2017 NCAA TOURNAMENT – AMES POD
- December 1-2, 2017
- Round 2
- Ames, Iowa
- Bracket
- Tournament Central
Wisconsin moved past #14 seed Iowa State in straight sets Saturday night to move into the Sweet 16 for the fifth straight season. The win moves the Badgers to the Palo Alto regional where they will face the #3 seed Stanford Cardinal.
WISCONSIN DEF. #14 IOWA STATE, 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-23)
- Wisconsin improves to 22-9; Iowa State ends their season at 22-7
- Attendance: 3470
- Box score
Wisconsin became one of six Big Ten teams to reach the Sweet 16 with a win over #14 seed Iowa State in Hilton Coliseum. Coach Kelly Sheffield credited the freedom with which his players played and their serving keeping constant pressure on the Cyclones.
“I thought we played with courage,” Sheffield said. “We played free. We set the tone with our serving. We served the ball aggressively. We were confident and put pressure on them and it started with our serving.”
Even more evident for the Badgers was the level of play two freshmen in particular brought. Big Ten Freshman of the Year Dana Rettke finished with a match-high 15 kills, hitting .520, and blocked a match-high-tying 4 attacks on the night. Freshman Grace Loberg set her second career high in as many nights, pounding 13 kills. She also hit .303 in the match and added 2 blocks. Freshman setter Sydney Hilley ran a very efficient offense (.317) with 41 assists, while also adding 5 kills, 3 digs and 2 blocks to the effort. Senior outside hitter Kelli Bates had a team-high 17 digs to pace the Badger floor defense.
Iowa State was led offensively by sophomore Grace Lazard with 11 kills, hitting .348 on the evening. In her last match as a Cyclone, Samara West added 10 kills and a match-high-tying 4 blocks. Senior setter Monique Harris ran the offense by dishing out 35 assists. Sophomore libero Hali Hillegas scooped a match-high 18 digs for the Cyclones. Avery Rhodes also added a match-high-tying 4 blocks to go along with her 6 kills.
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