Match Results
- #14 Wisconsin def. #4 Nebraska 3-1, (25-16, 25-15, 17-25, 25-23)
- Wisconsin improves to 12-4, 3-4 Big Ten, Nebraska falls to 13-4, 6-1 Big Ten
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Attendance: 6,012
- Match Stats
Wisconsin was out for revenge in their second match against the Nebraska Huskers in the past two weeks, as they were downed on September 30 in a tough five-setter. They saught the revenge by downing the Huskers in four sets with four players in double-digit kills.
The first set started off a fairly close set as the Badgers led by one or two points up until they start forging runs on the Huskers. With the score at 7-6 Wisconsin, the Badgers stepped ahead with kills from Lauren Gillis and Madison Duello. They continued to spread out the offense to Dana Rettke, Tionna Williams and Kelli Bates to keep the Huskers off their game. Wisconsin took a 16-12 lead over Nebraska, before rattling off another four to make it 20-12. The Huskers tried to make a comeback but were unsuccessful as Gillis slammed down a kill to end the first set 25-16.
The second set’s start was another story, the Badgers continued their strong momentum, going on a 9-1 run that included four errors from the Huskers. A kill from Jazz Sweet ended the Wisconsin run but they easily took it back with a Duello/Rettke block. The Huskers chipped away throughout the remainder of the set but were unable to match the early run of Wisconsin, dropping the second after two Nebraska attacking errors at 25-15.
Nebraska kept fighting in the third, with the score tied eight times before the Huskers pulled ahead to 14-11 on kills from Briana Holman and Mikaela Foecke. This lead was enough for Nebraska to take charge in the third set, as they took the third set 25-17, forcing a fourth.
The final set finally saw the Huskers wake up in the match, fighting to come back from their sluggish start, but the Badgers were too strong. Nebraska held a small lead over Wisconsin early on at 8-6 but kills from Williams and Gillis tied things up before taking the lead off another Williams kill. The ties continued to occur throughout the set with the final one coming at 23-23. Kills from Rettke and Duello ended the match at 25-23.
Duello led the Badgers with 13 kills and five blocks while Rettke added another 12 kills on a .500 hitting percentage and eight blocks. Also contributing double-digit kills were Gillis with 11 and Williams with 10. Setter Sydney Hilley posted a double-double with 40 assists and 13 digs along with three blocks while Bates picked up 11 digs. Tiffany Clark picked up a match-best 16 digs.
For the Huskers, Sweet put down a team-best 11 kills while Foecke and Holman each added another nine. Foecke picked up 11 digs while Kenzie Maloney added another 11 in the losing effort. Setter Kelly Hunter posted her fifth straight double-double with 35 assists and 10 digs.
Press Release
Courtesy of Wisconsin Athletics
The 11th-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team gave the UW Field House a lot to cheer about Wednesday night, defeating No. 4 Nebraska 25-16, 25-15, 17-25, 25-23.
Sophomore Madison Duello was the hero of the night, leading the team with 13 kills including the match-clinching bomb. Three other Badgers added double-digit kills as Dana Rettke (12), Lauryn Gillis (11) and Tionna Williams (10) added to the UW attack.
Setter Sydney Hilley guided the Wisconsin (12-4 overall, 3-4 Big Ten) offense to a .296 (51 kills – 14 errors – 125 attempts) hitting percentage. The freshman earned her fourth-straight double-double with 40 assists and 13 digs. Nebraska (13-4, 6-1) hit .163 (46-24-135).
Sophomore Tiffany Clark had a match-high 16 digs to pace the UW defense. Wisconsin topped Nebraska in the backcourt, earning 58 digs to their 52.
The Badgers also earned the advantage at the net, out blocking the Huskers 13-8. Rettke led the charge with a match-high eight blocks and Duello added five.
Notable
- Junior Tiffany Clark led all players with 16 digs, marking her sixth straight match with 10-plus saves.
- Freshman Sydney Hilley earned her fourth straight double-double and her fifth of the season with 40 assists and 13 digs. The 6-0 setter picked up her first career block solo.
- Freshman Dana Rettke finished with a match-high eight blocks, just one off her career high of nine blocks.
- Wisconsin outblocked Nebraska 13-8, marking the 13th match this season it has outblocked its opponent and the 11th match with 10-or-more stops.
- The win snapped a three-match losing streak for the Badgers. It was also the first win over the Huskers since the 2014 season.
- The victory over No. 4 Nebraska was the highest-ranked opponent that Wisconsin has defeated since downing No. 2 Texas on Sept. 18, 2016. It is also the third ranked foe UW had downed this season.
- The Badgers won the match with balanced offense and defense. Wissconsin had four players record 10-or-more kills – Duello (13), Rettke (12), Gillis (11), and Williams (10). Three players also had double-figure digs – Clark (16), Hilley (13), and Bates (11).
Quotable
“That was a good win. You get into some of those close matches, and you’re able to build from that. Just believe. We can get a close one here against a top team in conference, and to come away with a win just by playing our game. I’ve said it before—this team is good enough.
“There were probably a lot of people watching that on TV probably had us losing (the fourth set) and losing the fifth. I thought, to come back there in the fourth, making winning plays—just playing steady, just doing your job, putting a good serve in, passing, playing some defense—I just thought we were steady there at the end of the fourth.”
