MADISON, Wis. – A dominating hitting performance led the third-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team to a 25-22, 25-15, 25-18 sweep over Maryland on Saturday night in the UW Field House.
 
As a team, UW (21-3, 15-1 B1G) had its best hitting performance of the Big Ten season at .345 (48-9-113) while holding Maryland (14-14, 5-110 to .218 (42-18-110). 
 
Redshirt sophomore Sarah Franklin, grad Danielle Hart, and sophomore Julia Orzol combined for 30 of UW's 48 kills, each putting away 10 kills on the night. Hart led all hitters with a .667 hitting percentage (10-0-16) followed by Jade Demps at .625 (6-0-9). The Terrapins were led by Sam Csire with 12 kills.
 
Izzy Ashburn led Wisconsin in assists, recording 20 helpers while MJ Hammill added 15 assists. 

Wisconsin outscored the Terrapins 4-0 from the service line behind three aces from Orzol, which ties her career high. Ashburn also added an ace for the Badgers.
 
The Maryland out-blocked Wisconsin 6.5 - 6.0 with Anna Smrek leading the Badgers with four stuffs followed by Hart with two stops.
 
UW finished with a plus-one advantage in digs (45-44) with Gulce Guctekin leading all players with 12 digs followed by Ashburn with eight.

Wisconsin jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first set but Maryland began a long rally that tied the set at 17. The Terrapins won two of three challenges to aid in their comeback. The set stayed tight through 22-22 before UW scored three straight to take the first set.

In the second set, six kills from Orzol keyed a dominating win. The outside hitter had four kills in a 6-0 run that put the Badgers up 15-7.

Orzol also had two kills in a 7-0 run that put UW up 16-10 in the third set. Maryland would cut the Badger lead to three (20-17) but Wisconsin would outscore the Terrapins 5-1 to complete the sweep.

Straight from the Court

Head Coach Kelly Sheffield 
"Every one of those seniors has clearly meant a lot to our program, their time here has varied, but they have all been bought in and they have given a lot and they have a lot more to give.

"We had some people play who aren't part of the regular rotation, that's the strength of the team, is being ready and making plays and I thought everyone who came in did a great job against a team that can give you a lot of stress."
 
Izzy Ashburn
 "We're hard to stop when we are in system and the fact that our passers are able to push the ball up so often, we got four attackers coming at you and you are going to have to make some decisions and that's hard to defend against even if you are one of the top blocking teams."
 
MJ Hammill
 "The thing that we have to trust a lot is our hitters, we are going to put them in the best position and they are going to go up and do their thing.
 
"Every single team is a good blocking team; you just have to trust who is getting the ball at that point."

Notes to Know 

• Freshman Ella Wrobel recorded a career-high 5 kills and was 4-0-4 through the middle of the second set. The 6-foot-4 outside hitter also added a career-high three digs and one block.
• Sophomore Julia Orzol tied her career high with three service aces, including two in the first set.
• Redshirt junior Liz Gregorski tied her career high with one assist.
• Redshirt sophomore Sarah Franklin upped her double-figure kill streak to six matches with 10 kills tonight.
• The Badgers extended their winning streak to 14 matches and its home Big Ten winning streak to 14 matches. Wisconsin is undefeated in the UW Field House this season at 14-0.
• For the second-straight match, Wisconsin did not give up a service ace to its opponent. The Badgers scored on four aces while not getting aced by the Terrapins. UW also did not get aced by Rutgers on Friday night, outscoring the Scarlet Knights 10-0 from the service line.  
• Wisconsin honored its 2022 senior class in post-match ceremonies. The Badgers recognized Shanel Bramschreiber, Liz Gregorski, Danielle Hart and Anna MacDonald. All four seniors played at least one set in the match.

Up next

The Badgers kick off a four-match road swing to wrap up the regular season. Wisconsin heads to Piscataway, New Jersey, to face Rutgers on Friday at 6 p.m. CT from Jersey Mike's Arena. The match will be streamed on B1G+. On Saturday, UW travels to No. 16 Penn State. First serve is at 7 p.m. CT from Rec Hall in University Park, Pennsylvania, live on the Big Ten Network.