FORT WORTH, Texas– After forcing Baylor to a five-set game, the third-ranked Wisconsin Badgers fell to the No. 16 Bears 25-21, 22-25, 24-26, 25-21,12-15 on Saturday.
 
A back-and-forth first set featured 11 ties and four lead changes before Wisconsin scored the last three points of the set, including two via blocks, to take a 1-0 lead.
 
In the second set, the Badgers held a 21-19 edge before Baylor went on a 6-1 run to claim the second set and tie the match.
 
The Bears used another late rally to pull out an extra-point victory in the third set. Wisconsin served for set point at 24-23, but a Baylor kill knotted the score at 24-all. Another Baylor kill and a block gave the home team a 2-1 advantage.
 
In a must-win fourth set, Wisconsin led for most of the match and used a 4-1 run over the last five points to force an extra set.
 
Coming down to a decisive fifth set, Baylor broke an 11-11 tie with two straight points, forcing Wisconsin to take a time out. A kill by redshirt sophomore Sarah Franklin stopped the Bear rally but a kill from Baylor's Lauren Harrison and a UW-hitting error handed the Badgers their first loss of the season.
 
Sophomore transfer Sarah Franklin continued her success as a Badger, putting away a team-high 22 kills.  Sophomore Julia Orzol added 13 kills while junior Devyn Robinson contributed to the offense with nine kills.
 
Franklin also led UW in digs with 10 total. Junior MJ Hammill and freshman Gulce Guctekin also added nine digs each. Senior Izzy Ashburn posted a career-high 28 assists and Hammill followed with 19 helpers at setter.
 
Straight from the court
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield 
 
"We learned a ton lot about our team that will allow for us to get back after it and work on things that we need to get better at."
 
"We couldn't get into a rhythm pretty much the entire match. We had trouble getting into a rhythm behind the service line, we had trouble getting into a rhythm with our offense. We did really good with our assists, especially with the left hands."
 
Notes to Know 

• Wisconsin drops its first match of the season, snapping a 13-match winning streak that dates back to November of 2021.
• Ashburn recorded a career-high 28 assists while tying her career best with two kills. Hammill tied her career bests of one kill and nine digs.
• Freshman Ella Wrobel saw her first action in the Cardinal and White, recording one kill and one block in two sets.
• Franklin recorded a Badger and season-high 23 kills. The outside hitter also picked up her first UW double-double, with 10 digs, bringing her career total to 12 double-doubles.

Up Next

The Badgers travel back to Madison to host the Marquette Golden Eagles on Friday, Sept. 2 at 8 p.m. The match can be heard on WIBA 1310AM and streamed live on Big Ten Network.