[media-credit name=’Kelsey Fenton / The Badger Herald’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]

The University of Wisconsin volleyball team wrapped up its three-match spring schedule at home with a 3-1 win over UW-Milwaukee (25-16, 23-25, 25-23, 25-17) Tuesday night.

Wisconsin has dropped just two sets in three wins against Loyola, UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee during its exhibition spring season.

Head coach Kelly Sheffield stressed that in the few months he has coached the team, he has seen small improvements throughout the spring that helped contribute to the night’s victory.

“We did a better job of getting our middles and our right side more involved in the attack tonight,” Sheffield said. “That was a goal going in. I thought our serving put some pressure on them. [UWM is] a different team than what we’ll typically see in the Big Ten. Their offense is really quick and they put some different stresses on your middles than what [we’ve] seen. I thought we got a little stronger as the match went on.”

After the Badger offense cruised to a .423 hitting percentage while committing just two errors in the first set, Wisconsin lost its sense of rhythm in the second set. Down 8-11, the Badgers already had five errors in the set. After Wisconsin made four consecutive kills mid-set, the team earned its first lead of the set to go up 16-14. However, UWM won the last four points of the set to tie the match at one.

Sophomore setter Courtney Thomas, who amassed a spring-high 46 assists, said that if the passing is not rhythmic, it is difficult for the hitters to time the ball properly. However, she said the passing improved significantly after the second set and has become more consistent since the start of spring practice.

“I thought our passing was a lot better tonight than it was on Saturday,” Thomas said. “I felt rhythm; I felt like our hitters were doing well tonight.”

Wisconsin was again faced with a challenging set in the third, when both teams were separated by no fewer than three points. However, the Badgers were able to inch out a 25-23 win in the third, producing just three errors and avoiding a second-straight close loss.

Sheffield said the Badgers need to do a better job of keeping their composure when they make mistakes and not letting one error turn into multiple.

“When we play good volleyball, we’ve got to do it for longer periods of time than what we’re doing,” Sheffield said. “We’ll get better at that once we come to get used to each other.”

Wisconsin began the fourth set in a 2-7 hole while hitting a .071 attack percentage. But the Badgers bounced back to end the set and the match on a 10-2 run after being tied at 15.

Three Badgers accumulated double-digit kills throughout the evening, including junior outside hitter Julie Mikaelsen, who led all players with 15 kills. The Norwegian also contributed 13 digs to earn the double-double.

Last season, Mikaelsen transitioned to a more defensive role on the team by digging more balls. She said she has gotten more comfortable working in the back row.

While she was on offense during the match, Mikaelsen also said she concentrated on the spots on the court she knew she could hit.

“Focusing on doing the right techniques,” Mikaelsen said. “Focusing on doing the hitting I know I can do. Annemarie was helping me a lot by calling the shots that I had open; it helped me a lot.”

Mikaelsen admitted that a weakness the team has been working on is consistency. Wisconsin’s hitting percentage dropped .207 from the first to the second set.

However, Mikaelsen said Sheffield has made it a priority to improve Wisconsin’s mental toughness to stay consistent.

“We go up and then we go down,” Mikaelsen said. “We need to be more stable. We’re working really hard on becoming that team that’s really stable and bringing it every single practice.”

Sheffield’s main focus of the spring season is not necessarily the results of the matches. He wants to see small improvements from his players in practices and match situations.

“We’re just trying to get a little bit better,” Sheffield said. “There’s not a lot of changing [of positions or formations]. We’re just trying to do what we do in our system and just be a little bit more consistent and a little bit better.”