The Wisconsin volleyball team wrapped up its spring season with a perfect 4-0 record after downing Iowa State 25-22, 25-27, 25-22 on Friday night at West Delaware High School.
“We’re better now than what we were when we started spring. That’s what you want,” UW head coach Kelly Sheffield said. “I think (Sydney Hilley‘s) connection got stronger with our hitters as we went through the spring. She’s obviously trying to put the ball to Dana (Rettke) quite a bit.”
That connection paid off Friday night as Rettke, who had to play in the front row all six rotations since the Badgers had only one middle blocker, finished with 21 kills and nine blocks.
“Most middles dream of getting in the back row for six rotations,” added Sheffield. “Some middles would consider them always being in the front row and having to work that hard in transition, especially against a good defensive team, would be a middle’s nightmare. I would anticipate that she probably really enjoyed that. She’s learning to work and that’s the biggest thing.”
Wisconsin hit .278 (39 kills – 14 errors – 90 attempts) while holding the Cyclones to .226 percent (39-20-84).
Lauryn Gillis, Madison Duello and Mariah Whalen all added six kills to the UW offense. Freshman Sydney Hilley added two kills and four blocks while tallying the Badgers only two service aces of the match.
The Badgers outblocked Iowa State 10-8 and finished with a 38-37 edge in digs. Senior-to-be Kelli Bates led UW with nine saves.
“It’s a work in progress,” Sheffield said of UW’s block. “We haven’t been able to spend a lot of time blocking this spring. When you basically have one middle in practice, you can’t do a lot.
“We focused a lot more offensively. We did a little bit of blocking. (Rettke) is a work in progress. She still has a ways to go in that area to be as good as what she’s capable of being. She’s learning to work hard and she’s got a good setter that can get her the ball in good positions and she was rewarded.”
The Badgers led from start to finish in the first set as they had five blocks in the period. Wisconsin served for set point at 24-21 after a block by Rettke and Whalen but a kill from the Cyclones Grace Lazard forced a second set point. Rettke and Hilley combined on the set-winning block one play later.
Wisconsin led 21-17 in the second before Iowa State scored four straight to tie the score at 21. UW held off two set points by the Cyclones at 24-23 and again at 25-24 before a kill from Samara West and a Badger hitting error tied the match at one set apiece.
Three straight blocks by Rettke and Hilley put the Badgers up 10-6 in the third set. The Cyclones made a late run to cut the score to one (23-22) but a kill from Duello and a block solo by Rettke gave Wisconsin the deciding set.
“We have a lot of young kids that are playing. They’re getting better,” said Sheffield. “I’m sure all of our players should be pretty excited about going into the summer and continuing to build.”
Wisconsin will release its 2017 fall schedule on Tuesday.
News courtesy of Wisconsin Athletics.
Leave a Reply