Growing pains don’t come without disappointment and the No. 5 ranked Wisconsin volleyball team was no exception to that sentiment Friday night in a packed Field House.
The Badgers took on an unranked Western Kentucky team that returned 10 players from the 2014 season, a 30-6 campaign that ended in a Conference USA Championship. They would take the season opener from the Badgers in four sets on a night Wisconsin raised its Big Ten Championship banner.
For a while it seemed that head coach Kelly Sheffield’s team would steamroll the Hilltoppers when they cruised to a 25-13 first set win. The Badgers would fail to capitalize on their advantage however, and fell in three straight sets.
“I think we came out on a high,” Lauren Carlini said. “We came out super strong, and then they came out right back at us the second game and the rest of the match. From there on out we were on our heels, never able to gain any traction … they had a lot of the momentum that match.”
Western Kentucky battled through a highly contested second set that ended 25-23 in the Hilltoppers’ favor. The underdogs overcame a six point deficit midway through the set to get back into the match, going on a six point run that ended in a two point lead.
“That’s a really good Western Kentucky team,” Sheffield said. “We knew they would be, that they were going to present us a challenge. Nothing that we saw out of them surprised me at all, nothing.”
The final two sets ended 25-19 again in Western Kentucky’s favor to seal the win despite serious efforts by the Badgers to curtail the Hilltoppers’ rhythm.
The sophomore-duo of Lauryn Gillis, a transfer from USC, and Kelli Bates performed admirably for the Badgers.
Gillis, who played in her first game as a Badger, recorded an attack percentage of .333%, four kills and one error on 13 attempts.
“The experience was amazing,” Gillis said. “When we were down … the crowd was always trying to pump us back up. It’s a lot different than what I’ve been used to.”
The players and coaching staff are looking forward to tomorrow’s matchup against Colgate, and the College of Charleston, hopefully with different results.
