Match Info
- #19 Wisconsin at Northwestern
- Evanston, Illinois
- Wisconsin improves to 19-8 (10-8); Northwestern falls to 14-16 (4-14)
- Attendance: 1524
- Box Score
Freshman Dana Rettke collected a match high 10 blocks to go along with 13 kills as the #19 ranked Wisconsin Badgers rolled to a straight set sweep over the visiting Northwestern Wildcats in Evanston. Set scores were 25-20, 25-18, 25-17. Lauryn Gillis tallied 12 kills while Sydney Hilley had 32 assists and five digs. Tiffany Clark led the defense with 16 digs.
The Badgers 19-8 (10-8) dominated the stat sheet, leading the match in hitting percentage .344 to .119, kills 45-31, blocks 12-7, assists 41-28, and digs 41-29. The Wildcats 14-16 (4-14) led the match in aces 3-2. Wisconsin closes out the regular season by hosting Penn State and Rutgers on November 24th and 25th.
Taylor Tashima led the Wildcats with 23 assists and eight digs, while Symone Abbott chipped in nine kills and four blocks. Northwestern finishes their season by facing Nebraska at home on November 22nd then traveling to face Maryland on November 24th.
Press Release:
Courtesy of Northwestern Athletics
EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern Volleyball honored its three senior players on Sunday at historic Beardsley Gymnasium in Evanston Township High School.
On Senior Day, Taylor Tashima, Symone Abbott, and Gabrielle Hazen all added to their already-impressive career numbers by each turning solid performances against No. 12 Wisconsin.
Tashima finished the match with 23 assists, bringing her career total to 4,152 which is the fourth most in program history. Earlier this season, Tashima became just the 47th player in Big Ten history to eclipse the 4,000 career assist mark. The senior setter also finished the match tied for a team-high eight digs, falling just short of her ninth double-double of the season.
Abbott finished the match with a team-high nine kills for a .368 clip, bringing her career total to 1,594. Abbott is currently in fourth place in Northwestern history with career kills and needs just 24 kills to pass Erika Lange for third place. Heading into today, Abbott led all Big Ten players with an average of 4.14 kills per set this season, which will be the sixth highest single-season mark in program history if she can maintain it over the Wildcats’ final two matches.
Hazen registered six kills on 11 attempts for a team-high .455 hitting percentage in the match. Today’s performance adds to Hazen’s already historically efficient season. She now has a hitting percentage of .335 on the season, which will be the sixth highest in a single-season if she can maintain that clip over the Wildcats’ final two matches.
No. 12 Wisconsin (19-8, 10-8 in Big Ten) went on to win with the match in straight-sets.
After falling behind early, the ‘Cats came thundering back on a 10-2 run to take a 19-18 lead in the first set. However, a late run by Wisconsin helped the Badgers win the set, 25-20, to take a 1-0 advantage in the match. Abbott led the attack for Northwestern, finishing the set with five kills for a .714 percentage, while Tashima led all players with nine assists.
Both teams went back and forth in the second set, with the lead changing four times. Four Wildcats registered multiple kills and first-year Lexi Pitsas totaled two service aces during the set, however the Badgers took the set 25-18 to go up 2-0 in the match.
Wisconsin closed out the match with a 25-17 victory in the third set. Five Wildcats finished with multiple kills, however Northwestern was stifled by Wisconsin’s .424 hitting percentage in the set.
Chicago’s Big Ten Team will be back in action on Wednesday, Nov. 22 when they host No. 5 Nebraska for its final home match of the season at 7 p.m.
Press Release:
Courtesy of Wisconsin Athletics
EVANSTON, Ill. – The Badgers may have been on the road, but a healthy contingent of Wisconsin fans helped the 12th-ranked volleyball team beat Northwestern in Beardsley Gymnasium Sunday afternoon. The Cardinal and White swept the Wildcats 25-20, 25-18, 25-17.
The Wisconsin (19-8 overall, 10-8 Big Ten) offense was dominant, hitting .344 (45 kills – 12 errors – 96 attempts) for the match. A stingy UW defense held Northwestern (14-16, 4-14) to a hitting percentage of .119 (31-19-101).
Freshman Dana Rettke earned the first double-double of her career, accumulating a match-high 13 kills and 10 blocks. Senior Lauryn Gillis notched an additional 12 kills to help overpower the Wildcats.
Wisconsin’s backcourt collected 41 digs to Northwestern’s 29. Sophomore Tiffany Clark led all players with 16 saves.
At the net, Rettke’s 10 blocks helped UW out block NU, 12-7.
Notable
- Freshman Dana Rettke recorded her first career double-double with 13 kills and a career-high 10 blocks.
- Wisconsin outblocked the Wildcats 12-7, its 19th opponent it has outblocked this season.
- Badgers held Northwestern to .119 (31-19-101) hitting percentage, their 11th opponent under .200.
Quotable
“We needed to be tough. This is a team that goes back there and their serves are pretty gnarly; they go back there and let it rip. They didn’t give us a lot of points behind the service line. They kept a lot of them in play. This is a team that gets a lot of one-option passes. Their setter does a really good job of putting up a nice out-of-system ball. Their (left-side hitters) really get big swings out of system. I thought our backcourt battled really well. I thought Syd (Hilley) did a really nice job.
“Both of them (Kelli Bates and Lauryn Gillis) were good. We went to them early and often, then Syd started going quick and behind later on in the match. Both those guys did a really nice job. When there were openings, they were going up, accelerating and getting good swings. If not they were putting balls in good areas and living to see another day.”
-Head Coach Kelly Sheffield
“It was really important just to go out and keep building up our seed for the NCAA tournament. That was our goal for this weekend and I think we did that.
-Middle blocker Dana Rettke
It was over when
In the first set, UW trailed 20-18 before a Northwestern service error gave the Badgers the ball. With Tiffany Clark behind the service line, Wisconsin went on a 7-0 run to secure the first set.
The second set had a similar flavor to it. Trailing 16-15, the Badgers keyed a 10-2 scoring run to claim the second set. The run was highlighted by an incredible defensive and offensive play. Senior Kelli Bates lunged after the ball and got a fist on it, popping it over to Dana Rettke. With her back to the net, Rettke swung at the ball and managed to spike it to the ground in front of a Northwestern defender.
Up next
The Badgers conclude Big Ten Conference play next weekend, hosting No. 1 Penn State on Friday at 7 p.m. and Rutgers on Saturday night at 7 p.m. Both matches are in the UW Field House.
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