UW Volleyball

vs. Michigan, 6 pm on 4/1 and 2 pm, 4/2.

media release: The top-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team is back-to-back Big Ten Conference champions after sweeping Michigan Thursday evening in the UW Field House. The Badgers (14-0, 14-0 B1G) downed the Wolverines 25-23, 25-12, 25-11 to claim their second-straight league title, becoming back-to-back champions for the first time since 2000 and 2001.

Wisconsin dominated Michigan (4-8, 4-8) across the board. As a team, Wisconsin hit .344 (44 kills - 11 errors – 96 attempts) while holding Michigan to .046 (25- 20–108). The Badgers struggled early on, hitting .167 (15-7-48) in the first set but upping their attack percentage to .577 (17-2-26) in the third set.

Senior Dana Rettke tied her season high with 17 kills as the only Badger in double figures. The 6-foot-8 middle blocker hit .586 (17-0-29) in the match with no hitting errors. Molly Haggerty and Devyn Robinson each added seven kills to the UW offense. Michigan was led by Paige Jones with 13 of the team’s 25 kills.

Senior Sydney Hilley put up 35 assists at setter and recorded her first double-double of the season, adding 10 digs. Senior Lauren Barnes led UW with 13 digs as the Badgers finished with a 53-38 edge in the backcourt.

Wisconsin also outblocked Michigan 8-2 behind five stuffs from Rettke. Redshirt junior Danielle Hart had one of her best all-around games of the season, hitting .667 (6-0-9) and adding three blocks, including one solo.

Both teams struggled from the service line with Wisconsin finishing with a 3-2 edge in service aces. The Badgers had seven service errors on the night compared to six for the Wolverines.

Wisconsin gained an early lead in the first set, jumping out to a 9-3 advantage and forcing Michigan to call a time out. The break rejuvenated the Wolverines, who came back to tie the set at 12. UM looked to be on the way to winning the first set, leading 22-18, before the Badgers started a comeback. Three kills by Rettke keyed a 5-0 run to put Wisconsin up 23-22. Michigan knotted the score at 23 before a kill by Haggerty and a Wolverine hitting error gave Wisconsin the lead.

The Badgers continued to improve throughout the match dominating the second and third sets to win both games by 13-or-more points. 

The Badgers wrap up the regular season on Friday when they face the Wolverines again. First serve is at 2 p.m. live on ESPNU.