Ashley Steltenpohl

Box Score

Wisconsin Wisc 15-0,6-0 Big Ten

Illinois Illini 7-9,2-4 Big Ten

Wisconsin Wisc

15-0,6-0 Big Ten

Final

Oct. 07, 2023

Illinois Illini

7-9,2-4 Big Ten

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	F
Wisconsin Wisc	25	25	25	(3)
Illinois Illini	22	15	12	(0)

Game Recap: Volleyball | October 07, 2023 | Ellie Culver

No. 1 Wisconsin blocks their way past Illinois

UW still perfect with 21-straight set wins

Next Match:

Rutgers

10/13/2023 | 7 p.m.

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Next Match

Full Schedule

Oct. 13 (Fri) / 7 p.m.

Rutgers

Recap
Roster

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Badger block led the No. 1 Wisconsin volleyball team to yet another sweep, beating Illinois 25-22, 25-15, 25-12 on Saturday night.

UW (15-0, 6-0 B1G) came out on top in set one, 25-22, after an evenly matched first frame. Illinois (7-9, 2-4 B1G) took a three-point lead at 9-6 early, but Wisconsin responded with five unanswered points to take the lead, backed by three kills from the Badgers in that stretch. UW continued to extend their lead, but Illinois dug their way back in, tying it up at 20. Gulce Guctekin iced the first set with an ace

The Badgers picked up steam in the second set, jumping out to an 11-3 lead. Illinois sided out, but UW got it right back. Despite Illinois cutting the deficit to seven (14-7), Wisconsin maintained a steady lead for the remainder of the seat, and took the second set 25-15.

Wisconsin took care of business in the final set, allowing the Illini just 12 points. The Badgers put away 16 kills, with four kills from Smrek. The Badgers took the set, and match, 25-12.

UW had another offensively balanced attack as Sarah Franklin led the way with 11 kills.Anna Smrek was close behind with 10 putaways, five of them coming in the first set. Carter Booth finished with eight kills and CC Crawford recorded seven.

Setters Izzy Ashburn and MJ Hammill both recorded double-doubles as Ashburn tallied 17 assists and 10 digs, while Hammill added 16 helpers and 12 digs.

Gulce Guctekin and Julia Orzol both recorded two aces, and the team recorded six aces total. Once again the Badgers outblocked their opponent 12.0-4.0, as Crawford and Smrek led the team with seven blocks each.

Straight from the court

Head Coach Kelly Sheffield
On the Badger block: "We served a lot better as the match went on. The first two times around, we put a lot of balls on their platforms… They had a lot of options. As the match went on our serving was really good. We drove them, we dropped them, we moved them around and that makes blocking easier."

Senior CC Crawford
Oh returning to where she got injured: "I think there was a little bit of motivation behind it after last year. We played great as a team, we served great which helped on the block, which helped everything else."
On putting on the pressure: "Something we have been really working on, and each set we've been getting better… When they are serving the ball out of system it's easier to tell where the ball is going."

Notes to know

Wisconsin extends its Big Ten winning streak to 24 matches and set winning streak to 21 sets.
The Badgers are 15-0 to start the season, just one win short of the best opening in program history.
Setters Izzy Ashburn and MJ Hammill picked up double-doubles in assists and digs. Ashburn had 17 assists and 10 digs while Hammill added 16 assists and a team-high 12 digs.
UW finished with a 12-4 advantage in blocking over Illinois, the 14th opponent this season the Badgers have outblocked.
The Badgers hit .388, the 11th match this season over .300 and the second-highest team hitting percentage of the year.