Greg Anderson/UW Athletics
Freshman Dana Rettke leads the team in kills, blocks and points.
After winning all nine matches on its nonconference schedule, the University of Wisconsin volleyball team went 1-1 against its first two Big Ten opponents Sept. 22 and Sept. 24 at the UW Field House.
The fifth-ranked Badgers dropped a five-set thriller to No. 23 Michigan State, losing two of the final three sets by a combined five points. But UW showcased the kind of resilience that has defined this program since head coach Kelly Sheffield took over in 2013, bouncing back to beat No. 20 Michigan in three straight sets.
“I thought we rebounded from [Michigan State] really, really well,” Sheffield told UWBadgers.com. “We came back into practice [the next day] and watched film, and I thought we had the energy that you like to see from your team coming back — whether it’s a win or a loss — just ready.”
Nobody can accuse Wisconsin, now 10-1 overall, of not being ready. And arguably no Badger was more ready for the Big 10 season opener than senior Lauryn Gillis, who appears to have recovered from an ankle injury she suffered while moving into her apartment for the school year. She recorded 10 kills against the Spartans and 11 against the Wolverines.
Gillis, 6-foot-1 from New Castle, Ind., missed the first five matches of the season but set season highs in digs and blocks against Michigan State and Michigan, respectively.
“This spring, she was playing the best volleyball of her life, and that’s exactly what she’s been doing the past few weeks in the gym,” Sheffield told Madison.com. “The last two weeks, she’s every bit as good as she was in the spring. Some of the shots she’s hitting are really high-level stuff.”
Dana Rettke, a 6-foot-8 freshman from Riverside, Ill., also is making her presence known. She leads the team in kills, blocks and points, and she also served five of Wisconsin’s six aces against the Wolverines, a career high.
The Badgers will be on the road for three of their next four matches — at Iowa on Sept. 29, at Nebraska on Sept. 30 and at Michigan State on Oct. 7, for an opportunity to avenge that five-set heartbreaker. UW will play Minnesota at the Field House on Oct. 4, when all fans are encouraged to wear white for “White Out” night. That game is sold out, according UWBadgers.com, as are all of team’s remaining home games, as Wisconsin makes a run for its fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance under Sheffield.
