MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin volleyball team continued its spring season in the UW Field House on Wednesday night. The Badgers faced the professional Athletes Unlimited team, falling to AU in a exhibition match, 25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 25-20.
2021 UW graduate and All-American setter Sydney Hilley made her return to the Field House a memorable one as she set the AU team to the win. Hilley put up a match-high 36 assists and added 17 digs to lead her team to victory.
With Hilley at quarterback, Athletes Unlimited hit .164 (54 kills - 26 errors - 171 attempts). Kentucky All-American Leah Edmond led all hitters with 17 kills while Oregon grad Willow Johnson added 15 kills for the AU team.
The professional team also had five players in double-digit digs to finish with an 87-71 advantage in saves. Stanford All-American Morgan Hentz led all players with 21 digs.
As a team, Wisconsin hit .103 (47-29-175) behind double-digits kills from
Julia Orzol (15) and
Carter Booth (10).
In the backcourt,
Gulce Guctekin played two sets at libero and had a team-high 17 digs.
MJ Hammill added 13 saves for the Badger defense while Orzol earned a double-double, adding 11 digs. Hammill added 17 assists to the Badgers' 6-2 offense for her own double-double while
Izzy Ashburn led UW with 21 assists.
Wisconsin dominated behind the service line, dominating Athletes Unlimited 8-2 in service aces.
Sydney Reed,
Liz Gregorski and Hammill each scored on two aces.
The Badgers also edged Athletes Unlimited 16-15 in blocks behind eight stops from
Gabby McCaa. Booth added seven blocks while
Anna Smrek stopped six shots.
Straight from the Court
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield
"In the spring, me personally, I don't really care too much whether we win or lose… I'm less interested in the result than how we play and the things we've been working on in practice, and the things that lead to winning.
"It was really cool having those players in here, and it was cool having Syd (Hilley) back in the building, and doing her thing. A lot of experience on the other side of the net…I thought their experience and some of the things that they were doing will be really good learning things for our players."
Izzy Ashburn
"Really high IQ plays, it's something that we can use to grow from. Just throughout the match, especially in my time out, watching the game from that perspective and just watching how smart some of those girls are. The ways that we can be better, and learning from them is really important and not something that we can shy away from, so I'm excited to dig into that. There's just a lot of talent on that side of the net."
Julia Orzol
"I feel like that maturity and that experience allows them to bounce back right away and you really have to stay consistent with your game to not allow them to create an advantage… I love the opportunity, because we cannot see that everyday, even competing in the Big Ten, that level of experience."
Up next
The Badgers wrap up their spring season on April 16 when they face Purdue at St. John High School in St. John, Indiana. First serve is at 1 p.m. CT.
