This is the first time the Huskers beat Wisconsin in Madison since 2013, and it came in three sets.
The world was different in fall of 2013. The iPhone was only on its fifth variation. How I Met Your Mother was on TV in its penultimate season. A freakishly tall but skinny rookie named Giannis Antetokounmpo just started playing for the Milwaukee Bucks.
That was also the last time the Nebraska Cornhuskers had beaten the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison, Wis. in volleyball, until Friday night.
The No. 2 Huskers (10-0 Big Ten, 20-1 overall) came into the UW Field House and stomped the No. 7 Wisconsin Badgers (9-2, 16-5) in straight sets (21-25, 22-25, 19-25) and shut the crowd the hell up.
The opening set started close, but Nebraska took a 10-8 lead after two straight blocks. The Huskers early on had its block really cooking against the Badgers, especially against senior outside hitter Sarah Franklin. The Huskers were always using two to three blockers on the Badgers star, especially in the opening set, and the UW offense found it hard to find alternative options.
While Nebraska took a 15-13 lead, senior outside hitter Julia Orzoł had two straight kills to tie the set. But the Huskers had a 3-0 run to go up 18-15 and they did not let the first set out of sight. UW faced multiple set points down 24-19, and fought off two before outside hitter Merritt Beason sealed the set for the Huskers 25-21. Franklin was held to negative hitting in the first set with the Husker block — not normally what they are known for — was humming.
In the second set, UW found itself down 12-7 early and called timeout before its block started to click. Senior middle blocker CC Crawford provided a big defensive spark in the second set when the Badgers needed something, and she posted three blocks in quick succession including one to make the score 17-14 and force a Nebraska timeout. It looked like the Badgers were gaining momentum and could capitalize to tie the match 1-1, especially with some impressive serving by junior Gülce Güçtekin.
But Nebraska didn’t crumble in “The Dungeon” — accidentally coined by a former Husker player in 2021 while talking about the team’s struggles in the Field House. Instead, Nebraska had consecutive points that featured two huge pancake digs to tie the set again 19-19. Nebraska got an ace that made the score 22-21 before the Huskers got set point 24-21. Beason again put the bow on the set, netting the kill at 25-22 and quieting the crowd.
The Badgers were playing well enough that set in everywhere but offense, where they only were swinging .086 after two frames. Nebraska held senior Anna Smrek, senior Devyn Robinson, junior Carter Booth and Crawford to either negatives (Smrek and Crawford) or .000 (Robinson and Booth). UW had 24 attack errors and Nebraska out-blocked the Badgers 10-9 in the match.
In the third set, UW was down 7-2 but rallied back to go ahead 10-9 after Franklin got a kill that forced a Husker timeout. It went back and forth from there, but Nebraska got on a 3-0 run to go up 18-15. The Badgers could not get back in the match, and Nebraska closed out the third set on a 5-0 run and got to celebrate a rare, but truly deserved victory in Madison.
Nebraska locked down Sarah Franklin in the opening set. Then, the Huskers faced down the Wisconsin run in a second set that would have crushed other Nebraska teams, and notched that second set. It then continued to out-hustle the Badgers to earn the road sweep and showed off why they are in the conversation for the No. 1 ranking.
For Wisconsin, they’ll have to lick their wounds, down two games in the fight for a Big Ten title to both the Huskers and Penn State, both still undefeated in conference play. The Badgers will play the Huskers and Penn State later in the season, but they’ll obviously need to play much better than they did tonight where they were frankly stunned on their home floor.
Next up for UW is a road match against the Illinois Fighting Illini (7-4, 15-6) on Sunday. That match is at 1 p.m. and is streaming on Big Ten Plus.