– Head coach Kelly Sheffield
“I think the past couple games, I’ve been very quiet and very cautious. I didn’t want to make errors, I didn’t want to let my teammates down so I was very tentative.
“This game, it was time that I needed to step up. I wasn’t scared of the block, I wasn’t scared of making an error. I just went out there and hit the shots I was given and tried my best.”
– Redshirt sophomore Madison Duello
It was over when
Wisconsin was up two sets to one going into the fourth frame. After trading points for the majority of the set, the Badgers found themselves down by two (20-18) late in the game. Dana Rettke‘s attack was called out but a UW challenge determined there was a Husker touch on the play. A Badger block by Rettke and Lauryn Gillis evened the score at 20 and forced a Nebraska timeout.
UW went on a 3-0 run behind two kills from Madison Duello and a kill from Rettke to take a 23-21 lead. Nebraska countered with two kills from Jazz Sweet to tie the score at 23-23, the 14th tie of the set. After a UW timeout, Rettke and Duello hit back-to-back kills giving the Badgers a much-needed win over No. 4 Nebraska.
Up next
The Badgers will be back in action at the UW Field House on Friday night for a match against Indiana at 7 p.m.
Press Release
Courtesy of Nebraska Athletics
The fourth-ranked Nebraska volleyball team fell for the first time in Big Ten play as No. 11 Wisconsin topped the Huskers 3-1 (25-16, 25-15, 17-25, 25-23) on Wednesday night in front of a crowd of 6,012 at the UW Field House.
The Huskers (13-4, 6-1 Big Ten) had their seven-match win streak snapped by the Badgers, who broke out of a three-match skid to improve to 12-4 overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten. Wisconsin outhit the Huskers .296 to .163 and had a 13-8 advantage in blocks.
Jazz Sweet had 11 kills to lead the Huskers. Briana Holman had nine kills and three blocks, and Mikaela Foecke added nine kills and 11 digs. Annika Albrecht finished with eight kills and nine digs.
Kelly Hunter had 35 assists and 10 digs for her fifth-straight double-double. Kenzie Maloney had 11 digs, and Lauren Stivrins had a team-high four blocks to go with five kills.
Wisconsin was led by Madison Duello’s 13 kills. Dana Rettke had 12 kills and eight blocks.
Set 1: The Huskers played the first set from behind after falling down 4-1. With the help of four early Wisconsin service errors, NU got within one on five occasions but couldn’t tie the score. The Badgers pulled ahead 13-8 after a 5-1 run with all five points via kills. Foecke and Albrecht hammered consecutive kills to cut it to 14-11, but Wisconsin went on a 6-1 run to go up 20-12. The Badgers finished the 25-16 win with a .382 hitting percentage, while the Huskers were held to .000 hitting and were blocked five times.
Set 2: Wisconsin took control immediately with a 9-1 spurt to open the set. Nebraska would get within six at 16-10 but could get no closer as Wisconsin went up 2-0 in the match after a 25-15 victory. The Badgers limited NU to -.094 hitting in the frame and had five blocks.
Set 3: Nebraska took its first lead of the match after an ace by Foecke made it 5-4. The Badgers reclaimed a 9-7 lead with a 4-1 run, but Albrecht tallied a kill and an ace to even the set at 9-9. With NU down 11-10, Holman took over with two kills and a solo block on three straight rallies. Wisconsin then committed an attacking error for a 14-11 Husker lead. Stivrins tipped a kill to the floor, Sweet tooled the block, and Albrecht and Stivrins posted a stuff block for a 19-13 advantage as the Huskers picked up steam. After Wisconsin cut it to 20-16, Hunter dumped a kill, and a Stivrins kill followed by a pair of Badger hitting errors had the Huskers up 24-17. NU clinched the set on a stuff block by Foecke and Holman. Nebraska was much sharper in set three, hitting .368 to just .121 for the Badgers. The Huskers had 18 kills after totaling 14 in the first two sets combined. The Huskers outblocked the Badgers 3-1.
Set 4: Wisconsin committed two service errors and Albrecht and Foecke had kills as the Huskers went up 5-3 early. Wisconsin came back to take a 9-8 lead after a 3-0 run, but another dump by Hunter and a solo block by the captain made it 10-9 Huskers. Wisconsin led 16-14 when Sweet tallied her ninth kill, and Foecke terminated to tie the set at 16-16. A block by Stivrins and Albrecht gave the Huskers a 17-16 edge to cap the 3-0 run. After Wisconsin tied it 17-17, Albrecht posted a kill and Foecke and Stivrins combined for a block and a 19-17 lead. The Badgers tied the set at 20-20 after a kill and block by Rettke, and the Huskers spent a timeout. Another kill by Rettke put the Badgers up 22-21, and Duello followed for a 23-21 Badger advantage. Sweet sparked the Huskers out of a timeout with back-to-back kills to tie the set at 23-23. But Rettke earned match point for the Badgers, and Duello got a kill to finish the match, 25-23.
Up Next: Nebraska will look to rebound at No. 16 Purdue on Saturday at 6 p.m. (CT).
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