No. 11 Badgers down No. 22 Minnesota in four sets

Wednesday, November 5

Madison, WI

7 PM

Wisconsin Badgers

17-4,10-3Big Ten

Minnesota

17-7,7-6Big Ten

Minnesota

Wisconsin

No. 11 Badgers down No. 22 Minnesota in four sets

November 05, 2025 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Post-Match Presser

UW defeats rival in 10th conference win

By: Maddox Durst

MADISON, Wis. - The No. 11 Wisconsin volleyball team took the first edition of the 2025 Border Battle, defeating No. 22 Minnesota in four sets (25-20, 25-22, 18-25, 25-16) to notch their 10th conference win of the year.

The match started out with a back-and-forth affair, as the Badgers' (17-4, 10-3) block began to find its rhythm, highlighted by a solo block turned in by outside hitter Una Vajagic.

After the Golden Gophers (17-7, 7-6) tied the match at 14-14, outside hitters Grace Egan and Mimi Colyer each tallied a kill to expand UW's advantage to 17-14. Wisconsin strung together two more 3-0 runs to close out set two, earning four blocks throughout the first set to put away Minnesota, 25-20.

The Badgers maintained the momentum in set two, this time utilizing a 4-0 run behind the service of freshman Addy Horner. The setter kept the Golden Gophers off balance throughout the majority of the match, finishing with a career-best four service aces. Horner's first of the night came at the conclusion of Wisconsin's 4-0 run, expanding the lead to 19-15.

Minnesota provided a quick answer to bring it within 21-20. Middle blocker Alicia Andrew took advantage of an overpass to earn a kill, followed by a block with the assist of outside hitter Madison Quest to get to match point. A service error allowed the Badgers to take a 2-0 lead heading into the third set.

The Golden Gophers came out firing in set three, winning six of seven rallies early to build an 11-6 cushion. From there, Minnesota and Wisconsin continued to trade points, as the Golden Gophers forced a fourth set at the UW Field House.

After a slow start in set four, UW accumulated a pair of 4-0 runs, as Vajagic and Colyer excelled on the offensive end to power the Badgers to a victory.

Wisconsin went on to rack up three service aces toward the latter half of the match to close it out, including Colyer's to secure the win in the final point. The Badgers finished with seven on the evening, tying for the second-most turned in throughout the first 13 conference matches.

Colyer enjoyed another strong showing, concluding the match with a team-high 21 kills on 46 attempts. The senior has notched 20 kills or more in six matches this season.

Vajagic was the second Badger with double-digit kill totals, ending the match with 11 to complement her seven digs.

Defensively, libero Kristen Simon continued to shine, as the freshman racked up 16 digs versus Minnesota—tying her second-highest total on the year and her 12th consecutive match with double-digit digs.

The middle blockers for UW provided an efficient performance, as Andrew and Booth combined to hit .579 (11 - 0 - 19), while each finishing with three blocks.

Horner rounded out the top performers for the Badgers, as the Wheaton, Illinois, native paced the offense with 41 assists and a pair of kills.

Straight from the Court
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield (On the performance of outside hitter Mimi Colyer): "She's one of the top players in the country. When you have somebody like that who can take a lot of swings when we're scrambling, that's what an elite outside hitter does. When you're scrambling and the defense is set up, can they still score. The other thing she was doing a good job with tonight is, we're finding her a little bit more in the back row."

(On the team's serve tonight): "We were pretty balanced in our scoring, all six rotations throughout the match. It wasn't just one or two servers that were going back. That's pretty equal across the board from how many attempts we had. When we're applying pressure for six rotations behind the service line, that can be really tough. We started bearing our plains quite a bit in the fourth set and moving the ball around a lot. Our servers were hitting their spots, and when they're doing that, then you know you've got some servers that are confident behind the service line."

Middle Blocker Carter Booth (on setter Addy Horner's serve tonight): "Any scoring of points, especially in that way — she had one where the court kind of just really opened up and the ball dropped uncontested. I think exactly that, it helps build that momentum to finish strong and close it out really well."

Libero Kristen Simon (On serve-receive): "They're really aggressive behind the service line, really attacking the space between the passers. We had an emphasis on making strong moves and early calls, and we just kept sticking our passes and working around that. Obviously, they're going to get good serves, but just keep fighting behind the passing line."

Notes:

For just the third time this season an opponent has reached double-digit blocks against the Badgers. Minnesota totaled 11.0 blocks to Wisconsin's 8.0
Freshman libero Kristen Simon collected, yet again double-digit digs with 16. This is the 12th-straight match where Simon has totaled 10 or more digs.
With 21 kills, outside hitter Mimi Colyer has now totaled six matches this season with 20+ kills. She has reached double-digit kills in every match but one this season.
Senior Carter Booth hit a perfect 1.000 on the night (6-0-11), marking her sixth match this season where she was errorless.
Outside hitter Una Vajagic tallied 11 kills, the ninth match this season with 10 or more kills.
Setter Addy Horner added four aces to her stat line against the Golden Gophers, a new career-high.
Wisconsin improves to 40-54 all-time against Minnesota, and 27-19 when playing at the UW Field House.
With the win, Wisconsin takes down its fifth ranked opponent this season.

Up Next: The Badgers will wrap up their homestand with another top-25 battle, as they will take on No. 18 Indiana at the UW Field House on Sunday, Nov. 9. First serve is set for 1:00 p.m. CT and the match will be streamed on B1G+.