The Wisconsin women's volleyball team kicked off the second half of Big Ten play this past weekend, winning 3-1 against No. 13 Michigan and falling in a sweep to Michigan State.
Wisconsin packed its bags for Ann Arbor Friday night to face Michigan (19-6, 7-5).
The Wolverines were a superior team on paper entering the match, ranking first in the Big Ten in aces per set and second in kills per set. However, after defeating the Wolverines 3-1 on Oct. 10, the Badgers had reason to be confident against Michigan.
""We came out sharp in the first two sets and were able to hold them off after a couple late runs,"" head coach Pete Waite said. ""It was really representative of the team and how they stayed on the court after the third [set] to come back in the fourth [set] and win.""
The Badgers were led by senior outside hitter Brittney Dolgner, who recorded a double-double, knocking down a team-high 16 kills while tallying 11 digs.
Junior outside hitter Allison Wack was also a big offensive contributor, recording 15 kills.
However, it was sophomore setter Janelle Gabrielsen who was the key to the match, as she had 44 assists and a team-high 13 digs.
For Michigan, no player matched the performance of sophomore right side hitter Alex Hunt, who had 19 kills on a .359 hitting percentage.
Senior outside hitter Veronica Rood also came up big, stuffing a match-high nine blocks while recording 11 kills on a .450 hitting percentage.
Even the great passing of junior setter Lexi Zimmerman, who recorded 46 assists, was not enough to propel the Wolverines past Wisconsin Friday night.
Saturday the Badgers faced Michigan State, hoping to match the performance Wisconsin turned in Oct. 9 against the Spartans, in which the Badgers swept Michigan State.
But it was not to be, as the Spartans knocked off Wisconsin in straight sets.
""The Michigan State game was a really hard game,"" Waite said. ""It just goes to show how tough the teams are in the Big Ten no matter what their record [is], they can get the win on any given night.""
The Spartans grabbed the first set after taking a three-point lead early into it, leaving the Badgers an uphill battle.
The Spartans took a 4-1 lead in the second set, and never looked back, closing the set with a 25-22 victory.
But the Badgers again fell behind early in the third set, 7-2. Even after coming back to a 16-13 score, the Spartans were too much, finishing Wisconsin after a 25-20 third set.
The Badgers finished the match with a respectable .277 hitting percentage, but it could not compete with the Spartans' mark of .371.
Dolgner led the Wisconsin offense with a match-high 16 kills on a .344 hitting percentage. Dolgner was the only strong point for the Badgers' offense, as no other player recorded double-digit kills.
Junior libero Kim Kuzma continued turned in a solid performance for the Badgers as well with 13 digs.
Gabrielsen totaled 28 assists and six kills while turning in a .667 hitting percentage.
Michigan State was spurred to victory by its two sophomore outside hitters: Kyndra Abron, who had a .583 hitting percentage, and Becca Zlabis, who totaled a .524 hitting percentage.
The hitting percentages by the two sophomores, respectively, were the highest for the Spartans.
A standout performance also came from junior libero Allyson Karaba, who contributed a match-high 14 digs.
The Badgers have high anticipation for this weekend's home games. They'll take on top-ranked Penn State on Friday and Ohio State on Saturday, both at 7 p.m.
—uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
