Height difference was not the only thing that set apart the Wisconsin women’s volleyball team’s two opponents this weekend.

On Sunday, Wisconsin beat an inconsistent Iowa squad in three straight sets, 25-16, 25-22, 25-21, two days after falling to Nebraska, who performed with precision and swept the Badgers, 25-21, 25-15, 25-21.

Despite Friday’s loss, Wisconsin came out firing against Iowa. The Hawkeyes, now 1-7 in Big Ten play, were a much different opponent than the Huskers. Their smaller size allowed Wisconsin to pound the ball through blocks and find the open court, something it struggled with against Nebraska.

Middle hitters Alexis Mitchell and Dominique Thompson anchored the Badgers’ offense from the middle, combining for five kills in the first game and 16 overall.

“I think our setters did a great job of distributing the ball across the front row, and everyone did a good job of putting the ball away,” Mitchell said. “Their middles weren’t good at reading, and so I think Alexis and our middles took advantage of that.”

Iowa held its own through the first half of the set, never allowing Wisconsin to pull away by more than three. However, a kill by freshman Courtney Thomas followed by a service ace from Krystal Graff gave the Badgers a 19-14 lead and forced an Iowa timeout. Wisconsin maintained the enthusiasm and intensity, increasing its lead until a set-ending kill by Thomas at 25-16.

“We definitely ran a faster pace than they were used to, I think, and that helped us out a lot,” Mitchell said.

The Badgers showed a slight loss of momentum in the second set, as they were unable to increase their lead nearly the entire match. After going up 6-2 with back-to-back Janelle Gabrielson kills assisted by Thomas, Iowa built a 6-0 run and took its first lead of the night.

“Each individual has to be mentally tough for us to work together and for us to be down maybe six or seven points and come back to win a set,” Mitchell said. “It really takes just talking to your teammates, telling yourself we can win this game, and we have to take it one step at a time.”

A kill by Graff ultimately ended the Hawkeye run. Great ball distribution from Thomas, who led the team with 23 assists overall, guided the Badgers through the adversity-filled second set to a 25-22 victory.

Despite the 2-0 set score, Iowa did not just hand Wisconsin the third set. Led by hitters Tiffany Nilges and Alex Lovell with four kills apiece in the third set, the Hawkeyes secured a lead at 10-9 that they didn’t relinquish until the Badgers tied the score at 19-19. A Wisconsin service error provided Iowa with a final hope when the set was once again tied at 20-20 before the Badgers went on a 5-0 run to close out the match, sending Iowa home with another conference loss.

“It’s just knowing that you can win and believing in yourself and believing in your teammates, trusting them to do their jobs as you will do yours.” Mitchell said.

Against Nebraska, the Badgers fell behind quickly as Gina Mancuso had two straight kills. Big points from Wisconsin senior Janelle Gabrielsen and freshman Ellen Chapman brought it back to a tie at 2-2. Chapman led the Badgers in kills for the night with eight. Although Wisconsin got many touches at the net, it struggled to keep its blocks inbounds, allowing Nebraska to increase the lead to as much as six points.

“They had some really good outside hitters, and they were just pounding the ball,” Gabrielsen said. “We couldn’t get a good block or a good dig on them.”

A late run of three straight kills from Chapman, Graff and Thompson helped the Badgers tie the match at 21, though it was followed by a series of errors that cost Wisconsin the first set.

The Badgers led only once in the second set after a first point kill by Graff. Nebraska shut down Wisconsin’s offense by out blocking the home team, 7-0. The Huskers’ Hanah Werth dominated the net with a perfect kill record of 5-5. Graff led Wisconsin with four digs, though it wasn’t enough to stop Nebraska from running away with the set, 25-15.

“[Nebraska’s] a strong team, so there are times when they overpower you a little bit with their speed, and we need to play a little better defense,” head coach Pete Waite said.

Wisconsin showed its resiliency in the third set by increasing its hitting percentage to .179. The Badgers took their biggest lead of the night when a big kill by middle hitter Alexis Mitchell brought the score to 10-8. However, the lead slipped away with a string of errors and was never regained by the Badgers.

“There were times we were playing right with them and battling pretty well,” Waite said. “I think we just made to many errors on our side of the net, some serve receive errors and were just a little too cautious sometimes.”