The Wisconsin volleyball team is white hot.
The No. 10 Badgers (22-6, 14-4 Big Ten) won their 10th game in row Sunday, upending No. 16 Ohio State (22-8, 11-7) in straight sets, avenging their loss earlier in the season in Columbus.
On an emotional senior day, Wisconsin guaranteed a happy ending for senior Taylor Morey by spreading out the offensive attack. Wisconsin had four players with at least eight kills and defended well with 20 blocks on the day.
Wisconsin fell behind early in each set but rallied back to make quick work of Ohio State. If it wasn’t for a 15-minute delay in the third game, this would have been another routine victory that has become the norm for a team peaking at the right point of the season.
Offensive Player of the Match: Haleigh Nelson
Junior middle blocker Haleigh Nelson continued her offensive onslaught with 12 kills on 19 attempts. She also showed her versatility netting two service aces, four digs and six blocks. Nelson has played a large role in Wisconsin’s late-season run and continued her brilliance Sunday.
Defensive Player of the Match: Kelli Bates
Nelson could have easily taken home this recognition for her effort on both ends of the court, but sophomore outside hitter Kelli Bates also had a solid game defending the Buckeye’s complex offensive formations. Bates had a team-high 14 digs and was the target of the majority of the Buckeye’s serves, receiving 27, and handled nearly all of them with relative ease.
Quotable
Head coach Kelly Sheffield on the third set delay:
“I think there was a score-keeping issue or something that somebody wrote down the wrong thing. But we’ve had lights that have gone out in the middle of matches, we’ve had rain delays, we’ve had airplane delays, we’ve had airplane cancellations. We’ve had a little bit of everything.”
Nelson on her recent hot streak:
“I’m a lot more confident than I was at the beginning of the year. It wasn’t so much that I was not confident but it’s just been growing. My teammates really try to build me up. T [Taylor Morey] is always one of those people that is right there supporting me. I do have more confidence than I did at the beginning of the year but also the plays they set up make it easy to be successful.”
