MADISON, Wis. – Looking to avenge an early-season loss at Minnesota, the fifth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team needed four sets to even the season series on Saturday night in the UW Field House. The Badgers (17-3, 11-1 B1G) downed the No. 9 Golden Gophers, 25-20, 25-20, 16-25, 25-23.

After winning the first two sets, Wisconsin struggled in the third set, sending the match to a fourth set. Junior Devyn Robinson and redshirt sophomore Sarah Franklin both came out firing in the fourth set, leading the Badgers to the win with six and five kills, respectively.
 
Franklin, Robinson and sophomore Julia Orzol combined for 44 of the Badgers' 58 kills in the match. Franklin led all hitters with 18 kills followed by Robinson and Orzol with 13 kills apiece. 
 
Minnesota (16-4, 8-4 BIG) outhit the Badgers .211 (56-25-147) to .192 (58-24-177). The Golden Gophers were led by Taylor Landfair and Mckenna Wucherer with 15 kills apiece.

Izzy Ashburn led Wisconsin in assists, putting up 30 helpers, while MJ Hammill added 21 assists. 
 
Minnesota out-blocked the Badgers 14--10 with Caroline Crawford and Danielle Hart leading the Badgers with five stuffs apiece.

The Golden Gophers also finished with a plus-10 advantage in digs (69-59) with five Minnesota players in double figures. Wisconsin was led by grad transfer Shanel Bramschreiber, who earned her first career start at libero for UW, with a match-high 19 digs. Orzol added 11 digs for a double-double in the match.
 
The Badgers dominated behind the service line, 7--1 in service aces, with three from Crawford and two from Orzol. 
 
The Badgers jumped out to an 8-4 lead in set one and extended their advantage to five (14-9) behind the play of Hart and Robinson, who each put away a kill and combined on a block. Minnesota would cut the lead to two (16-14) but Wisconsin served for set point at 24-18. The Gophers held off two set points before a Franklin kill put UW up 1-0 in the match.
 
Wisconsin got off to another early lead in set two, going up 9-4. The Gophers rallied to tie the set at 13 and again at 14. UW had a 4-0 run to make it 18-14 and led 22-20 before scoring three straight, including the set-winning block solo by Franklin, to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Gophers broke open the third set, breaking an 8-8 tie with five straight points to lead 13-8. Wisconsin used a 3-0 run to cut the lead to 14-12 but that was as close as it would get as UM won its first set of the match.
 
Thanks to three early blocks, UW took a 10-4 lead in the fourth set. Wisconsin controlled the set until late when the Gophers had a comeback. An Orzol kill gave the Badgers match point at 24-20 but Minnesota held off three match points, cutting the lead to 24-23.Following a long rally, a kill by Hart gave UW the win.

Straight from the court

Head Coach Kelly Sheffield 
"We talk a lot about responding, responding appropriately with strength and togetherness, just like the the second set a couple days ago. We had a really big run against us and we able to close that out and get right back to work. Tonight we did that.
 
"Both teams put so much pressure in different ways on each other. There was a lot of big time plays, and errors by both teams because of the pressure we put on each other."
 
Shanel Bramschreiber
"That was the first full match that I've played in since December and I just thought it was fitting that my last match was here against Minnesota. So I think I was just really excited and just more eager than normal to get back out there and kind of get revenge. It was a redemption game for me.
 
"There's no other place I would rather play at than here with the support system of these fans."
 
Devyn Robinson
"Something we say in our film room after every match is 'who's next'. All we had to do was focus on the next game. That was in the past we did great. We're gonna carry that over. But who's next?"

Notes to know

• Due to a leg injury to freshman Gulce Guctekin, grad transfer Shanel Bramschreiber earned her first start at libero for the Badgers. The 5-foot-8 transfer recorded a match-high 19 digs and added one service ace.
• Junior Caroline Crawford led all players with three service aces, a UW high for the middle blocker.
• Sophomore Julia Orzol picked up her fourth double-double of the season with 13 kills and 11 digs.
• Junior Devyn Robinson took a career-high 32 attack attempts, putting away 13 kills.
• Wisconsin extended its winning streak to 10 matches and its home Big Ten winning streak to 11 matches.
• Minnesota recorded a higher hitting percentage than the Badgers (.211 - .192), just the second time this season an opponent has hit better than Wisconsin. The first time was when UW played at Minnesota.

Up next

The Badgers travel to Champaign, Illinois, to face Illinois on Thursday at 7 p.m. The match airs on the Big Ten Network and can be heard on WIBA 1310AM. Wisconsin returns home on Nov. 6 when it hosts Indiana at 1 p.m. in the UW Field House. The match will be streamed on B1G+ and can be heard on FoxSports 1070.