MATCH STATS
- No. 7 Wisconsin def. Louisville 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 26-24)
- Wisconsin moves to 1-0; Louisville drops to 0-1
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Box Score
MADISON, Wis. – The No. 7 Badgers hit at a .320 clip behind 15 kills by freshman middle blocker Dana Rettke in a season-opening sweep of Louisville at the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Friday in front of a crowd of 6,000.
The Badgers bested the Cardinals 42-39 in kills and 8-6 in blocks, while UofL edged UW 39-36 in digs. Both teams managed one ace.
Wisconsin hit at a .464 clip in Set 2, committing just one error in the stanza.
Rettke hit at a .500 clip while posting the match-high 15 kills and adding six blocks. Junior middle Tionna Williams added nine kills, while hitting .467 for the match. Senior outside hitter Kelli Bates chipped in six kills and five digs. First-year setter Sydney Hilley added four kills, three digs and a block to go with 36 assists in her Badger debut. Sophomore libero ME Dodge pulled up a team-best 10 digs.
Marquette transfer Amanda Green put down a team-leading 10 kills for the Carindals. Senior middle Tess Clark (9), sophomore outside Melanie McHenry (8) and junior middle Jasmine Bennett (7) followed. Senior middle Maggie DeJong and Bennett managed a team-best three blocks apiece. Junior libero Molly Sauer tallied a match-best 16 digs.
The Badgers raced out to a 15-5 lead in Set 1 with help from four blocks and six Cardinal errors. Louisville cut the margin to seven at 22-15 on a block by Bennett and Clark. The Cardinals then thwarted two UW set point chances at 24-17 and 24-18, before a kill by Rettke closed out the stanza.
Louisville managed five of the first eight points in Set 2 as Clark downed two kills and the Badgers had two service errors. Down again at 7-6 after a McHenry ace, Wisconsin mounted a 7-1 run, including two kills and a block by Rettke to go ahead 13-8. The Cardinals were within two at 16-14, but Wisconsin pulled away with seven of the next 10 points. Five different players tallied putaways in the rally. A Rettke kill made it 24-18, but a service error denied the first try. A ball handling error put Wisconsin up 2-0.
Wisconsin jumped ahead 14-7 in Set 3 as Rettke tallied two kills and two blocks and Williams chipped in a trio of terminations. Two putaways each by Clark and McHenry and two UW miscues narrowed the gap to one at 16-15. The Cardinals scored five of the next seven points, with three kills and a block by Green, to take a 20-18 lead of their own. The Badgers countered with a 6-2 run to earn its first match-point chance at 24-22. Three Louisville errors and two Rettke kills set up the try. A kill and a block by Bennett kept the Cardinals in the game at 24-all. A hitting error and a kill by Madison Duello capped the night in extra points at 26-24.
Wisconsin returns to action at 8 p.m. ET Saturday against No. 11 North Carolina. Louisville will face another tough test in No. 4 Minnesota at 5 p.m. ET.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Wisconsin Athletics
Freshman middle blocker Dana Rettke shined in her collegiate debut as a Badger, leading the No. 7 Wisconsin volleyball team to a sweep of Louisville, 25-18, 25-19, 26-24, during the first round of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge in the UW Field House on Friday night.
The freshman duo of Rettke and setter Sydney Hilley showed no signs of nerves in their first match in a Badger uniform.
Rettke led all hitters with 15 kills while hitting .500 (15 kills -3 errors -24 attempts). Hilley added 36 assists, four kills, three digs and one block en route to setting the Wisconsin offense to a .320 hitting percentage (42-11-97).
Junior middle blocker Tionna Williams hit .467 (9-2-15) while adding two blocks and two digs, making the Badgers a force to be reckon with in the middle.
The middle blocking duo of Rettke and Williams helped the Badgers outblock the Cardinals 8-6 while holding their hitting percentage to .171 (39-21-105).
Even with three new starters in the lineup, the Badgers opened the match with a dominant first set. Wisconsin got out to 4-0 run, including a kill and solo block by Rettke. Another 6-0 run brought the score to 13-3, ultimately powering the Cardinal and Red to a 25-18 victory.
The second set started as a back and forth battle, but a dump by Hilley brought the score to 17-14 and gave the team the spark they needed to pull away and close out the set 25-19.
After flying out to a 10-3 lead in the third set, Louisville (0-1) clawed their way back into the match, evening the score to 17. Louisville stayed within striking distance until the Badgers went on a 3-0 run to earn match point at 24-22. Louisville extended the set to 24-24 before a hitting error and final kill by Madison Duello sealed the sweep.
Courtesy: Louisville Athletics
Transfer outside hitter Amanda Green had 10 kills and two blocks but the University of Louisville Cardinal volleyball team fell short in a 25-18, 25-19, 26-24 win by No. 7-ranked Wisconsin in Dani Busboom Kelly’s debut as UofL head coach.
The Cardinals hit .171 as a team and had six blocks led by Maggie DeJong’s three. Jasmine Bennett had seven kills, hit .583 with three blocks. Molly Sauer led with 16 digs. Wisconsin was paced by Dana Rettke‘s 15 kills and six blocks. The Badgers hit .320 and had 8 blocks. Both teams recorded nine service errors.
In the first set, the Cards let the Badgers run out to a 10-3 lead early before calling timeout. The Cards couldn’t get closer than seven points and .088 hitting did little for the cause but made up a bit of ground by recording three blocks against the tall Wisconsin squad. The Badgers hit .323 and had four blocks but the Cards did fend off two set points
In the second set, the Cardinals settled into their offense and took the lead at 7-6. The Badgers dug in and reeled off four straight including an ace by Kelli Bates that dribbled off the tape and sparked a Cardinal timeout. Wisconsin took the lead for good at that point but the Cards stayed close, coming within three at 19-16 on a Maggie DeJong slide for a kill. Dana Rettke, the 6-8 middle for the Badgers, had two kills down the stretch to give Wisconsin the 25-19 win in the second and give UW a 2-0 set lead going into the break.
The Cardinals were down seven early in set three at 14-7 after a pair of service errors, but then battled back to within one at 16-15 when defensive specialist Gabbie Wiley’s serving sparked a four point run. The Cards tied at 17 and then took the lead at 19-18 on a block by Maggie DeJong, one of her three on the night. Wisconsin tied at 22 and then moved to match point on two kills by Rettke. Jasmine Bennett scored on a slide and then blocked the Badgers to tie at 24. A Cardinal hitting error and a kill by UW’s Madison Duello tipped the set to the Badgers 26-24.
The Cardinals are back in action tomorrow as they take on No. 4 Minnesota at 5 p.m. UNC, which fell 3-0 to Minnesota, will take on Wisconsin in the nightcap.
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