After two road wins over Michigan and Michigan state this past weekend, the Wisconsin volleyball team added another win to their match streak Wednesday night as they won their 14th straight match, defeating Michigan once again, 25-19, 26-24, 25-18.
Friday night was a thrilling match for both Wisconsin and Michigan, as they battled through five sets. In the end, the Badgers overcame the Wolverines, but Wednesday evening, Michigan was given a second chance within a five-day period to win against Wisconsin; but this time, under the lights of the UW Field House.
“All week it was a business approach from our team,” head coach Kelly Sheffield said. “It was just the next team in front of us and I think that our team is really good at being consistent with their approach and taking each match as it comes.”
Set one started off well for the Badgers as the gained a 2-0 lead right from the get-go with a kill from outside hitter Ellen Chapman and a combined team block. However, that lead did not last long. There were a total of five ties in the first set, primarily due to a few hitting and service errors by both teams.
Finally, with the score at 15-12, a service ace by senior right side hitter Courtney Thomas began the Badgers’ climb towards victory. Back-to-back kills by Chapman forced Michigan to call a timeout at 22-15. Michigan’s star middle blocker Abby Cole answered with a stifling kill of her own, helping her team nudge their way back into the set. Ultimately, Wisconsin’s red shirt senior Dominique Thompson demolished a kill out of the middle to win the set for Wisconsin 25-19.
In the second set, defense started to become a lot more notable. Scrambling plays filled with fantastic scrappy saves and impeccable defense on both sides of the net made for long rallies. Wisconsin only allowed 35 kills off of 135 attempted assists from Michigan. According to setter Lauren Carlini, the team’s all around defense was something to be proud of.
“There was a lot more discipline with the blocking and the back row working together. Last game [we were] kind of all over the place,” Carlini explained. “Our bodies weren’t in the right position. I think this game we focused in a lot more and stayed disciplined.”
However, set two was an edge-of-your-seat type of set. With a total of 15 ties in this set alone, the Badgers definitely had their work cut out for them. Wisconsin had a good run going during the beginning of the match, when they were up 10-6 after Thomas tipped the ball just over a block. With good aggressive net play by Michigan, the Wolverines were able to tie the set up at 11 a piece.
Finally, three kills in a row from the combined efforts of Chapman and middle blocker Haleigh Nelson propelled the Badgers towards somewhat of a lead. Michigan was not about to let up easily as they clawed their way back in, tying it up as 23 points each after a missed serve from Chapman. A kill by freshman Kelly Bates put the Badgers on top 25-24. A missed dump by Michigan setter, Lexi Dannemiller handed the set to Wisconsin, and put them ahead 2-0.
The third set started out in another tug-of-war battle. Two ball handling errors in a row by Dannemiller helped the Badgers get on top 5-4. It was not until the serving efforts of Kelli Bates that Wisconsin was able to pull away with a four point lead 13-9 that kept on growing.
About one rally after Cole received a monstrous kill off of a slide, the 6-foot-5 star was slow to get up after a play. She did walk slowly and unaided to the bench and stood after a few minutes, but did not return to the game after the score read 17-12.
After that, the game sailed smoothly along for the Badgers. Bates and Thompson combined for a block, which was followed by a fiery kill from Thomas out of the back row, increasing their lead 22-15.
To finish, a perfectly executed block by Carlini and Nelson sent the Wolverines packing, and tacked on another sweep for Wisconsin as they capped off the match 25-18.
This fourteen game win streak has kept the Badgers at the top of the Big Ten and within the top ten teams in the NCAA rankings. The team takes this lightly and does not harp on the past. They stay focused and only look to the future.
“It feels like we’ve just won one match and we have another one in a couple of days,” Nelson said. “[The] train keeps moving. We forget about the last one. The streak is awesome, but we’re already focused on Iowa.”
The Badgers will now travel to Iowa to take on the Hawkeyes again this Saturday night at 7 p.m.
