MATCH STATS
- #6 Wisconsin def. Texas A&M 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-10)
- Wisconsin moves to 7-0; Texas A&M falls to 3-3
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Attendance: 6,012
- Box Score
MADISON, Wis. – No. 6 Wisconsin moved to 7-0 on the season and won their own Hotelred Invitational title with a sweep of Texas A&M.
The Badgers used a .297 hitting percentage and and 11 blocks to earn the victory. UW also bested the Aggies 41-34 in kills and 3-2 in aces.
Freshman middle blocker Dana Rettke put down 12 kills, while hitting at a .455 clip and adding four blocks and an ace to lead the Badgers. Junior middle Tionna Williams notched eight kills in 15 errorless swings for a .533 hitting effort, while putting up a team-best six blocks. Senior outside hitter Kelli Bates and senior outside Lauryn Gillis managed six kills apiece to round out the offense. Sophomore libero M.E. Dodge registered a team-leading 10 digs while Bates added nine.
Senior outside Kiara McGee paced the Aggies with 13 kills, while sophomore outside Hollann Hans (6) and freshman setter Camille Conner (6) followed. Freshman middle Makena Patterson and freshman Samantha Sanders put up a team-best two blocks. Junior Amy Houser and senior Amy Nettles pulled up 11 digs apiece to lead the backcourt.
The teams were level after 14 points in Set 1, but Wisconsin broke away with a 4-0 run, including a pair of A&M miscues. The Aggies knotted the score at 14 after a trio of Hans putaways. The Badgers scored seven of the next 10 points to go ahead 21-17. A block and a kill by Rettke put UW at set point at 24-18, and another putaway clinched the win two points later.
Texas A&M took an early 8-4 lead in Set 2, including back-to-back aces by Kaitlyn Blake. A string of UW miscues helped the Aggies to a 15-10 advantage. Wisconsin scored five straight, including a trio of A&M errors, to even the score at 15-all. Down 16-15, the Badgers put together a 5-2 run with kills by Gillis, Rettke and Madison Duello. Another Rettke kill made it 24-20 UW, but the Aggies scored three in a row to keep the stanza going. A Bates kill finally sealed the 25-23 victory.
Wisconsin opened Set 3 with a 5-0 run, including a kill and a block by Duello. The Badgers cruised to a 16-4 lead as Gillis turned in a block and two kills and Rettke notched two kills and an ace. UW rolled to the 25-10 victory, ending the night with a pair of Gillis putaways.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Wisconsin Athletics
The sixth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team won the HotelRED Invitational with a sweep of Texas A&M, 25-19, 25-23, 25-10, at the UW Field House Saturday night.
Wisconsin (7-0) hit .297 (41 kills – 11 errors – 101 attempts) while holding Texas A&M (3-3) to .077 (34-26-104).
Leading the way for the Cardinal and White was freshman Dana Rettke. The middle blocker collected a team-high 12 kills and added four blocks. Fellow middle blocker Tionna Williams hit .533 (8-0-15) and had six blocks.
The Badgers had an 11-4 advantage in blocking but was outdug by the Aggies 41-37. Sophomore M.E. Dodge led UW with 10 digs.
Senior Lauryn Gillis had an impressive showing in her second match of the season. The outside hitter earned six kills and one block, even with limited playing time.
Quotable
“Our focus this week was on our defense. We’ve spent a lot more time blocking and I thought one of the things you want to see is the things you’re working on throughout the week. You apply that to the matches and I thought we did a good job, a better job defensively than what we’ve done the first two weekends. That was certainly good to see.
“Our blocking is getting better, you know. And that certainly makes our backcourt a little bit easier when our hands are in the right position. I think we’re getting a better feel for that, we still have a long ways to go to be the type of blocking team that we’re going to need to be.” -Head coach Kelly Sheffield
Notables
Junior Tionna Williams earned tournament MVP honors. On the weekend, Williams had 18 kills, averaging 3.00 kills per set while hitting .500, and 17 stuffs. The 6-2 middle blocker averaged an incredible 2.83 blocks per set on the weekend.
