The No. 2-seeded University of Wisconsin-Madison volleyball team lost in three seats after facing No. 1 Nebraska in the Lincoln Regional Final of the NCAA tournament on Sunday
Nebraska swept Wisconsin in both of their matchups earlier this season, so this performance was not necessarily a surprise. Nebraska will advance to the Final Four in Louisville, Kentucky, while Wisconsin’s season comes to an end. The Badgers finished 26-7, which marks their 14th consecutive season with 20 or more wins.
The first set of the Regional Final match began with two Nebraska kills, but the Badgers quickly responded. They put together a four-point run with junior defensive specialist Gulce Guctekin at the service line to take the lead.
The two teams traded points, and the Badgers were ahead for much of the set until the Huskers had a four-point serving run of their own with a five-point run not long after. The Badgers were down 21-24 late in the set but forced a tie at 24-24 with the help of three kills from senior outside hitter Julia Orzol and senior middle blocker Anna Smrek. After that, an unfortunately timed service error from freshman libero Lola Schumacher gave the Huskers set point. Nebraska won the set by a narrow margin of 26-24.
Nebraska took the momentum from their first set win and used it to propel them to an 8-2 lead in the second set. Despite some solid kills from fifth-year outside hitter Sarah Franklin and her teammates, the Badgers never took the lead during that set. The Huskers easily finished the job, winning the last three points and taking the set 25-17.
In the third and final set, Wisconsin picked up their intensity. Back-to-back blocks by Smrek, fifth-year middle blocker CC Crawford and junior middle blocker Cater Booth gave the Badgers a 5-2 lead. The set was a tight battle, but Wisconsin was mostly able to maintain the lead until Nebraska had two four-point runs late in the game. This included some difficult serving from Nebraska’s senior outside hitter Merritt Beason. The Huskers kept the lead until the very end, winning the set 25-21 on a big block of senior middle blocker Devyn Robinson.
The Badgers ended the match hitting .126. Franklin led in the kills department with 12, and she was also named to the Lincoln All-Regional Team. Crawford led the team in blocks with five.
The Badgers were plagued with eight service errors against the Huskers, but freshman setter Charlie Fuerbringer earned all three aces for the team. She also had 32 assists.
Wisconsin will now part ways with the graduating class of Franklin, Robinson, Smrek, Orzol, Crawford and graduate student setter Carly Anderson. This group has made a massive impact on the team.
"I'm just super proud of our fight throughout the whole season,” Fuerbringer said in a press release. “I think we improved so much more than a lot of other teams, and I'm just so grateful to be surrounded by these girls.
The loss to Nebraska was a challenging end to Wisconsin’s season, but they will look forward to taking the court again next fall.
