The No. 16 Minnesota volleyball team dropped a heartbreaker to the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers in five sets (21-25, 25-12, 25-22, 20-25, 18-20) on Wednesday night at UW Fieldhouse.
Minnesota led after two sets and had a chance at match point in set five, but was unable to take the season sweep of the Badgers.
Julia Hanson led the Gophers with 20 kills and 18 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. Lydia Grote (17 kills) and Mckenna Wucherer (15) also reached double figures.
The Gophers (17-10, 10-7 Big Ten) hit .208 for the night and had 63 kills compared to .158 and 57 kills for the Badgers. UW had more blocks (13 to 9) and service aces (8 to 7).
Melani Shaffmaster paced the offense with 51 assists and 13 digs while Zeynep Palabiyik had 22 kills, her seventh time this season going for 20-or-more.
Sarah Franklin led Wisconsin (21-5, 15-2 B1G) with 19 kills, 11 digs and four aces. Charlie Fuerbringer paced the offense with 48 assists to go along with 25 digs and three blocks. Anna Smrek and Carter Booth tallied six blocks each for UW.
How It Happened
SET 1 | The Gophers came out of the gates hot to start set one, scoring seven of the first nine points to go up 7-2. Hanson had three kills while Grote had two with an ace in the run. The Badgers would answer back, going on an 11-5 run to take a 13-12 lead, forcing a Minnesota timeout. The Badgers would extend their lead to as many as five at 20-15. The Gophers would cut it to as few as three at 22-19 and 24-21 before UW closed it out, 25-21. Minnesota had 16 kills in set one, but committed five service errors. Hanson and Grote had six kills each in the frame.
SET 2 | Wisconsin went up 3-0 in set two before a blistering Minnesota run gave the Gophers control. The ‘U’ scored eight of the next nine to go up 8-4 before the Badgers called a timeout. After kills from Grote and Hanson added to an ace from Palabiyik put the ‘U’ up 11-4, UW called its final timeout of the frame. The Gophers completed their 10-1 run with another ace from Z and a block from Grote and Minatee to go up 14-4. Minnesota would lead by as many as 13 at 24-11, before finishing off set two, 25-12. Wucherer had eight kills after two sets, hitting .636. Hanson led the ‘U’ with nine kills through two frames.
SET 3 | The Badgers came out as the aggressor after a tough set two, tallying seven of the first 11 points. The ‘U’ would battle back, scoring five of the next seven to tie it up at 9-9 after a kill from Grote and a block from Awoleye. An ace from Acevedo put Minnesota up in the first time for the set, 10-9. After going back and forth for the next nine points, Minnesota took a 15-14 lead into the media break. The Gophers would score four of the next five after the break, getting two kills from Wucherer to go up 19-15. UW took a timeout to try and spur momentum. The Badgers got a pair of kills and capitalized on a Gophers error to cut the lead to 20-18, forcing a Minnesota timeout. A kill from Grote put the ‘U’ up 21-18 before three straight UW points tied it up at 21. After the timeout, Minnesota got a block from Awoleye and Acevedo plus a kill from Hanson, leading to a UW timeout. After the break, a Badgers service error and a Hanson kill ended the set, 25-22.
SET 4 | After the two teams split the first eight points, a 3-0 Badgers run put the home team up 7-4, leading to the Gophers first timeout of the set. They would go up by as many as five at 10-5 before the ‘U’ cut it to just two at 10-8. Wucherer had a kill in the spurt. UW would get the lead up to four once again at 15-11 before a service error and a Hanson kill made it 15-13. The Badgers called a timeout after Hanson’s 18th kill of the match. A 4-0 run after the timeout gave the home team control of the set at 19-13. The Badgers would go up by as many as seven at 21-14 before a 3-0 spurt put the ‘U’ back in it, trailing 21-17. Wisconsin called a timeout after a kill from Acevedo. The Gophers would get as close as three at 22-19, but UW held off the Gophers to win the fourth, 25-20. For the second time this season, the two border rivals were set to play a fifth set.
SET 5 | The Badgers started out the set hot, scoring five of the first seven points. Minnesota would respond, scoring three straight off kills by Grote and Wucherer to tie it up at 5-5. The Badgers would take the lead at 9-6 off a Minnesota service error, and ace and a kill, leading to a Gophers timeout. Kills from Shaffmaster and Wucherer cut the lead to one at 9-8, forcing a UW timeout. Minnesota took its first lead of the set at 13-12 on a Shaffmaster ace, leading to a Wisconsin timeout. The Gophers fought off multiple match points from UW after that as the two teams traded blows. Minnesota had a chance to close it out, leading 16-15, but was unable to do it. The Badgers eventually scored two straight to win an all out battle, 20-18, in set five.
Game Notes
» The Gophers are now 54-39 all-time against Wisconsin, including 19-26 in Madison. The Badgers have won six straight matches in Madison in this matchup.
» Lydia Grote tallied 17 kills for her 16th match this year with 10-or-more. She also went for a team-best six blocks.
» Julia Hanson had 20 kills for her 22nd match of the year with 10+. She’s had 10-or-more kills in 10 consecutive matches. It was her fifth with 20+ kills, including third straight. She also posted 18 digs for her sixth double-double of the year.
» Zeynep Palabiyik posted a team-high 22 digs for her 21st match of the year with 10+. It was her eighth with 20+.
» Melani Shaffmaster dished out a season-best 51 assists. She also went for 13 digs, totaling her 14th double-double of the season. She tied Rachel Hartman (4.925) for No. 6 all-time in career assists at Minnesota. She also passed Malama Peniata for No. 8 in digs (1,426).
» Mckenna Wucherer tallied 15 kills on the night. It was her sixth time in the last seven matches going for 10+.
» Phoebe Awoleye posted five blocks, for her 15th with 5+ blocks this year.
Up Next
Minnesota (17-10, 10-7 Big Ten) hosts Iowa (10-19, 4-13 B1G) on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 7:30 p.m.
(info and stock photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
