For a moment Wednesday night in the UW Field House, it looked like the streak was over.

Down 23-16 in the third set with the match tied 1-1, the Badgers were on the verge of trailing in a match for the first time since Sept. 24.

Not on Kelli Bates’ watch.

The freshman got a kill to cut the Illini’s lead to 23-17, which started a 9-0 run that put the Badgers up 24-23. Wisconsin (25-2, 16-1 Big Ten) would win the set, turning the tide of the match en route to their 16th straight victory and second four-set victory over the Illini (21-7, 13-4) this season.

With Wisconsin down 23-19, Bates ripped off three kills in a row. After an attack error tied the match, the freshman outside hitter and sophomore middle blocker Haleigh Nelson combined for a block to give Wisconsin its first lead of the set at 24-23.

Getting the ball in high-pressure situations was humbling for Bates.

“It’s just really reassuring knowing that they know they can count on me,” Bates said. “Especially because during certain points I gained a lot of confidence in myself in those points. It’s just really comforting.”

Illinois’ Liz McMahon tied it up at 24, but a Nelson kill gave the Badgers the edge. McMahon evened the score again at 25. Then, Bates killed another ball, giving UW the lead. The set ended when Nelson and senior right side hitter Courtney Thomas combined on a block to give the Badgers a 27-25, pivotal third set victory to put Wisconsin up 2-1 in the match.

“We told ourselves we are absolutely not losing this game. We’re not going down 2-1,” sophomore setter Lauren Carlini said. “We just ‘D’ed’ up and looked into each other’s eyes and said ‘Hey, we’re doing this together and we’re doing it now.'”

Carlini reached a double-double for the 14th time this year with 54 assists and 10 digs. Thomas also chipped in with 14 digs.

“We felt like we had to embrace the challenges and we had to deal with frustration,” head coach Kelly Sheffield said. “I thought that was key. You’re talking about the two best blocking teams in the conference, the two best back court digging numbers in the league. We knew there’d be a lot of frustration and difficulty to score.”

An integral part of the 11-2 run that ended the set was the serving of Taylor Morey and the back row play of senior Deme Morales. Morales had a career-high 19 digs in the match, several coming when Illinois was about to put the set away.

“It was clearly her best defensive effort of the year,” Sheffield said of Morales. “No question about it. There were some sick defensive plays being made that last half of the match by both sides.”

Morey had a match-high 25 digs, while Illinois’ freshman libero Brandi Donnelly dug 22 balls.

Wisconsin went on to win the fourth set, but with a role reversal. This time, it was the Illini who responded to a late deficit.

The Badgers picked up right where they left off after the third, shooting out to a 8-1 lead. But the Illini battled back, as they did all match, cutting Wisconsin’s lead to 12-10 at one point.

From there, Illinois wouldn’t let UW get too far, never trailing by more than five the rest of the set (22-17). After Bates brought the Badgers to match-point at 24-21, Illinois fought off three straight match points.

With the score tied at 24, the Illini’s Donnelly aced Wisconsin, giving Illinois their first lead of the set.

To little surprise, Bates answered for Wisconsin, with her 17th and final kill of the match to tie it at 25.

McMahon put Illinois up again, but the Illini squandered that match point with a service error. Kills from senior outside hitter Ellen Chapman and Nelson gave the Badgers a 28-26 fourth set win and ended the match, keeping the winning streak alive.

“I think that was college volleyball at its best,” Sheffield said.

The first set of the match was all Badgers. They took it handily, 25-13, but it was not indicative of the rest of the match. UW outhit the Illini .486 to .167 in the frame. The other three sets all lasted past the standard 25-point threshold.

In the second, both teams brawled back and forth, with no team taking a clear lead early. The set featured 14 tie scores and four lead changes. With the score tied at 14, Wisconsin jumped on a 4-0 run to establish the first significant lead by either team in the set.

Bates started the run with a kill, followed by one of Carlini’s seven kills. Bates killed another ball and then senior middle blocker Dominique Thompson slid to the outside and tipped the ball over the blockers to give the Badgers their largest lead of the set and prompted an Illinois timeout.

Following the timeout, Illinois went on a 5-0 run, and eventually led 24-22. Wisconsin staved off two set points with kills from Thomas and Carlini, but a service error from Thomas and a kill by Illinois’ Michelle Strizak tied the match at one for the Illini.

The Illini’s redshirt junior outside hitter Jocelynn Birks tore up UW throughout the beginning of the match, as 18 of her match-high 20 kills came in the first two sets. McMahon finished as the only other Illinois player with double-digit kills, with 13.

Wisconsin had four players in double-digit kill figures. Bates had 17, while Nelson and Thomas added 12 apiece. Chapman killed 10 balls and Thompson put down 9.

Going forward, the Badgers realize they’re going to play matches like this if they want to play throughout late December.

“We know that if we have to play at this level again and we’re in that situation that we can pull it out and we can win those games,” Carlini said.

But for now, or at least until a quick turnaround in which they travel to play No. 20 Ohio State Friday night, they’ll enjoy this one. On the line Friday is a school-record in consecutive conference matches won, a 17-year old mark they tied with their win Wednesday night.

“This team is unbelievable,” Thomas said. “The things that we’re doing right now is awesome. I couldn’t be more proud to be on a team like this.”