Mark StewartMilwaukee Journal Sentinel
MADISON – Any questions about the Wisconsin volleyball team’s credentials as a top-four seed for the NCAA tournament were answered Friday.
The Badgers didn’t just beat the unanimous No. 1 team in the nation, they swept Nebraska to hand the Cornhuskers their first loss of the season. The 25-22, 28-26, 25-16 victory raised UW’s record to 26-3 overall and 16-3 in the Big Ten and gave the Badgers a measure of revenge for a five-set loss to the Cornhuskers on Oct. 21.
As sweet as that may seem, that wasn’t the goal, Badgers coach Kelly Sheffield said.
“This match for us wasn’t about Nebraska. Really it wasn’t,” Sheffield said. “When you’ve lost two out of your last three, it was about us playing well. It was really important to us to start playing well no matter who we were playing.”
Junior right-side hitter Anna Smrek finished with season highs in kills (18) and attempts (37) while posting a .378 hitting percentage. Senior outside hitter Sarah Franklin recorded her seventh double-double of the season (16 kills, 12 digs) and hit .424. Outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara, a graduate student, added eight kills, all during the final two sets.
Junior Julia Orzol tied for the team high with 12 digs and along with Franklin handled most of the duties in serve receive.
Overall UW hit .357, the best for a Cornhuskers' opponent this season. The Badgers sprinted to the finish of the match by posting a .583 hitting percentage in the final set when it led by as many as nine points on multiple occasions.
The Badgers also aced Nebraska (27-1, 18-1) five times, which tied the most for a Huskers’ opponent. Senior MJ Hammill, who had 25 assists, aced Nebraska twice.
“The Big Ten is a dogfight every time, every single match,” Hammill said. “That’s a great team. We’re going into the tournament … I’m sure there will be a time when we see them again.”
Here are four takeaways from the win.
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UW came through when it counted most in first, second sets
The first two sets were evenly played but heading into the third set UW owned a 2-0 advantage. Why? The fifth-ranked Badgers played better down the stretch of the first two sets.
Aided by a successful coach's challenge, Wisconsin outscored Nebraska, 6-3, to close the first set set. In the second, the Badgers trailed, 22-19, before winning in extra points.
It was a positive development for a team that couldn’t cash in on match points in losses to Nebraska and Purdue.
“We’re capable of being good especially with the experience we have in those situations, and I thought we were tonight, primarily because sometimes you get into those situations, you get a little bit tighter,” Sheffield said. “We weren’t tight today at end game (situations). We’re a lot better when we’re aggressive and going.”
UW's killer instinct was on display in final set
Nebraska has been a hard team to put away. Wisconsin experienced that firsthand in the teams’ first meeting. The Cornhuskers also beat Purdue in five sets on the road and rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Penn State Nov. 3.
Wisconsin didn’t give Nebraska an opportunity to get back in the match. After playing the Cornhuskers even through the first 14 points, the Badgers steadily pulled away. They were hitting .706 for the set when they were up, 18-12, before cooling down a bit. At that point in the set, Frankin (four), Smrek (three) and Thomas-Ailara (three) didn’t have a hitting error.
“It’s definitely great mentally for our team,” Smrek said of the finish. “We always talk about the best volleyball we play is when we’re having fun and sticking together.
“We just control the stuff on our side. We knew they were going to have an insane defense and I think having that mentality that we were just going give it right back to them, what we can do with our offense, really put us in good situations."
Anna Smrek delivers in larger starting role
Sheffield tinkered with his lineup in the final set at Indiana last weekend by moving Smrek and Hammill into the starting lineup and bringing Devyn Robinson and Izzy Ashburn off the bench. He stuck with that change Friday and Smrek give the team a consistent production.
She finished with five kills in the first set, seven in the second and six in the third. In the second set, she recorded three kills and a block during UW’s final seven points. One of the kills came on set point for the Huskers.
Smrek felt her play reflected on the team as a whole. So did Hammill.
“We talk about about having courage and trust and I think that works within the whole team,” Hammill said. “Smrek doesn’t have all those shots open if our middles aren’t approaching the way that they are, if they aren’t scoring the way that they are, if our passers aren’t putting me in such good situations to where I have all three hitters (to choose from). We’re trusting each other.”
Temi Thomas-Ailaira shakes off slow start
Thomas-Ailara posted a .174 hitting percentage but hit .412 during the final two sets when she posted eight kills and one error in 17 swings.
The Badgers' hitting percentage went from .270 in the first set to .294 in the second and .593 in the third. Thomas-Ailara played a large role in that improvement.
“She was physical. She was really good. ... Going to her was an emphasis,” Sheffield said. “That was an emphasis early and the setters stayed with her and she came up with some really big kills."
