Coming off an impressive run in nonconference play, the Wisconsin volleyball team (2-0 Big Ten, 13-1 overall) looked to get off to a winning start in conference play in the tough Big Ten.
They did not disappoint, winning their first two contests in just seven sets.
UW defeated No. 20 Purdue 25-23, 25-17, 25-23 on Friday night in front of an electric crowd at the UW Field House. The sweep was the Badgers’ second against a ranked opponent this season, the other coming against No. 17 Louisville. It is the first time UW has swept two ranked opponents in the same season since 2007.
Saturday night the Badgers slipped up in just one set, winning the match 25-23, 19-25, 25-16, 25-16. It is the first time Wisconsin has opened up conference play 2-0 since 2007.
Purdue (9-3, 0-1), who had their 8-match win streak snapped, were simply overwhelmed by the Badgers, who seemed to feed off the intensity of the crowd.
“I wish I could thank every single fan that comes,” junior outside hitter Deme Morales said of the fired up crowd. “Having the whole Field House full of people, just the energy off of it is great.”
The Badgers led for most of the first set, but were never able to pull away from Purdue. The Boilermakers were able to fight off two set points before an attack error clinched the set for Wisconsin.
Freshman middle back Haleigh Nelson shone in the first set of her conference debut, leading the UW attack with five kills.
“Haleigh Nelson early on gave us a really big lift,” first-year coach Kelly Sheffield said. “She was really physical up there and that’s what we need out of her.”
Wisconsin carried the momentum into the second set, never looking back after jumping out to a 5-0 lead. The Boilermakers were plagued by errors and miscues, including a service error to close out the set.
It appeared that the third set was going to be all Badgers as well, as they jumped out to an 18-10 lead, but Purdue refused to go down without a fight.
A 10-3 run for the Boilermakers got them within one point, but the Badgers buckled down and were able to hang on to take the set and match, which ended on another service error for Purdue.
“What you’re really proud of is the end of game three,” Sheffield said. “We really could’ve collapsed in game three, and I think we showed some toughness when toughness was needed.”
A big key to Wisconsin’s victory was their domination of the blocking game, giving them 10.5 blocks to Purdue’s 3.
This was especially good news for Sheffield, who considered it one of his team’s weaker areas early in the season.
“[Blocking] hasn’t been a strength of our’s up to this point,” he said. “I thought we had a good night blocking.”
Saturday was more of the same for the Badgers, who were able to come out with a victory despite 12 ties in the first set.
Wisconsin failed to put together much offense in the second set, allowing Purdue to ultimately win by six points.
“Indiana changed it up on us,” freshman setter Lauren Carlini said. “They did not do what we were expecting. It took a while to transition that. When we came out for games three and four, we switched our game plan up to set the middles more.”
Wisconsin rolled through sets three and four, with Indiana never finding an answer to the Badgers’ well-rounded attack. Five players recorded 47 total kills, giving them a .293 kill percentage on the night.
“Our players came out of the locker room with a mentality that you need to have,” Sheffield said. “They found another gear. That’s something else we learned about our team—that there’s another gear when we need it. That’s good.”
