Wisconsin Volleyball unveils Final Four banner at UW Field House
The Badgers unveiled the banner of their 2023 Final Four appearance before their exhibition game against Bradley on August 20.
MADISON – This was one of those rare nights at the UW Field House where the score said it all, but not in a good way for the Wisconsin volleyball team.
The Badgers, ranked No. 7 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, were swept in front of a packed house by No. 2 Nebraska. The 25-21, 25-22, 25-19 final marked the first time Wisconsin was swept at home since 2016, when it lost to Minnesota.
“Their defense was very strong. It’s not often you play someone who holds you under .100,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Shefield said. “I thought our offense was pretty ineffective most of the night. This was mainly because they were strong defensively.
“They were excellent defensively. I thought we were fighting, but during the rallies I often had the feeling that we were on defense a lot, while they were in attack mode.
While the Cornhuskers’ status as the second-best team in the country meant the outcome was no surprise, the manner in which they defeated the Badgers was somewhat stunning.
Nebraska (21-1, 11-0 Big Ten) held UW to a season-low .094 hitting percentage and forced the Badgers into 24 hitting errors, their second-highest total of the season. Nebraska also recorded five aces, symbolic of how off-balance they kept UW off the service line.
The news wasn’t all bad. Defensively, Wisconsin held Nebraska to a .202 hitting percentage, which was the Cornhuskers’ second-lowest of the season and worst in Big Ten play.
Senior Caroline Crawford had six blocks for UW, but overall the team finished with nine, snapping a run of seven straight double-digit performances in that stat line.
The Badgers couldn’t close. UW had a 21-20 lead in the second set but was defeated 5-1 to end the set. In the third set, Nebraska held a 19-18 lead and finished with a 6-1 surge.
“I mean, that game hurt,” senior Devyn Robinson said. “You know, we have some things that we can figure out and it just gets us closer as a team to figuring out how we can get better and how we can connect more and how we can dig ourselves out of holes like that.”
Senior outside hitter Taylor Landfair finished with a team-high 13 kills for the Cornhuskers. Senior Merritt Beason, another outside hitter, had the team’s most efficient night, with 11 kills and a .391 hitting percentage.
Wisconsin’s top two hitters coming into the game, seniors Sarah Franklin and Anna Smrek, combined for a .09 hitting percentage. They combined for 76 swings. The rest of the Badgers weren’t much better, hitting .10 in 41 attacks.
“We knew Nebraaska was going to be a big defensive team and so I knew it was going to have to be gritty and chip away all the time,” Franklin said. “They picked up that ball really well and got block touches as well. I just tried to stay with it and do what I could with the ball.”
The setback also dropped UW to 4-5 against ranked teams.
The loss puts the Badgers in a tough position in the Big Ten race. They are two games behind first-place Penn State and a game and a half behind Nebraska with nine to go.
Wisconsin plays at Illinois on Sunday and hosts No. 3 Penn State next Saturday. UW’s return game with Nebraska is Nov. 23. A rematch with Minnesota, which defeated the Badgers in the conference opener, is on deck for Nov. 20.
In other words, Wisconsin still has a chance to make a statement before the postseason.
“We’re a veteran team,” Franklin said, “but that’s because we can act like (veterans) and develop throughout the season and stay hungry, grow in other aspects, maybe outside of volleyball. , maybe on the field, different things we can do to get that edge, because right now, where we are, we don’t have that.
