The No. 6 Wisconsin volleyball team hadn’t won more than three straight Big Ten matches since 2008. That was, until this weekend.
With a three-set sweep of Maryland (25-14, 25-17, 25-17) Sunday at the University of Wisconsin Field House, the Badgers (14-2 overall, 5-1 Big Ten) increased their winning streak to five, their longest since 2007.
Head coach Kelly Sheffield was pleased with the way his team played the entirety of the weekend.
“We practiced really hard this week and I thought we got better,” Sheffield said. “The weekend is where you get judged, and the things that we emphasized this week I saw in our matches.”
A kill from middle blocker Haleigh Nelson got the ball rolling for Wisconsin at the beginning of the first set. After Nelson’s second kill, senior outside hitter Ellen Chapman served for four points, including her first of three aces of the afternoon, giving the Badgers a lead of 6-3.
Later in the first set, right side hitter Courtney Thomas struck a fiery kill that gave Wisconsin a 20-12 lead and forced a timeout from Maryland. Thomas swung at 100 percent during this set, tallying five kills on five attempts.
“[Thomas] owned it back there tonight,” Nelson said about her teammate. “It brings a lot to the rest of the team when she can put up big numbers like that and be an emotional leader on the court.”
Eventually, a long out-of-bounds serve by Maryland’s Dani Bozzini ended the first set with a Badger victory with a score of 25-14.
In the second set, Chapman broke through one of five ties with another ace, which put Wisconsin on top of Maryland 3-2. After a few battles between blockers on either team and three hitting errors in a row by Maryland, Terrapins head coach Steve Aird called a timeout with the Badgers leading 11-7.
Thomas was on fire all match. After middle blocker Dominique Thompson slammed a kill into the back right side of the court, Thomas served an ace, which gave Maryland cause to call another timeout.
Following Maryland’s timeout, setter Lauren Carlini caught the Maryland defense by surprise twice over the course of three plays by dumping the ball and increasing Wisconsin’s lead 19-12.
An attacking error by Maryland’s outside hitter Emily Fraik finished the second set with a score of 25-17 in Badgers’ favor.
There were five ties and three lead changes in the third set until Thomas’ kill out of the back row combined with a brief three-point serving run that propelled the Badgers to take the lead with a score of 8-7. They never lost the lead again after that.
Scrappy play filled with impressive pick-ups by the Badgers’ back row was polished off by a solo block from Thompson, maintaining Wisconsin’s lead by three points (10-7 Wisconsin).
A missed serve by Bozzini and an attacking error by Whitney Craigo from Maryland gave the Badgers the opportunity to end the match. Nelson delivered a kill to cap off the match, as Wisconsin defeated Maryland 25-17.