Freshmen Dana Rettke and Sydney Hilley were named to the HotelRED all-tournament team. Rettke led the Badgers with 4.17 kills per set while hitting .512. She also added 1.50 blocks per set. Hilley averaged 12.00 assists, 183 digs and 1.17 blocks per set on the weekend.
The team is out to its seventh-best start in program history with a record of 7-0.
The Badgers have now won 21 straight sets to move up to sixth all-time at UW.
It was over when
Wisconsin led the entire first set and pulled away for a convincing win. In the second set, UW faced adversity in the middle of the period, trailing Aggies 15-10. A Texas A&M hitting error sparked a 5-0 Badger run. With Kelli Bates at the service line, a kill by Lauryn Gillis and three Aggies errors evened the score at 15 apiece.
It was a back-and-forth battle until UW pulled ahead to earn its first set point at 24-20. Texas A&M didn’t go quietly, holding off three Badger set point to pull within two (25-23). Bates hit a bomb to the floor, giving the Badgers a 25-23 victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Wisconsin jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third set and never looked back, completing its seventh sweep of the season.
Courtesy: Texas A&M Athletics
Going against its third top-six ranked team in four matches, Texas A&M fell to No. 6 Wisconsin, 25-19, 25-23, 25-10, tonight in the final match of the HotelRed Invitational at UW Field House.
The Badgers, who outhit A&M, .297 to .077 and led in blocks, 11-4, remain undefeated, improving to 7-0 en route to winning the tournament title. Texas A&M drops to 3-3.
There were five ties early in the opening set before Wisconsin began to pull away. The set was tied for the final time at 7-7 when the Badgers scored four unanswered points. The Aggies, who were outhit, .448 to .135, managed to tie the score for a sixth time at 14-all following back-to-back kills by sophomore outside hitter Hollann Hans. The Badgers got a kill to keep the lead, 15-14, and continued on a 5-1 run that put them ahead, 19-15. A&M got within 19-17 following a Wisconsin service error and a kill by senior outside hitter Kiara McGee, set up by a play-saving dig by senior libero Amy Nettles, but the Aggies were unable to overcome the deficit.
Leading 21-18, the Badgers reeled off three consecutive points to go up 24-18. They then served into the net but came back with a kill in the ensuing play to close out the set.
Wisconsin held a 4-3 edge in the second stanza when A&M went on a 5-0 run, including back-to-back aces by junior middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake. The Badgers got within 8-7 before Hans had consecutive kills and the Aggies won a long rally to go up 11-7. A&M later held onto a 12-10 lead when freshman setter Camille Conner dumped the ball over for a kill. McGee followed with a solo stuff block against 6-8 middle blocker Dana Rettke as well as a kill to give the Aggies their largest lead, 15-10. Wisconsin, however, charged back, using a 9-1 run to build a 19-16 advantage, taking its first lead since 4-3. A&M, which was outhit .159 to .061, twice got within a point, including fighting off three set points to get within 24-23 before the Badgers closed out the set with a kill to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Wisconsin opened the thrid set with five unanswered points and later went on a 9-1 run to put the set out of reach. A&M, which was outhit, .357 to .029 in the frame, was held to a season-low 10 points as the Badgers closed out the set and completed the sweep with back-to-back kills.
McGee, who led the Aggies with 13 kills, and Blake were both named to the all-tournament team. Conner finished with 24 assists. Nettles moved into 11th place in the A&M career records for digs as she tied junior defensive specialist Amy Houserfor match-high honors in digs with 11.
Rettke led the Badgers with 12 kills while hitting .455.
A&M closes out its preconference schedule on Wednesday as the Aggies welcome fifth-ranked Texas to Reed Arena. It is the first time the Longhorns have played at Reed since 2011, A&M’s final year as a member of the Big 12 Conference. First serve against the Longhorns is slated for 7 p.m., and the match will be televised on SEC Network.
All students with an A&M Sports Pass will be admitted free. In addition, it will be Fish Camp Night, and any student wearing a Fish Camp shirt will receive $3 admission. It also is Corps of Cadets Night at the match.
Leave a Reply