MADISON, Wis. – Rallying from a 2-1 deficit in the match, the second-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team could not overcome a feisty Pittsburgh team, falling in five sets in the NCAA Regional final on Saturday night. The No. 6 Panthers (31-3) edged the Badgers, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 19-25, 15-13.

Wisconsin (28-4) won nearly every statistical category, finishing with seven more kills, hitting .266 compared to .217, outblocking the Panthers 12-7, and recording a 92-88 edge in digs. Pitt had an 8-4 advantage in service aces, forcing UW out of its offense with its tough serving.

Five Badgers recorded double-figure kills behind a career-high 21 kills from junior Devyn Robinson. Redshirt sophomore Sarah Franklin added 15 kills while Anna Smrek (13), Danielle Hart (10) and Julia Orzol (10) all recorded double-figure kills. Robinson hit .439 (21-3-41) while Hart hit .435 (10-0-23).
 
Wisconsin hit .266 (74-21-199) and held Pitt to .217 (67-23-203).  The Panthers were led by Courtney Buzzerio with 18 kills while Chiamaka Nwokolo and Valeria Vazquez Gomez added 12 and 11 kills, respectively.
 
The Badgers out-blocked Pitt 12 to 7 with Hart and Caroline Crawford leading all players with six stuffs. Smrek added four blocks.  
 
Izzy Ashburn led Wisconsin in assists, recording 32 helpers, while MJ Hammil followed with 23 and Gulce Guctekin put up a career-high 14 assists. 
 
Guctekin led all players with 24 digs for her second career double-double. Hammill (18 digs), Orzol (12), Ashburn (11) and Franklin (11) also picked up double-doubles in the match.
 
The Panthers also dominated the service line with a 8-4 ace advantage over the Badgers. Ashburn led the team with two perfect serves, followed by Guctekin and Hammil with one apiece.

The two teams split the first two sets with the Badgers coming back from a seven-point deficit to take the first set. Pittsburgh took a 2-1 lead in the match after claiming the third set but Wisconsin sent the match to a fifth set with a decisive win in the fourth period.

In the fifth set, the Badgers trailed by five points (11-6) before scoring six straight to take a 12-11 lead. Grad student Shanelle Bramschreiber served six points and Orzol had four kills to lead Wisconsin over the stretch. Pitt rallied to tie the set at 12 and again at 13 before two straight Panther kills sealed the match.

Straight from the court

Head Coach Kelly Sheffield 
"I think the fans were treated to one heck of a  match -- two teams that just laid it all out on the court. It was as good of a match that you can hope for. Neither team refusing to lay down, give up or quit. Somebody has to win and certainly our team did not lose. All credit to Pitt; the effort that they gave tonight in that arena with that awesome crowd. That's a tough thing they were able to do.

"We came back in the first and won. I think we were down pretty good in the first and we were down pretty good in the fifth. That's the courage these guys play with. That's the guts and the heart that they play with. I thought our team early on was a little bit jittering, which is to be expected. Then I thought we settled in real nice. We had a great comeback in the first and it was both teams just battling."

Danielle Hart
"I'm just so proud of this team. I've been here for six years with four other locker rooms where seniors sit in front of the whole group in tears… those locker rooms never get easier. But they motivate you and drive you through all of the years you end up in the program, whether it's one more or five more.

"Wisconsin volleyball has year after year continued to create magic. The way we go about things, the culture, the people, it's just magical. Every season is magical. They'll continue to do special things and I'm just so proud of this group."

Devyn Robinson
"I'm proud. Obviously it's not the outcome we wanted, Pitt is a very good team, but we went out swinging and we went out with our hearts on the court. I'm just so proud of everything we've done this season."

Notes to know

Individual Notes

• Junior Devyn Robinson recorded a career-high 21 kills while taking a career-high 41 attack attempts.
• Senior Izzy Ashburn recorded two service aces to move into a tie for second on the UW career record list with 158 aces. The setter also earned her sixth career double-double with 32 assists and 11 digs.  
• Junior MJ Hammill picked up her sixth career double-double with 23 assists and a career-high 18 digs.
• Freshman Gulce Guctekin earned her second career double-double with a match-high 24 digs and a career-high 14 assists. It marked her 10th straight match with 10-or-more saves and her fifth match this season with 20-plus digs.
• Redshirt sophomore Sarah Franklin earned her sixth season and 18th career double-double with 15 kills and 11 digs.
• Sophomore Julia Orzol picked up her fifth double-double of the season and 11th of her career with 10 kills and 12 digs.
• Junior Caroline Crawford tied her career high with seven digs.
• Sophomore Anna Smrek took a career-high 35 attack attempts.
• Junior Devyn Robinson and sophomore Anna Smrek were named to the regional all-tournament team.

Team Notes

• Wisconsin wraps up the season with a 28-4 record, advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament for the fifth straight year. The wins rank in the top 10 for most victories in a season. The Badgers are now 63-25 in 26 years of the classic, including a 35-9 record in 10 years under head coach Kelly Sheffield.
• UW snapped its 21-match winning streak, which comes up just one match short of the school record of 22 consecutive wins set during the 2014 season.
• The Badgers finish the year 12-4 against top-25 teams, tying for the third-most wins over ranked foes in a season at Wisconsin.
• Wisconsin outblocked Pittsburgh, 12-7, its 19th match this season with double-figure blocks, including the last seven matches in a row.
• Five Badgers recorded double-doubles in the match, a season high for the team.
• Wisconsin drew 139,701 fans in 18 matches during the season, setting a season record for attendance average at 7,761.