MADISON, Wis. – After trailing by as many as eight points in the third set, the sixth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team rallied to win the set and come out with a 25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21 win over No. 24 Marquette.  The Badgers' momentum was kindled by an electric Field House after their 2021 NCAA Championship banner drop Friday night.
 
Junior Devyn Robinson stole the show for Wisconsin (2-1), scoring set point in the third period as well as the match-winning point.  Robinson hit a match-high .464 (15 kills - 2 errors - 28 attempts), sharing the team lead in kills with sophomore transfer Sarah Franklin.  Sophomore Julia Orzol added 13 kills to UW offense.

As a team, Wisconsin hit .256 (62 - 20 - 164) while holding Marquette to .212 (54-19-165). The Badgers edged the Golden Eagles on defense, outblocking their intra-state rival 8-6 and finishing with 74-70 advantage in digs.
 
Senior Izzy Ashburn continued her success by tallying a career-best 31 assists with MJ Hammil adding 20 helpers in running the UW 6-2 offense.
 
Junior Caroline Crawford put away a team-high five blocks while Anna Smrek (four blocks) and Robinson (three blocks) contributed to the offense. Freshman Gulce Guctekin and Hammill led the team with 14 digs apiece, both career highs, while Franklin added 11 saves. Both Hammill and Franklin recorded their second-straight double-double.

Wisconsin also got the edge from the service line, finishing with a 6-4 advantage behind two aces from Crawford.
 
The Badgers started the match off strong, winning the first set 25-21. Marquette (2-1) took the second set and led most of the third set, before Wisconsin slowly turned the game around. MU led by eight points early (13-5) and maintained a seven-point lead at 17-10 before UW began its comeback. The 8-1 run tied the set at 18 and the score was tied three more times, including at 21 before two Robinson kills completed the comeback.

Wisconsin jumped out to a 21-12 lead in the third set before Marquette started its own comeback. The Golden Eagles cut the lead to 23-21 before two straight Robinson kills put the match away.

Straight from the court 

Head Coach Kelly Sheffield
"Obviously that third set was quite a comeback and I thought we kicked it into another gear to come back. Our backs were really against the wall in that third set. I thought we showed a lot of heart and I thought Marquette showed a lot of heart again in the fourth set when we jumped out to a big lead and they started making some plays. Both teams were battling, fighting, and scrapping."
 
"Dev (Robinson) really showed her talent. She's bouncing back and forth between the middle and the right side. She's hitting quicks, first tempo, second tempo, and third tempo. There's just not many players in the country that are able to do that and she doesn't complain about things. It's fun to be able to leverage her talent."
 
Junior Devyn Robinson on the NCAA banner drop:
"The ceremony was just amazing. It brought back all the memories from the national championship but as soon as we got back to the locker room, it was game time and time to lock in."

Senior Izzy Ashburn on the third set:
"We might be down but we're never out of a set, we're never out of a game. We showed that out there tonight."

Notes to know

• Junior MJ Hammill recorded her second-straight double-double with 20 assists and a career-high 14 digs.
• Redshirt sophomore Sarah Franklin also picked up her second-straight double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs.  
• Senior Izzy Ashburn recorded a career-high 31 assists.
• Freshman Gulce Guctekin upped her career best to 14 digs.
• Junior Devyn Robinson tied her career high with three digs. She also tied her career high best of 28 attack attempts.
• Junior Caroline Crawford tied career highs of three assists and seven digs.

Up Next

The Badgers stay in Madison to host High Point on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the UW Field House. The match can be heard on WIBA 1310AM and streamed live on Big Ten+.