Returning to the Field House, the Badgers brought six new faces to the court and swept Bradley 25-17, 25-22, 25-14 in an exhibition match Tuesday night.
With two freshmen in the starting lineup, Charlie Fuerbringer at setter and Trinityh Shadd-Ceres at outside, the Badgers got off to a hot start. A combination of three separate 3-0 runs led UW to a 9-3 lead. Wisconsin continued to roll with a service ace from Shadd-Ceres and two kills from Sarah Franklin. Bradley responded with a 5-0 run of their own to pull it within one (14-13). Wisconsin pulled ahead with two aces from Franklin and maintained a steady lead from there, taking the first set 25-17.
Bradley took an early lead from the jump in the second set, and held onto that lead until the Badgers tied it up at 15-all. The teams battled back and forth, but a block from CC Crawford and Devyn Robinson gave Wisconsin a 21-18 lead and the Braves could not recover. UW won the second set 25-22.
Tied at three apiece, UW scored three in a row to take a 6-3 lead in the third. The Badgers maintained a steady lead, as they shared the offensive wealth with 12 kills among the hitters. Wisconsin closed out the set with authority, winning 25-14.
Carter Booth led the way with 12 kills, and Franklin was not far behind at 10 kills. Shadd-Ceres put up an impressive nine kills at her Badger debut. UW hit .341 (43 kills – 12 errors – 91 attempts).
The Badgers held Bradley to just .033 (22 kills – 19 errors – 91 attempts). Iva Popovic finished with a team-high 11 kills.
Fuerbringer led the offense for the first time tonight, and put up 36 assists, along with two service aces. Gulce Gictekin added two service aces, and Franklin recorded three of her own.
Guctekin tallied a team-high eight digs on the night. The Badgers outblocked Bradley 11.5-1.0, as Crawford, Booth and Robinson recorded five blocks each.
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