No. 7 Badgers energy previous Illinois for ninth-straight victory

MADISON, Wis. – The No. 7 Wisconsin girls’s volleyball staff earned it is ninth consecutive victory behind a handful of offensive runs and certainly one of their high defensive performances of the season, taking down Illinois (RV) (25-15, 25-16, 25-20) in straight units. 

The Badgers (10-1, 3-0) notched their third convention win of the yr—handing the Fighting Illini (7-4, 2-1) their first Big Ten blemish of the season. The victory marked UW’s third-straight sweep, all of which coming in convention play, along with the start of the Big Ten: Discover Volleyball Challenge. 

Set one supplied an assortment of runs between each groups, because the Badgers had been capable of separate after the match was tied at 9-9. A pair of kills turned in by exterior hitter Mimi Colyer highlighted the rally, along with a top quality swing from proper facet Madison Quest. 

Illinois responded instantly with a 4-0 run of their very own, in the end taking a 15-14 lead. The Badgers answered in a giant means, nonetheless, placing collectively an 11-0 burst to dominate the latter half of the set to win the primary set 25-15. Wisconsin was paced by the serving run of Colyer, who tallied 4 kills and a service ace within the course of. UW racked up 17 digs within the first set, too. 

Set two supplied an analogous storyline because the Badgers utilized a 9-0 run behind the serving of center blocker Natalie Wardlow to present the unit a 15-6 lead. Wardlow completed with a service ace in that stretch, whereas center blocker Carter Booth discovered a rhythm with a few kills. 

Wisconsin coasted to a 25-17 victory in set two, bouncing again shortly from a 5-0 run from the Fighting Illini. Setter Charlie Fuerbringer capped it off on a excessive notice, because the sophomore earned back-to-back kills through setter dumps to present UW the 2-0 benefit. 

After Illinois minimize the Badgers’ result in 13-12 in set three, Wisconsin continued to place collectively a robust effort on the defensive finish—permitting the offense to take over within the closing set of the match. The Badgers discovered their block with the assistance of Booth, Quest, Andrew and Vajagic—taking a 24-15 lead into the late phases of set three.

A hitting error from Illinois wrapped up Thursday’s battle, as Wisconsin completed with a season-high in digs in a three-set match—racking up 57 in complete. 

Libero Kristen Simon led the way in which in that division with 14, utilizing the assistance of freshman Aniya Warren, who earned double-digit digs for the second time this season with 10. 

For the eleventh consecutive match, Colyer completed with double-digit kills, this time main the Badgers at 16. Vajagic adopted go well with with 10 kills of her personal, marking the fourth match in double-digits for the redshirt sophomore. Booth continued her environment friendly streak on the entrance line, because the senior led Wisconsin in hitting proportion at .455 (6 – 1 – 11), complementing her six blocks.

Fuerbringer rounded out the Badgers on the offensive finish, placing collectively her second sport in a row with 38 assists—including in eight digs, three kills and a pair of blocks as effectively. 

Straight from the Court: 

Head Coach Kelly Sheffield (on tonight’s efficiency): “I just thought our team played steady tonight. We played within ourselves and that allowed us to get on some of these really nice long runs that we had tonight.”

(On youthful gamers stepping up): “These guys are just getting their career started. They’ve got very high ceilings and they’re hungry. They are confident and believe in themselves.”

Setter Charlie Fuerbringer (on the execution of tonight’s gameplan): “I think it’s just us coming together and the person behind the service line doing their job, getting them out of system. We knew what that team was doing. We scouted well and just did our jobs. We stayed steady as Kelly said and played very mature.

Libero Kirsten Simon (on her mentality at libero): “I’d say my mindset this sport was ‘simply come at me.’ I needed to move the ball. Just engaged on being actually aggressive and passing each ball.”

Notes:

• Badgers totaled 56 digs in opposition to Illinois, setting a brand new season-high for many digs in a three-set match.
• With the win, Wisconsin extends it is win streak to 9.
• Outside hitter Mimi Colyer as soon as once more reached double-digit kills. Colyer tallied a match-high 16 kills on 35 swings, whereas additionally hitting .345. She has now reached double-digit kills in each single match up to now this season.
• For the eighth time this yr, the Badgers have out-blocked it is opponent. Wisconsin reached 10.0 blocks to Illinois’ 6.0.
• Also for the eighth time this yr, Wisconsin has swept it is opponent 3-0.
• Outside hitter Una Vajagic reached double-digit kills for the fourth time this season after recording a 10-kill efficiency over the Illini.

Up Next: The Badgers are again in motion on Sunday, Oct. 5, the place they’ll host the Silent Set Match once they tackle Michigan. The match is ready to start out at 1:00 p.m. CT and will likely be streamed on B1G+. Silent Set t-shirts could be bought at Bucky’s Locker Room on campus.