MADISON, Wis. – The first-seeded Wisconsin volleyball team secured a 25-15, 25-9, 25-4 sweep over the Quinnipiac Bobcats in the NCAA first round on Friday night to begin the postseason. 
 
Junior Devyn Robinson, Sarah Franklin, and Jade Demps combined for 27 of UW's 37 kills in the match. Robinson led the team with 11 kills followed by Demps and Franklin with eight each.
 
The Badgers (26-3, 19-1 BIG) extended their 19-match win streak with a hitting percentage of .314 (37-10-86) and held Quinnipiac (14-15, 10-8 MAAC) to -.144 (12-25-90).  The Bobcats were led by Aryanah Diaz with four kills for the night.
 
Izzy Ashburn led Wisconsin in assists, recording 16 helpers, while MJ Hammill closely followed with 11. 
 
The Badgers out-blocked the Bobcats 10.0-0, with Caroline Crawford leading everyone with six stuffs. Robinson closely followed with five.
 
UW finished with a plus-10 advantage in digs (45-35) with Gulce Guctekin leading all players with 13 digs. Julia Orzol closely followed with 10 digs, followed by Ashburn with nine.
 
The Badgers dominated the service line with a 7-1 ace advantage over the Bobcats. Hammill led UW with three aces, while Joslyn Boyer, Anna MacDonald, Liz Gregorski, and Franklin each earned one.
 
Straight off the Court
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield 
"We are happy to still be playing. That's the goal. To get better as a match goes on and hopefully the tournament goes on. I thought we got a little bit cleaner as the match went. We got everyone in which is certainly something you don't plan for going in, but it's certainly a bonus. And then when people come in and you have players ready to go and are doing their job. I thought we did a good job with that tonight all the way through."
 
"I thought our serving got better as the match went on. I thought for a good portion of the first set it seemed like Izzy might've been the only one that was really getting good hand contact and putting the ball in good places. But as the match went on, we got a lot better with our serves. That's what you want to see; you want to see people get a little bit more comfortable and confident, getting the flow in the right direction."
 
Devyn Robinson 
"Izzy and GG made it really easy for us by putting the ball where we needed it just by seeing the court."
 
"With fans like that that do things like singing until the ball hits the ground, I am so thankful that we have the opportunity to potentially play 3-4 more games here."
 
Jade Demps
"We went into that match talking about going in and hitting it high… they had some smaller blockers but that doesn't mean we cant keep our standards up."
 
Notes to Know

• The Badgers improve to 61-24 in 26 years of NCAA tournament play, including 23-1 in first-round action.
• UW extends its winning streak to 19 matches.
• All 15 dressed players saw action in the match. Senior Gabby McCaa recorded her first block as a Badger, scoring set point in the second set.
• Wisconsin tied a school record in the third set, allowing Quinnipiac to score only four points in the period. Savannah State scored just four points in the third set on Sept. 14, 2012.
• Tonight's match marked the first time all season the Badgers haven't been blocked.

 
Up next
The Badgers remain in the UW Field House to host Round two of the NCAA tournament to face Texas Christian University on Saturday at 6 p.m.  The match will be streamed on ESPN+ and can be heard on U 100.9.