The Badgers celebrate after defeating UCLA on Friday, Oct. 17.
0
UCLA UCLA 10-7,4-3 Big Ten
3
Winner Wisconsin Wisc 13-2,6-1 Big Ten
UCLA UCLA
10-7,4-3 Big Ten
0
Final
3
Wisconsin Wisc
13-2,6-1 Big Ten
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
UCLA UCLA 14 20 21 (0)
Wisconsin Wisc 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball | | Maddox Durst

No. 9 Badgers best No. 23 Bruins in three sets

UW’s block, serve excels in sixth conference win

MADISON, Wis. - The No. 9 Wisconsin women's volleyball team secured it's fourth ranked win of the season, this time taking down No. 23 UCLA in straight sets (25-14, 25-20, 25-21). 

The Badgers (13-2, 6-1) came out firing right away, snagging set one in a dominant fashion. It began with the strong serving in the backcourt, led by outside hitter/right side Madison Quest. The freshman went on a 7-0 run from behind the service line to build a 12-4 advantage. 

UW forced nine hitting errors against the Bruins (10-7, 4-3) during the first set, capping off the action with six blocks, led by four from senior Alicia Andrew. The middle blocker went on to lead the Badgers with eight. 

Freshman Addy Horner concluded the action with a setter dump, as she stuffed the stat sheet with four kills on the evening, in addition to 29 assists, eight digs, four blocks and a pair of service aces. 

In set two, the Badgers once again jumped out to an early lead with the help of two separate 4-0 runs. Andrew and outside hitter Mimi Colyer combined on back-to-back blocks to put Wisconsin up 9-4 and force a Bruins' timeout. 

After trading points throughout, UCLA provided a response in the latter half of the set to bring the match within 22-20. UW had an answer though, as the Badgers rattled off three-straight points to win the battle. Middle blocker Carter Booth and Colyer each tallied a kill, followed by Wisconsin's 11th block in the match. 

The back-and-forth affair continued during set three, as UW and UCLA continued to trade points early. The Badgers found some separation with the help of another 4-0 run to separate from the 16-16 tie, which included kills from Andrew, outside hitter Una Vajagic and Horner.

From there, Wisconsin cruised to it's 11th sweep of the season after a service ace from libero Kristen Simon, the Badgers' fourth of the night. 

Colyer once again paced UW on the offensive end, accumulating double-digit kill totals for the 14th time this season, this time turning in 16 on a .324 hitting percentage.

Booth continued to be a staple from the middle for the Badgers, finishing with a swinging percentage of .538 (8 - 1 - 13), hitting .500 or better for the sixth time this year. The senior was 5-of-6 in first transition attacks as well.

UCLA's hitting percentage of .062 (29 -23 - 97) marked the lowest that Wisconsin has forced on a conference opponent all season. 

Straight from the Court
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield (on what went well in tonight's match): "I thought we did a really good job with our serving, of keeping them off balance and then defending, getting our hands and really good space trying to take away their primary shots. Our serve and our block was synchronized and worked together really well."

(On Setter Addy Horner's improvement): "Addy, I thought, did a really good job with her decision-making. Running her offense, making good plays, letting her hitters get up there and hit with range. That's three matches where she has started for us and I think each match she's been better than the previous one. That's what you want to see."

Setter Addy Horner (on continuing to gain experience): "I feel super comfortable. I think the group of people that I'm surrounded by make it super easy to be confident and free when I'm playing out there. They have my back no matter what. There's a ton of knowledge on the bench so I've been learning a ton. And when anyone makes a mistake it's never anger, we always have each other's backs."

Middle Blocker Alicia Andrew (on the Badgers' block): "I think our pin blockers did a really good job setting up on their hitters and then we did a really good job with our hands. Specifically the left inside hand. That was something we were working on this week and we went out and executed the gameplan."

Notes:
  • The Badgers outblocked UCLA 11.0-7.0. This marks the 12th match Wisconsin has outblocked it's opponent and the seventh match reaching a double-digit total.
  • For the 14th time this season, outside hitter Mimi Colyer totaled double-digit kills. Colyer put down a match-high 16 kills while also hitting .324 (16-5-34).
  • In addition to 29 assists, freshman setter Addy Horner set a career-best with four kills on six attacks.
  • For the 10th time this season, freshman libero Kristen Simon tallied double-digit digs. Simon had a match-high 13 digs, and has now reached double-digit digs for six-straight matches.
  • The Badgers improve to 7-3 overall against the Bruins.
Up Next: The Badgers will wrap up their weekend of action with a matchup against No. 25 USC on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 1:00 p.m. CT. The match will be televised on Big Ten Network.
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