Wisconsin’s volleyball team fell to No. 16 Michigan on Friday’s match at the UW Fieldhouse. The Wolverines swept the Badgers 28-26, 25-20, and 25-21, dropping Wisconsin (15-4 overall, 4-3 Big Ten) to fifth place in the conference and tied with Northwestern.
After the loss to Penn State, this was the second time in row the Badgers were swept by a Big Ten opponent. Friday’s match also marks the first time Wisconsin has lost two matches in a row.
“It was disappointing. It was probably the first match all year that we were punch-less,” head coach Kelly Sheffield said. “I thought Michigan played like the more desperate team for victory. It meant more to them to stay in the top half of the conference than it did for us to stay in the upper echelon.”
The Badgers only recorded a .119 attacking percentage, their lowest this season. Wisconsin’s defense also struggled, with Michigan recording a .223 attacking percentage and out-blocking the Badgers 11 – 9.
“I thought we blew a lot of assignments and I thought we didn’t work too hard in transition,” Sheffield said. “Our transition game was non-existent and that’s why we had so many errors. When you don’t work hard in transition, it makes it really tough for you to be able to score around a block.”
The first set was back and forth, with the scored tied up 20 times. The Badgers were able to stave off the first game point with two kills by Dominique Thompson, pulling the Badgers ahead to 25-24. But ultimately, Michigan narrowly won the set 28-26 with a block by Jennifer Cross.
“We put a lot of fluff behind the ball,” Sheffield said. “You can’t put fluff out in this league.”
After starting off the second set down 1-8, Wisconsin struggled to make up the deficit. Though junior Deme Morales had 8 kills for the Badgers, it wasn’t enough to regain the lead, and the Wolverines won the set 25-20.
“In the second set, we just started off so slow and so dead, and it’s hard to come back from a deficit like that,” Carlini said. “I know we battled at the end, but it was just too late.”
The Badgers regained some of their lost intensity in the third set, keeping the score close and tying it up seven times. Despite junior Ellen Chapman’s seven kills, Wisconsin hit just a .062 attacking percentage, allowing Michigan to win the match 25-21.
“When you’re frustrated about what just previously happened and you spend your time thinking about it, that leads to more mistakes,” Sheffield said. “And that’s what I thought was happening tonight. We spent a lot of time worrying about what just happened instead of what we needed to do for the next play, and it becomes an avalanche.”
Chapman and Morales led the Badgers in kills with 12 and 10, respectively. The Badgers were able to out dig Michigan 66 to 62, with senior Annemarie Hickey recording 18 digs.
Wisconsin will take on Big Ten opponent No. 5 Michigan State on Sunday at the UW Fieldhouse. First serve is at 1 p.m.
“I think one big thing is just forget about this game. It’s over, we can’t go back and we can’t take it back,” Hickey said. “Michigan State is a really good team, and they’re going to be out to fight. They’re going to bring it, and that’s one of the things that are going to be key for us, to just to let that game go.”
After Friday’s sweeping loss, Sheffield is looking forward to seeing what type of energy the team will bring for Sunday’s match.
“One of the things I’m looking forward to is seeing how much pride we’ve got,” Sheffield said. “I think elite teams respond to losses, and it would be really positive if we looked back on Sunday and say that we responded in the right way."
