MADISON, Wis. -- A school record of 17 blocks in a three-set match, propelled the No. 2 Wisconsin volleyball team to a 25-13, 25-13, 25-12 sweep over Illinois on Saturday night in the UW Field House. 

A kill from Temi Thomas-Ailara on the first point of the match ignited a 6-0 run for the Badgers, to take a commanding lead that Illinois could not overcome. A block from the duo of Carter Booth and Anna Smrek forced an Illinois timeout at 12-4. Illinois was able to cut the deficit back to six, at 17-11. From there UW only allowed two more points and they took the first set, 25-13. 

Set two was an identical outcome to the first, with the Badgers taking the set 25-13, After a kill from Smrek gave Wisconsin a 10-9 lead, Izzy Ashburn went back behind the line, serving nine straight. Devyn Robinson tallied three kills within that run. After an Illinois timeout, they finally sided out to make it 19-10. A few more points later, Julia Orzol ran five serves to finish out the set. Once again, Robinson tallied three kills within that stretch.

UW recorded 14 kills and eight blocks in the final frame, including four kills apiece from Robinson and Sarah Franklin. An 8-0 run from the Badgers finished off the sweep, as MJ Hammill capped it with a service ace on match point, winning 25-12. 

Robinson came alive tonight as she led the team with 13 kills, hitting .684. Franklin, Smrek and Booth all added seven kills as well. Wisconsin hit .398 (40 kills - 7 errors - 83 attempts). 

The Badgers held the Illini to a new opponent low on hitting percentage, as they hit .000 (24 - 24 - 84). Raina Terry led the Fighting Illini with nine kills. 

Izzy Ashburn and MJ Hammill finished with 19 and 10 assists, respectively. Ashburn also had a team-high nine digs. 

Wisconsin shared the love on service aces tonight with Gulce Guctekin, Orzol, Franklin, Ashburn and Hammill all recording an ace. 

The Badgers' 17.0 team blocks set a school record for blocks in a three-set match. Booth led the team with 10 blocks, which ties for second in a three-set match at UW. Comparatively, Illinois totaled just 2.0 team blocks. 
 

Straight from the court 

Head Coach Kelly Sheffield 
On the block: "No. 1, we served well. When you serve well, there's usually a correlation to blocks. We did a really good job at keeping them off balance with our serve, and getting their setters scrambling. Their offensive got a little more predictable because of that. Early on they got a couple of kills on some quick attacks that we were still loading up on. We did better getting up quicker as we went on. The correlation between our serve and our block was pretty good."

On the team's versatility: "Our hopes from the beginning would be that we would have more than two players that can carry the offensive load. We talk about it a lot. We have a lot of players that are capable of going off on any given night, and the key is you got to be ready. You can't be getting in your head or pouting about it if you're not getting as many sets as you want. You got to work hard, you got to be available, you got to be on time, you got to work in transition, cover your attackers, and play a complete game. I thought we did a really good job of covering their attackers, they only got two blocks, but it was because we did a really good job covering. We had a lot of people step in and take the second ball and setting. We've really gotten a lot better in that area."

Middle blocker Carter Booth
On team cohesiveness: "Out there just felt like a lot of unity we were really blocking as a unit, playing defense as a unit, front row and back row. I think that us working together in that made it so seamless out there instead of one person trying to make an adjustment and not communicating it to everyone. Everyone was a part of the defense."

Notes to know 

• With the win, Head Coach Kelly Sheffield ties Pete Waite as Wisconsin's all-time winningest coach (169) in Big Ten Play.
• The Badgers totaled 17 blocks in the match, setting a 3-set school record. The previous record was 16 blocks set twice, most recently vs. Lipscomb in 2017.
• Senior Devyn Robinson hit a season-best at .684 (13-0-19) with a match high 13 kills.
• With 17 blocks, the Badgers now have 11 matches where they tallied double-digit blocks.
• Wisconsin has now hit .300 (40-7-83) or better as a team in 17 matches this season.
• The Badgers held Illinois to a .000 hitting percentage (24-24-84), marking the lowest opponent hitting percentage this season. The Illini also tallied an opponent season low with just two blocks.

 Up Next 

The Badgers kick off a four-match road swing next weekend, traveling to Maryland on Friday night at 6 p.m., broadcasted on B1G+ ($). They will then take on No. 16 Penn State on Saturday night at 7 p.m., on the Big Ten Network