LINCOLN, Neb. – In a battle for the 2022 Big Ten Conference Championship, the third-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team clinched its fourth-straight Big Ten title with a 3-1 win over No. 6 Nebraska on Friday night. The Badgers also extend their win streak to 17 straight matches.
 
Wisconsin (24-3, 18-1 BIG) hit .235 (57 kills - 21 errors - 153 attempts) while holding Nebraska (24-5, 16-4 BIG) to just .200 (55-24-155) en route to its 25-21, 21-25, 25-21, 25-19 triumph. 
 
Devyn Robinson put away a match-high 16 kills while Sarah Franklin added 12 kills as Wisconsin finished with two more kills than the Huskers. Nebraska was led by Kaitlyn Hord with 13 kills.
 
Izzy Ashburn led the Badgers in assists, putting up 28 helpers followed by MJ Hammill with 18 helpers.
 
UW also dominated Nebraska from the service line 3-1, with Shanel Bramschreiber, Julia Orzoł, and Gulce Guctekin scoring one ace each. 
 
Nebraska and Wisconsin earned the same amount of blocks, going 10.0-10.0. Anna Smrek led the Badgers with five blocks followed by Danielle Hart with four stops.
 
Nebraska finished with a plus-four (66-62) advantage in digs with Guctekin leading the Badgers with 15 saves. Hammill followed with 13 digs for her fifth season double-double.
 
Straight from the Court
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield 
On the match:
"I'm proud of these guys. Our passing as the match went on was so good, and our serving started off well, and then we started to get a little wonky a little bit, but found our groove a little bit as the match went on."
 
On winning the Big Ten title:
"It's so hard to win these things.  We do not take it for granted.  The competition that we have coming into every week and to be able to win in front of this crowd is something that earlier in the year, we wouldn't have been able to do. But being able to see this team grow and come together, it's been great."
 
Notes to know

• Wisconsin captured its fourth-straight Big Ten championship, becoming only the second school to win four-straight conference titles. The Badgers have also won nine Big Ten titles, second-most among all conference schools.
• UW extended its winning streak to 17 matches, which ties for third on the Badger match winning streak record list. 
• Junior MJ Hammill recorded her team-best fifth double-double with 18 assists and 13 digs.
• Wisconsin improved to 10-3 against top-25 foes and have won its last eight matches against top-25 opponents.
• The Badgers have won their last 10 matches against Nebraska.

 
Up next
The Badgers head to Columbus, Ohio to face No. 8 Ohio State on Saturday at 6 p.m. The match, UW's regular-season finale, will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network and can be heard on Fox Sports 1070.