(UW ATHLETICS) LOUISVILLE, KY – The No. 3 Wisconsin volleyball team dropped the first match of the season, as it lost to No. 6 Louisville 25-18, 17-25, 24-26, 20-25 at the KFC Yum! Center on Tuesday night.
The Badgers came out firing in front of a crowd of 9,280 and jumped out to a 6-1 lead, forcing an early timeout from Louisville in the first set. The Cardinals rallied back to bring it within two, at 11-9. But a quick 3-0 run gave UW a comfortable lead, and the Badgers never trailed. Wisconsin took the first set 25-18.
Set two brought back-and-forth battling, as the teams went point for point. After a kill from Carter Booth, the Cards went on a 4-0 run to force a Wisconsin timeout as Louisville took an 18-14 lead. The Badgers could not recover, as Louisville took the second set 25-17.
Coming from behind, Wisconsin rallied behind a 3-0 run fueled by Devyn Robinson with a solo block and back-to-back kills to take a 9-7 lead, but Louisville responded quickly with a 6-2 run to take a 15-12 lead. A solo block by Trinity Shadd-Ceres followed by a kill from Robinson tied it up at 16 apiece. The teams traded off points, but it was the Cardinals who strung together two points at the end to take the 26-24 victory, and a 2-1 lead in the match.
UW fell behind early, but climbed back to tie it up at 11-11 with a block from Robinson in fourth. The Badger block came alive with a huge block from Smrek and Booth to force a Louisville timeout as UW took a 16-14 lead. The Cards responded with a 4-1 run as the Badgers called a timeout, trailing 20-18. They couldn’t overcome the deficit and fell 20-25 in the final set.
Sarah Franklin led the Badgers offensively, with 17 kills, hitting.183. Wisconsin hit .179 (47 kills – 21 errors – 145 attempts) on the night.
The Cardinals finished the night hitting .166 (53 kills – 29 errors – 145 attempts). Charitie Luper and Sofi Maldanado Diaz tallied a team-high 11 kills.
Freshman Charlie Fuebringer got her first true start during the first match of the 2024 season, and put up 42 assists. Julia Orzol had the lone ace for the Badgers, but the team racked up 17 service errors.
Libero Gulce Gucktekin tallied 10 digs, and Orzol led the team with 11 digs. Robinson had a team-high 10 blocks, after transitioning from opposite to middle blocker this season.
Straight from the court
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield
On the AVCA First Serve Showcase: “I’m so excited to be a part of this event and what a great way of starting off the season, on a short runway as well, being able to pull this off. Kudos to the AVCA staff and everybody here in Louisville, that wasn’t something that was panned for years.”
On Service errors: “We have to have more players that are taking that part of the game more seriously in practice.”
Sarah Franklin
On takeaways from the match: “I’m excited to get back in the gym. We kind of have seen what we can do in that first set and I think just being able to close that out. Being able to trust each other at endgame situations in the red zone. Being able to perform under that pressure. It’s five points left, we just need to be better in that area.”
Julia Orzol
On finishing down the stretch: “I think it all comes down to mentality. And a part of film, we just have to go back and ask ourselves questions and what do we feel in that moment, and how can we go about it better next time?”
Notes to know
- Fifth year senior Sarah Franklin had 60 attempts – the most attempts in a four set match. Franklin previously set the record last season at Penn State back on November 11.
- In her first collegiate match, freshman Charlie Fuerbringer tallied 42 assists.
- Fifth year senior Devyn Robinson tied a career-high 10 blocks in a match. Robinson has now had 10 blocks four times in her career, the last occurring on December 18, 2021 against Nebraska.
Up Next
Wisconsin will be one of four teams competing in the 2024 Women’s College Volleyball Showcase at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wis. The Badgers will take on No. 1 Texas on Sunday at 11:30 am and No. 5 Stanford on Monday at 4 pm. Both matches will be aired on FOX.
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