Wisconsin volleyball sweeps No. 3 Penn State in dominant fashion. Nittany Lions suffer first Big Ten loss.

MADISON – The Wisconsin volleyball team had the eyes of the nation on it Saturday afternoon and put on a show.

The Badgers swept third-ranked Penn State in front of a packed house at the UW Field House and knocked the Nittany Lions out of first place in the Big Ten. The 25-23, 25-12, 25-13 victory took just 90 minutes to complete and snapped Penn State’s 15 match winning streak.

The contest was shown on NBC, just one of two broadcast by the network this season.

The victory also kept UW alive in the Big Ten race. The Badgers (19-5, 13-2) remained in third place, but closed the gap on Penn State (23-2, 13-1). Nebraska (23-1, 13-0) sits in sole possession of first place thanks to the outcome. The Cornhuskers play at Washington tonight and still have matches with Penn State (Nov. 29) and Wisconsin (Nov. 23) on the schedule.

Seniors Anna Smrek and Sarah Franklin finished with 13 kills each while hitting .462 and .419, respectively. Julia Orzol, another senior, added 11 kills and a .526 hitting percentage.

Six Badgers had multiple kills and each hit at least .375. UW also had the rare distinction of not getting blocked once. Penn State entered play averaging a respectable 2.52 blocks per set.

Freshman setter Charlie Fuerbringer (36 assists) played what Badgers coach Kelly Sheffield said was her best match of the season.

The UW defense, meanwhile, held Penn State to a .117 hitting percentage and had 11 blocks. The Nittany Lions entered play leading the Big Ten and ranking ninth in the nation in hitting percentage .295.

Nittany Lions All-American Jess Mruzik finished with nine kills and a .075 hitting percentage.

Check jsonline later for more on the match.