The No. 4 Badgers (14-1, 24-2) extended their winning streak to 15 this week with a road win at Iowa. The match was never really close, as the Badgers beat the Hawkeyes in three straight sets: 25-21, 25-13, 25-18.
The Badgers serving game led the way for the night, as they recorded a season-high nine serving aces. Freshman outside hitter Kelli Bates, sophomore middle blocker Haleigh Nelson, junior defensive specialist Taylor Morey and senior defensive specialist Kt Kvas each had two aces for the Badgers.
Wisconsin continued their recent offensive and defensive dominance in their matchup with the Hawkeyes.
The Badgers executed their offensive game plan like clockwork, recording 44 kills to the Hawkeyes’ 39 and a .319 hitting percentage to their .191.
As they have been doing during all of Big Ten play, the Badgers dominated their opponent through blocks. Wisconsin out blocked the Hawkeyes 8-6. Nelson added to her impressive serving performance by leading the team in blocks with five.
Even though the Badgers ended up sweeping Iowa, the first set gave the sense that there was going to be more of a battle ahead for UW.
Iowa stormed out of the gates in the first set to take a 14-11 lead over Wisconsin. However, the Badgers’ balanced offense guided them through, as three different hitters tallied four kills in a 6-0 run that gave the Badgers a 17-14 lead.
Iowa tied the set up again at 20 apiece before back-to-back kills by Bates and Nelson gave Wisconsin a 22-20 lead. Once the Badgers got the lead, they never gave it back, winning the first set 25-21.
After that, Iowa never really put up a fight, losing the next two sets 25-13 and 25-18 respectively.
Next up for Wisconsin is No. 12 Illinois, who comes to the UW Field House this Wednesday.
UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
