The University of Wisconsin women’s volleyball team (11-0, 2-0 Big Ten) beat the Indiana University Hoosiers (11-4, 1-1) in three straight sets to win their first conference match at home and continue their 11-game winning streak on Sunday.
The game was dedicated to former UW volleyball coach Steve Lowe, who died of cancer in 1991, just a few months after leading the Badgers to their first conference championship in program history, according to UWBadgers Insider.
Before the match started, senior outside hitter Sarah Franklin and fifth-year setter Izzy Ashburn were recognized for their recent achievements — Franklin having reached 1,000 career kills and Ashburn having broken the program record with 167 aces in her career. Ashburn was also awarded the Steve Lowe Memorial Scholarship in recognition of her leadership and contribution to the program.
The Badgers came out swinging in the first set, outplaying the Hoosiers on almost every front. The teams appeared to be very unevenly matched, with UW winning the first set 25-13, only making one unforced error to Indiana’s 12.
The second set, however, was a different story. For the first 14 points of the game, the two teams were neck and neck, with the Badgers eventually pulling away slightly for an 11-7 lead. Indiana took the momentum back shortly after, tying the game at 16.
After a lot of back and forth, the second set ended 25-23 with a kill from junior right side Anna Smrek, as UW just managed to pull off a victory. While the Hoosiers definitely picked up their game following their lackluster set-one performance, a fair amount of the Badgers’ difficulty in set two stemmed from UW playing down to their opponent.
The Badgers got back on track in the third set, which saw some of the highest levels of play from both teams and a final score of 25-18. While the Badgers beat Indiana in almost every statistic once again, the differences were far smaller than in set one.
After starting out the season with a clear weakness in their defensive play, UW came out strong in this game, putting up 10 blocks, 33 digs and six aces to Indiana’s six blocks, 35 digs and two aces. The improvement was especially noticeable in the Badgers’ passing, which left a lot to be desired at the beginning of the season.
The Badgers play their next game at the Covelli Center against No. 21 ranked Ohio State University on Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.
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