The No. 1 ranked University of Wisconsin women’s volleyball team continued its historic start to the season Friday with another 3-0 sweep vs. Rutgers. With this win, the Badgers advanced to 16-0, tying their best-ever start to a season.
The Badgers were forced to change to a 5-1 system for this match as middle blocker Devyn Robinson and setter MJ Hammill both went down with injuries in practice this past week. The Badgers’ new strategy gave junior middle blocker Anna Smrek a chance to serve, and she did not disappoint in her new role.
Smrek recorded two aces in a tightly contested first set, during which the Badgers jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead. Rutgers fought back to tie the set at 10-10 before two spikes by Sarah Franklin and two blocks by Temi Thomas-Ailara helped UW pull away to win the set 25-17.
“One of the things I love about Anna is her confidence and belief in herself,” UW head coach Kelly Sheffield said during the post-game conference. “She’s one of the mentally toughest people I’ve ever been around.”
Wisconsin completely dominated during its second set. Two fantastic diving saves and an ace by sophomore Gulce Guctekin helped the Badgers gain an 8-1 advantage. Julia Orzol’s 9-0 service run and two aces by Sarah Franklin helped the Badgers win this set by a score of 25-4. This feat tied the fewest points Wisconsin has ever given up in a set, the other coming from Savannah State on Sept. 14, 2012. Their .700 hitting percentage was also easily their highest hitting percentage of this season.
UW was able to finish off Rutgers in the third and final set, 25-16. Thomas-Ailara led the team with 5 kills on an impressive .500 hitting percentage.
Sarah Franklin led the team with 16 kills and four aces. The Badgers also achieved a .410 hitting percentage and 11 aces which tied their season high.
“One of the things we pride ourselves in is responding,” Sheffield said. “I think when things go your way, anybody can do well in those situations. But when things don’t go your way and you’ve got to go to plan B or plan C, that’s what the team is for. We’re not a team that relies on just one or two people.”
The Badgers play next on Sunday, Oct. 15th versus Maryland and hope to continue “Stacking good.”
