Wisconsin volleyball defeated No. 2 Nebraska at the UW Field House

MADISON – This was one of those rare nights at the UW Field House where the result said it all, although not in a good way for the Wisconsin volleyball team.

The Badgers, ranked No. 7 according to the American Volleyball Coaches Association, were defeated by No. 2 Nebraska in front of a sellout crowd. The 25-21, 25-22, 25-19 final was the first time Wisconsin had been defeated at home since 2016, when it lost to Minnesota.

“Their defense was really strong. “It’s not often you get to play someone who can keep you under .100,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Shefield said. “I thought our offense was pretty ineffective most of the night. This was mainly due to how strong they were defensively.

“They were excellent defensively. I thought we fought, but a lot of times in the rallies I felt like we were on defense a lot of the time and they were in attack mode.”

While the Cornhuskers' status as the second-best team in the country meant the result was no surprise, the manner in which they defeated the Badgers was somewhat impressive.

Nebraska (21-1, 11-0 Big Ten) held UW to a season-low .094 hitting percentage and forced the Badgers into 24 hitting errors, their second-highest total of the season. Nebraska also recorded five aces, a symbol of how much they kept UW away from the service line.

The news wasn't all bad. Defensively, Wisconsin held Nebraska to a .202 batting average, which was the Cornhuskers' second-lowest of the season and worst in Big Ten play.

Senior Caroline Crawford had six blocks for UW, but overall the team finished with nine blocks, snapping a streak of seven straight double-digit performances in that statistic.

The Badgers couldn't close. UW had a 21-20 lead in the second set but was outscored 5-1 to close out the set. In the third set, Nebraska had a 19-18 lead and finished with a 6-1 lead.

“I mean, that game hurt,” senior Devyn Robinson said. “You know, we have a few things we can figure out and that just brings us closer as a team, figuring out how to get better and socialize more and how to get ourselves out of holes like that.”

Senior outside hitter Taylor Landfair finished the game with 13 kills for the Cornhuskers, a team-high. Senior Merritt Beason, another outside hitter, had the team's most efficient night with 11 kills and a .391 hitting percentage.

Wisconsin's two best hitters, seniors Sarah Franklin and Anna Smrek, come into the game and combine for a 0.09 batting average. Together they made 76 swings. The rest of the Badgers weren't much better, hitting 0.10 in 41 attacks.

“We knew Nebraaska was going to be a strong defensive team, and so I knew it had to be tough and hard the whole time coming into the game,” Franklin said. “They picked up the ball really well and also got block touches. I just tried to stay on the ball and do what I could with the ball.”

The setback also dropped UW to 4-5 against ranked teams.

The loss puts the Badgers in a difficult position in the Big Ten race. They are two games behind first-place Penn State and nine and a half games behind Nebraska with nine games to go.

Wisconsin plays at Illinois on Sunday and hosts No. 3 Penn State next Saturday. UW's return game against Nebraska is Nov. 23. A rematch with Minnesota, which beat the Badgers in their conference opener, is scheduled for Nov. 20.

In other words, Wisconsin still has a chance to make a statement before the postseason.

“We're a veteran team,” Franklin said, “but that also includes the ability to act like (veterans) and develop as the season goes on and stay hungry and grow in other aspects, maybe outside of volleyball.” maybe on the field, different things we can do to give ourselves that advantage because right now where we are, we don’t have that.”

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