MILWAUKEE -- The No. 1 Wisconsin volleyball team continues their win streak with a four-set win, 28-26, 20-25, 26-24, 25-18, over Marquette at Fiserv Forum on Wednesday night. Tonight's match drew a crowd of 17,037, setting a new NCAA record for highest attended women's sporting event in Wisconsin and largest indoor regular season match.
Wisconsin was led by Anna Smrek and Sarah Franklin as both finished with 15 kills. Sarah Franklin hit 1,000 career kills at 25-24 during the first set. Temi Thomas-Ailara rounded out double figure hitting, with 10 kills. The Badgers hit .244 (60 kills - 19 errors - 168 attempts).
The Badgers held Marquette to under .100, as they hit .092 (46 - 31 - 163) on the night. The Golden Eagles were led by outside Aubrey Hamilton, as she put down 16 kills.
MJ Hammill and Izzy Ashburn put up 25 assists apiece. Ashburn tallied two aces and broke the school record for career aces with 167. The Badgers doubled Marquette in total team blocks with 12.0 on the night.
Libero Julia Orzol set a new career record for digs, with 23. Hammill recorded a double-double with 14 digs to go along with her 25 assists.
The first frame was highlighted with 16 ties and 7 lead changes. Marquette finally found some separation as they took the lead, 21-17. CC Crawford strung together back-to-back kills and brought it within one (22-21). With a kill from Franklin the Badgers had set point at 25-24. Marquette held off two set points, but a block from Carter Booth and Devyn Robinson put the set away, 28-26.
After the comeback from the Badgers, Marquette bounced back and took set two 25-20.
Set three was a similar story to set one, with 10 ties. Wisconsin tallied a match-high19 kills in the third frame. Marquette jumped out to a 23-19 lead late. The Badgers rallied, off of a 5-0 run, to take the set, 26-24.
Wisconsin took control of set four with a 6-0 run, and the Badgers gained a 20-12 lead, Marquette couldn't recover from the deficit, and Wisconsin took the set, 25-18, for the match.
Straight off the court
Kelly Sheffield
"I thought the first half of the match, Marquette had us on our heels with their defensive plays. They were just making some incredible defensive plays. I felt like that our nerves were a little bit strong on our side of the net for the first half of the match and I felt like we were getting outworked in transition.
"We made great charges down the stretch of each of set 1, set 2 and set 3, and won two of those. OUr team did not give up on themselves in those moments. We were playing from behind all three of those first sets. Then I thought our offense got going the latter part of set three and into set four. Our hitters were working harder and Marquette was forcing us to do that.
"To play in front of this kind of crowd and environment was great."
Izzy Ashburn
"We knew there was going to be a lot of people and really wanted to take it in. It was loud in there. It was incredible to look around, especially before the game, taking it all in and seeing the growth of the sport. Even in my five years of playing (at Wisconsin), watching the fan base grow and watching the Field House fill up every single night, coming to an even bigger stadium, still filling it up, it's just incredible event with two teams from the same state."
MJ Hammill on keying the third-set comeback
"I think that just speaks for how we train, a lot of mindfulness a lot of just being prepared for the moment. Those are the moments that you're either ready or not. I think that shows what we work on in the gym. I'm also surrounded by a team that has my back so I know I don't have to be perfect."
Notes to know
- Senior Sarah Franklin picked up her 1,000th career kill at 25-24 in the first set of the match.
- Grad student Izzy Ashburn tied the UW career record for service aces at 7-15 in the second set. She broke the record with the first point in the third set. The original record was held by Margie Kaminski from 1984-87.
- Freshman Saige Damrow made her college debut in the second set, serving at 13-19.
- Senior MJ Hammill recorded a double-double with 25 assists and 14 digs, her fourth of the season. The 25 assists and 14 digs are also a season highs for Hammill.
- Junior Anna Smrek had 15 kills (15-5-28), a new season high.
- The Badgers hit a season low .244 (60-19-168).
- Wisconsin had double-digit blocks (12) for the fourth time this season.
- Senior Sarah Franklin reached double-digit kills (15) for the seventh time.
- Junior Julia Orzol recorded 23 digs, a new season and career high.
Up next
The Badgers hit the road again as they take on No. 3 Florida on Sunday afternoon. The game begins at 2 p.m. CT and will be broadcasted on ESPN.
