The Badgers still can?t win at Penn State. Despite entering the match undefeated in the Big Ten Conference and ranked fifth in the nation, the Wisconsin volleyball team lost to 13th-ranked Penn State 20-30, 28-30, 30-23, 30-26, 15-9. The Badgers are 0-12 in State College.
After winning the first two games, Wisconsin?s passing fell apart and allowed Penn State to get some momentum going. The Badgers hit zero percent in Games 3 and 5, but still managed to outhit the Lions .140 to .135 percent for the match.
Wisconsin was led by Sherisa Livingston with 21 kills, while Jill Odenthal put down 14 kills. Erin Byrd added 10 kills but hit a negative .064 percent. Penn State was led by Mishka Levy and Katie Schumacher with 18 and 15 kills, respectively.
The Badgers outperformed the Lions in almost every category, out-blocking them 15-14, out-digging them 86-74, and out-acing them 5-4. Amy Hultgren led all blockers with 10 stuffs while Lori Rittenhouse added seven.
Four UW players recorded double-figure digs, led by Byrd with 21. Korie Gardner and Lizzy Fitzgerald each had 15 digs and Rittenhouse had 11.
Wisconsin jumped out to a 4-0 lead in Game 1 and led 16-11 off a kill from Livingston. Penn State battled back to tie the game at 19, but behind the serve of Marian Weidner, the Badgers outscored the Lions 7-0 to take a 26-19 lead. Two kills by Rittenhouse and an ace by Sara Urbanek gave the Badgers the win.
Game 2 was tied at nine before a pair of Badger blocks keyed a 6-2 run to put Wisconsin up 15-11. The Lions cut it to one, 16-15, off a service ace, but the Badgers regained their four-point lead at 21-17. Wisconsin controlled most of the game and served for game point at 29-25, but three UW hitting errors allowed PSU to cut it to 29-28. A Livingston kill put the Badgers up two games to none.
Wisconsin hit .000 percent in Game 3, as Badger hitting errors allowed the Lions to break a 10-10 tie and take an 18-12 lead. UW had four unforced hitting errors during that stretch. PSU served for game point at 29-20 but the Badgers held it off for three points before a kill by Schumacher got the Lions back in the match.
Wisconsin trailed 17-21 in Game 4 off a Penn State service ace but rallied to tie the score at 22 behind two blocks from Rittenhouse and Hultgren. The Lions went up 27-22 and the Badgers could get no closer than three (28-25) off a Livingston kill as PSU tied the match at two games apiece.
The Lions carried their momentum over to Game 5, jumping out to a 4-0 lead off three UW errors. They would get no closer than two at 8-6, as PSU defeated Wisconsin for the 12th straight time in State College.
Before the Lions ended UW?s streak, the Badgers found victory on Friday night against the Buckeyes.
Wisconsin won 30-24, 27-30, 30-22, 30-28 over 10th-ranked Ohio State.
Odenthal came off the bench for the injured Zukowski and had a career night. She recorded 16 kills on 30 attempts with only two errors for a .467 hitting percentage. Livingston led the Badgers with 21 kills while Byrd added 10.
The Buckeyes finished with a 72-65 advantage in kills and were led by Anne Botica and Stacey Gordon with 24 and 21 kills, respectively. But the Badger block got on track in Game 3 to hold the Ohio State offense to a .287 hitting percentage. Wisconsin hit .322 percent and tallied 15 team blocks, led by seven each from Livingston and Rittenhouse.
The Badgers were out-dug 52-44 for only the second time this season. Fitzgerald had a match-high 13 digs and put up 44 assists running the Wisconsin offense.
