Wisconsin volleyball rallies past TCU for first win of the season

The Wisconsin volleyball team needed five sets to break out of its slowest start since 1990.

And the Badgers needed to rally.

Down 2-1, to TCU, sixth-ranked UW dominated the fourth set and never trailed in the fifth to post a 25-15, 27-29, 21-25, 25-16, 15-11 victory over the Horned Frogs in a Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge match at the Ferrell Center on the campus of Baylor in Waco, Texas.

The win snapped a three-match losing streak to open the season.

Senior Sarah Franklin posted a team-high 18 kills and eight digs. Senior Devyn Robinson added 17 kills while hitting .381 and recording a team-high five blocks. Senior middle Caroline Crawford added 12 kills while hitting .400.

Freshman setter Charlie Fuerbringer recorded her second straight double-double (43 assists, 13 digs).

“I thought we played really clean, really good volleyball the first, fourth and fifth set,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said. “We’ve got the ability to do some different things and figure things out as we’re going.”

The match was one of adjustments. Sheffield employed a 6-2 offense for a time in the third set, started senior Anna Smrek for the final two sets and used freshman Lola Schumacher as the team’s lone libero in the final two sets.

UW’s hitting percentage dipped to .049 in the third set, but it bounced back to hit .314 and .294 in the final two sets.

A 6-1 run that featured two kills by and three service points by Franklin helped give the Badgers control of the fourth set. Fuerbringer set the tone for the final set by opening with an ace and serving the first four points.

UW led by as many as six points in the final set and never trailed.

The Badgers continue the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge against No. 23 Baylor at 7 p.m. Saturday.