MADISON, Wis. – A dominating performance from the service line led the fourth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team to a sweep of Rhode Island in the UW Field House on Sunday afternoon. The Badgers downed the Rams 25-16, 25-10, 25-16 in their final non-conference match of the season.
 
Freshman Gulce Guctekin continued her success as a Badger, tying the school record for most service aces in a three-set match under 25-point rally scoring with six.

Behind Guctekin, Wisconsin (6-2) also tied the team school record for service aces with 12.  Senior Izzy Ashburn and sophomore Julia Orzoł added two apiece while Liz Gregorski and MJ Hammill both added one ace. The Badgers gave up only two service aces to Rhode Island (4-9) in the match.
 
Gucktekin also led the Badgers in the backcourt, recording a match-high 16 digs. Wisconsin finished with a 29-24 advantage in digs and a 4-2 edge in blocks. Danielle Hart led the team with three blocks while Anna Smrek and Devyn Robinson had two each.
 
As a team, UW hit .459 (40 kills - 6 errors - 74 attempts) while holding Rhode Island to a .066 (22-17-76) hitting percentage. Sarah Franklin and Julia Orzol led the Badgers with nine kills apiece while Hart hit .875 with seven kills on eight attempts with no errors. Franklin hit a career-best .750 (9-0-12) as Wisconsin cruised on offense. Eight Wisconsin players had two-or-more kills in the match.

Running the Badger's 6-2 offense was Ashburn, who put up 18 assists, while Hammill added 15 helpers.

Straight from the court

Head Coach Kelly Sheffield
"There was a lot going on this weekend… I liked how we came and were ready to play a volleyball match. That's their job and the responsibility they've got to do. I thought our entire team had some good moments and along the way Gulce (Guctekin) decided to serve a few balls. She's making this serving thing seem pretty easy.
 
"I think we've seen growth in about every area in the past month. One of the things that has all of us excited is how much better we can get. We've got to play cleaner… We've gotten better about every aspect of our game and we have to continue to get back at every aspect."
 
Setter Izzy Ashburn
"I think our team is just ready to work. It's not hard for us to come back from a game like Friday and go through what we need to get better at and accept what we need to get better at and continue to work at those things. Seeing our fans out here today, being loud and cheering for us, it felt like a normal home game where our fan support is everything to us. We were just excited to be back at the Field House."

Notes to know 

• The Badgers had 12 service aces, which ties the Wisconsin single-match record under 25-point rally scoring. UW also had 12 service aces at North Texas on Sept. 9, 2018.
• Wisconsin recorded its highest hitting percentage of the season at .459 (40 kills - 6 errors - 74 attempts).
• Rhode Island hit just .066 (22-17-76), the fourth UW opponent this season to hit less than .100.
• Freshman Gulce Guctekin recorded a career-high six service aces. Her aces ties the UW single-match record under 25-point rally scoring set by Lauren Carlini at Rutgers on Oct. 5, 2016 and tied by Izzy Ashburn at Indiana on Feb. 13, 2021.
• Redshirt sophomore Sarah Franklin upped her career best for hitting percentage to .750, putting away nine kills on 12 attempts with no errors.
• Redshirt junior Liz Gregorski tied her career high with one service ace.
• Freshman Ella Wrobel put away a career best three kills while hitting .400 (3-1-5).

Up next

The Badgers open the Big Ten Conference season next weekend when they host Northwestern at the UW Field House Friday at 7 p.m.  The match can be streamed on Big Ten+ and heard on WIBA 1310AM.

Every year, Wisconsin honors former head coach Steve Lowe at its Big Ten home opener. Lowe led the Badgers to their first Big Ten championship and first NCAA tournament appearance in 1990. UW will recognize the recipient of this season's Steve Lowe Memorial Scholarship, graduate student Danielle Hart, in a pre-match ceremony.