(UW ATHLETICS) MADISON – The No. 5 Wisconsin volleyball team (3-3) cruised past Auburn (3-2) in straight sets (25-23, 25-17, 25-20) at the Field House on Thursday night.
Freshman Halle Thompson led the way for Wisconsin with 11 kills and 11 digs, good for her first career double-double. Senior Eva Travis added 10 kills of her own, as Natalie Wardlow pitched in eight.
Junior Charlie Fuerbringer continued to be a staple at setter, adding 35 assists and 12 digs to combine for her 20th career double-double.
The Badgers came out firing right away, opening the set with a dominant 4-0 showing. Bardaro went to work from the service line, tallying her first ace of the match to cap off the early scoring run. Auburn charged back late in the set with a 4-0 scoring run of their own to bring the set level, 23-23, before a service error and kill from Flanagan sealed the first set win.
It was a back-and-forth affair to open the second frame. The Badgers found some separation in the middle of the set with the help of a 7-0 run, which featured kills from Tarnow and Thompson alongside a Badger block.
Wisconsin sealed the second set win in dominant fashion, embarking on a 13-4 run that was helped by Bardaro serving in a 7-0 run. Alongside the strong serving, the Badgers posted a season-high hitting percentage in the frame alone at .517 (18 – 3 – 29).
After trading points to open the third set, Auburn provided a response in the latter half of the set to hold a 17-16 lead late in the frame. UW provided an answer however, rattling off four straight points thanks to three kills from Travis and a block from Tarnow. From there, the Badgers cruised to their first home sweep of the season off a final Thompson kill.
With the win, the Badgers stand 1-0 all-time against the Tigers and improve to 2-0 at the Field House this season.
Straight from the Court:
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield (on Halle Thompson’s performance)
“I thought she was not just aggressive, but I thought offensively she was, she was smart. We gave her the ball an awful lot…Halle’s like a double shot of espresso. I wanted to make sure that we weren’t sleepy out there and the building wasn’t sleepy and I think people are excited to see her play. I know she was excited to see her play…. I just think she was really, really revved up tonight but we needed her. We needed those swings.”
(on the team’s discipline)
“We didn’t get tooled, we didn’t get used very much and when you got, when you’re playing against somebody with speed, it’s really easy to, for these wipe off shots and be chipped off the block. We were really disciplined with our hands. Our backcourt was just flying all over the place. So, we kept the ball off the ground, we controlled the ball, and then we worked in transition, and Charlie found our attackers, and you know, they were working hard in transition. A lot of our middle kills were transition”
Natalie Wardlow (on her mindset)
“My mindset is always on how can I be good for the team and not getting so into myself. Kelly always talks about finding those opportunities or just being ready to go in, and I think also tonight, just being there for my team and just making smart decisions.”
Eva Travis (on the team’s connection)
“Coming to a new team is never easy for anyone, but working in practice every day has helped a lot of us just to create our bond and our connection better.”
Notes:
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Thursday’s 3-0 win over Auburn marks the first win over the Tigers in program history. The two had previously not met.
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Freshman Halle Thompson hit a career-best 11 kills on 30 attempts. Thompson has tallied her first-career double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs.
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The Badgers had four players with double-figure dig totals. Anna Bardaro had a match-high 17 digs, Charlie Fuerbringer totaled 12, while Kristen Simon and Thompson had 11.
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Setter Charlie Fuerbringer recorded her 20th-career double-double with a 36 assist, 11 dig performance. This marks back-to-back matches with a double-double.
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The Badgers hit .305 (46-14-105), marking the second time this season where the team hit .300 or better. The last time Wisconsin hit .300 or better was on Aug. 22 over No. 7 Louisville when the team hit .327.
Up Next: Wisconsin heads south to take on No. 12 Texas A&M on Friday, Sept. 11. First serve is slated for 8 p.m., with the match airing on SEC ESPN Network.
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