OCONOMOWOC, Wis. -- Behind a solid defensive performance, the Wisconsin volleyball team opened its spring season by sweeping Marquette at Oconomowoc High School on Friday night. UW dominated MU 25-17, 25-13, 25-14.
The Badgers outblocked the Golden Eagles 12-3 behind a match-high eight blocks by transfer
Carter Booth. UW also had two players record double-figure digs to finish with a 48-33 advantage in saves.
"What you want to see with your team is the things you're working on with your team showing up in the match," head coach
Kelly Sheffield said. "There was a lot of that.
"Marquette can be a real handful just because of how fast they're running their tempo. They can really give you some issues, but I think we gave them some problems. I think we defended hard."
Booth, a 6-foot-7 middle blocker who transferred from Minnesota at semester, teamed with
Devyn Robinson (5 blocks) and
Anna Smrek (4 blocks) to put up a Badger wall at the net. Booth also added seven kills and hit .385 (7 kills - 2 errors - 13 attempts), one of five Badgers to record seven-or-more kills.
"She fits right in; she's a special competitor," said Sheffield on Booth. "She really wants to be great and you could tell she was having a lot of fun. It doesn't matter if it's a spring match or practice or a match in the fall, she just wants to ball out and compete. She just loves competing, so we're really fortunate to have her."
Robinson led all players with 10 kills while
Julia Orzol put away eight attacks. Smrek and
Liz Gregorski both contributed seven kills.
As a team, Wisconsin hit .341 (40-10-88) while holding Marquette to a negative .059 (21-27-102). The Badgers were especially dominant in the second set where they hit .488 (18-1-35) as a team.
In the backcourt,
Gulce Guctekin played two sets at libero, recording a match-high 13 digs. Orzol added 10 saves for the Badger defense while
Izzy Ashburn just missed a double-double with nine digs.
Wisconsin continued to run a 6-2 offense with Ashburn putting up 15 assists and
MJ Hammill adding 12 helpers.
"Early on I don't think we were making a great effort in the backcourt because we were moving because they just run it faster than what we're seeing every day," explained Sheffield. "I think we settled down a little bit and were making strong moves and keeping the ball off the ground.
"We're capable of that with our block and when we have good effort out of the backcourt, which we certainly did. That's a good offense to hold them to that. That's not something that you expect."
Marquette edged the Badgers 7-6 in service aces. Ashburn led the Badgers with two scores.
Up Next
Wisconsin hosts Athletes Unlimited, a professional team featuring former Badger setter Sydney Hilley, on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the UW Field House. Doors open at 6 p.m. and admission is free. The match will be streamed on B1G+.
