If No. 13 Purdue was a tough challenge for the No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers (11-5 Big Ten, 18-6 overall) , the Indiana Hoosiers (6-10 Big Ten, 15-12) seemed more like an open-note quiz on Senior Night at the UW Field House Saturday. Wisconsin swept the Hoosiers 25-21, 25-14, 25-22 for their second home victory in as many nights.
Senior middle blocker Tionna Williams was the story of the night for a strong Wisconsin offensive attack. The Fort Wayne, Indiana native drove home seven kills in the first set alone, holding composure during her 112th and final home start as a Badger.
“I’m not much of the emotional type,” Williams said. “It was another match for me. Towards the end of the match, it started setting in a little bit more that it’s senior night and people are here to celebrate me.”
The first set marked a drastic change of pace from Friday night in which Purdue had their way with the Badgers defense, hitting .441 from the floor. Wisconsin bounced back strongly on Saturday, holding Indiana to just .178 hitting percentage, a noticeable difference from the match on Friday.
“When we’re playing defense, our team does so much better when we have that mindset of ‘nothing hits the ground,'” sophomore setter Sydney Hilley said. “In the first set [against] Purdue, we didn’t really have that mindset...we had that tonight. It’s another thing that sets us apart and that’s our identity, defensive grit.”
Hilley led the team with 13 digs on the night, a season-high for the Minnesota native, and a high total for the setter, something that head coach Kelly Sheffield was surprised to see.
“The headline of all your stories should be that the setter led the match in digs,” Sheffield joked postgame. “I think [Hilley] went the whole month of September without getting 13 digs.”
Wisconsin’s defense and fast attack was too much to handle for Indiana as the match wore on. The Badgers, led by sophomore middle blocker Dana Rettke, mixed in a combination of power and drop shots to keep the Hoosiers off balance late in the match.
“Good weekend, good match tonight,” Sheffield said. “I thought [Williams] did a really nice job tonight setting the tone offensively.”
Williams was honored postgame for her historic four-year career as a Badger, along with retired senior libero Amber MacDonald.
Ultimately Wisconsin took care of business in quick fashion, keeping pace in a packed Big Ten conference. The victory puts Wisconsin in a three-way tie with Nebraska and Penn State for third place with four matches to play.
UW faces a road trip to Ohio State next Friday, then Maryland on Saturday as they start to finish up Big Ten play.
