophomore Sarah Franklin recorded a match-high 21 kills, which ranks second on the UW three-set match-record list.
• Senior Izzy Ashburn recorded her second career double-double with 25 assists and 10 digs.
• Grad Danielle Hart led all blockers with a season-high nine blocks.

Up next

The Badgers remain In Madison, facing No.9 Minnesota in a Border Battle on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in the UW Field House. The match will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network and can be heard on Fox Sports 1070.