Wisconsin volleyball: Badgers take care of Wildcats 3-0 in Big Ten opener

No. 6 Wisconsin (1-0 Huge Ten, 7-2 total) begins their Huge Ten title protection with a 3-0 sweep (25-18, 25-19, 25-22) of the Northwestern Wildcats (0-1, 11-2).

Sophomore Julia Orzoł had a match-leading 12 kills and a .500 hitting share as she was the very best attacker for UW on the night time. The Polish star had kills all throughout the court docket, with a number of key backrow kills within the first set and a few highly effective finishes from the pin in an actual regular night time for the sophomore.

The Badger took an early 9-4 lead within the first set earlier than Northwestern began to claw again to succeed in a 13-11 rating. Junior setter MJ Hammill then gave Wisconsin some extra respiratory room with an ace to make it 15-11. Orzoł wound up ending off the set with a kill from the again row.

Hammill’s serve was large spark for UW, who has had lots of aces within the opening matches. The junior from Indiana had 17 assists to go together with a career-high 5 aces — with many coming in key moments.

One instance of her key service runs got here within the second set, with UW dealing with a 15-12 deficit to Northwestern because of some nice blocks and a spark from their star outdoors hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara.

Thomas-Ailara had a solo block and a few kills — she wound up with 11 kills on the night time — to provide the Wildcats the lead and compelled UW head coach Kelly Sheffield to name timeout.

Out of the break, Hammill bought an ace and sparked a 3-0 run for UW to tie up the body, and a strong service run from junior center blocker Caroline Crawford — together with an ace that gave UW the go-ahead level — led to a 7-1 run punctuated by a kill from junior Jade Demps to shine off a 25-19 second set that began poorly for Wisconsin.

Strong serving has been a narrative for Wisconsin. The Badgers had 9 aces to simply 5 service errors, whereas Northwestern solely mustered three aces. UW additionally out-blocked NU by 9-8 — with Crawford and senior Danielle Hart mustering 4 blocks every.

Northwestern took an early lead within the third set earlier than Orzoł had back-to-back kills to place the Badgers up 9-7. Her fellow outdoors hitter, Sarah Franklin, struggled on the night time, managing simply 4 kills to 7 attacking errors. However Franklin had three well timed kills within the third set to get again on her ft offensively.

These efforts and junior Devyn Robinson’s play wrote the story for UW’s assault. Robinson was her common strong self, placing up 10 kills and three blocks. Jade Demps additionally spelled properly with three kills in simply two units performed, filling in for Anna Smrek who was struggling on the night time and hitting within the negatives.

Whereas Smrek and Franklin struggled offensively, the Badgers didn’t have too many hiccups, showcasing the group’s depth.

That can be wanted within the Huge Ten gauntlet — and wanted for a key border battle on Sunday. The No. 8 Minnesota Golden Gophers will host the Badgers within the Twin Cities. First serve is ready for 7:00 p.m. CDT on Huge Ten Community.