NCAA Girls
November 24, 2023
MADISON, Wisconsin — Just a few takeaways from Wisconsin’s 25-22, 28-26, 25-16 victory Friday over Nebraska.
Wisconsin (25-3, 16-3 Large Ten) is best with 6-foot-9 Anna Smrek.
Nebraska (27-1, 18-1) won’t end unbeaten.
And on this what-have-done-for-me-lately world of NCAA Division I girls’s volleyball, each groups get no relaxation after a three-set, 1-hour, 48-minute slugfest: Wisconsin performs host to Iowa whereas Nebraska goes to Minnesota.
“This match for us wasn’t about Nebraska,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield mentioned. “It actually wasn’t. Whenever you’ve misplaced two out of your final three, it was about us taking part in properly. It was actually necessary to us for us to start out taking part in properly. Irrespective of who we had been taking part in.”
But it surely was a sweep of Nebraska, the rival of all rivals, and a group that occurred to be the lone unbeaten.
“It was not about ending anyone’s undefeated season,” Sheffield mentioned. “None of us went into this 12 months saying if we play anyone’s that undefeated let’s go and bury them. Or it’s Nebraska, let’s go. We needed to play properly headed into the match.
“Are we one of the best group? Once we’re taking part in properly we’re a handful, I do know that. I additionally know there are a number of groups that may stress you in a number of alternative ways. And that group over the course of the season has earned the correct to say they’re one of the best group within the nation. They’ve been taking part in actually, rather well. At present was our day and we’ve bought one other one in 24 hours.”
The loss earlier than a rocking UW Discipline Home crowd of seven,229 shouldn’t hold top-ranked Nebraska from being the highest seed within the NCAA Match — the bracket choice announcement is Sunday — and the victory actually ensured that No. 3 Wisconsin will get one of many coveted high seeds.
“It might be against the law in the event that they’re not,” Nebraska coach John Prepare dinner mentioned.
Anna Smrek had 18 kills — six within the third set with one error in 13 assaults for Wisconsin. She hit .378 after having 4 errors in 37 complete assaults, and had three blocks. Smrek set the bar when, as a freshman, she led Wisconsin that epic five-set 2021 NCAA title match win over Nebraska during which she had 14 kills with two errors in 28 swings and 7 blocks. That got here two days after she had 20 kills with one error in 27 assaults within the five-set semifinal win over Louisville.
“It (felt prefer it) on our aspect, the way in which our group simply caught collectively and we appeared to one another and everyone was on the identical web page about what we needed to do that afternoon,” Smrek mentioned. “All of us needed it and we had been hungry and that’s how I might evaluate it to that national-championship recreation.”
Sarah Franklin had 16 kills — eight within the first set — with two errors in 33 swings, hit .424 and had 12 digs. Temi Thomas-Ailara had two matches in a single. Earlier than she bought her first kill early within the second set, she had 4 errors in seven assaults and was hitting minus .571. She completed with eight kills with out an error in her final 16 swings and hit .174 to go together with a block and two digs.
“When she was bodily she was actually good,” Sheffield mentioned.
Devyn Robinson had 5 kills in 10 errorless assaults and two digs and Carter Guide had 4 kills with one error in 9 assaults, an help, a dig and two blocks, one solo. CC Crawford had a kill in three errorless tries, an help, an ace, a dig and 4 blocks, one solo.
Setter MJ Hammill had 25 assists, two aces and 9 digs, and counterpart Izzy Ashburn had 17 assists and a dig.
“It’s good to have all of the items,” Sheffield mentioned. “We haven’t had a number of matches the place we’ve had everyone accessible.”
That was actually apparent when the Badgers went to Penn State on November 11 with out Smrek, who was in concussion protocol. Wisconsin misplaced in 4. Six days later, at Purdue and once more with out the product of Welland, Ontario, Canada, the Badgers misplaced in 5.
Smrek returned for Wisconsin’s sweep at Indiana final Sunday and had 10 kills with two errors in 12 swings and 5 blocks. That was only a warmup for Friday.
Would Wisconsin have gained these matches at Penn State and Purdue with Smrek?
“It’s a journey,” Hammill mentioned. “We don’t like to present excuses to why we’re dropping matches or not taking part in to our full potential, as a result of that’s simply promoting your self brief. That’s not championship habits, that’s not what we wish to be doing.”
“Whenever you’re taking part in Nebraska there’s this steadiness of being bodily and affected person, as a result of their protection, their ball management, their setting, their group is simply actually good,” Sheffield mentioned. “For those who get annoyed it permits and results in errors. Whenever you play actually good defensive groups you will get annoyed and provides away a bunch of factors.”
That, apparently, is what occurred to Nebraska within the third set when Wisconsin had 17 kills with one error in 27 assaults.
The primary set felt like two boxers swinging arduous however not connecting. Nebraska bolted to an early lead and Wisconsin by no means was forward till 20-19. The Badgers went up 24-20 earlier than lastly closing it on a kill by Franklin.
Nebraska appeared in command of the second set, one which had a late-tournament really feel, main by three on numerous events, the final at 13-10. The Huskers had been nonetheless forward 17-15 earlier than Wisconsin charged forward 19-17. Then Nebraska went on a 5-0 run. The forwards and backwards continued till Wisconsin broke a 26-26 tie on an assault error by Merritt Beason and kill by Sales space.
Wisconsin simply dominated the third, fairly a turnaround from dropping at Nebraska in 5 on October 25-22, 17-25, 20-25, 26-24, 15-13.
“I believed the primary two video games had been nice. We had our probabilities,” Prepare dinner mentioned. “I believed it was actually high-level volleyball, it was enjoyable to observe. I might have paid the admission charge to observe that. Wisconsin made the performs.”
Harper Murray led the Huskers with 15 kills after a second set during which she was spectacular, getting 9 kills with one error in 15 swings to go together with an ace, a block and 7 digs.
“Harper hasn’t been taking part in that properly recently and I believed she stepped up:],” Prepare dinner mentioned.
Beason had 11 kills, a block and 7 digs, and Ally Batenhorst had 11 kills, hit .409 after having two errors in 22 assaults, and added two digs. Setter Bergen Reilly had a kill, 32 assists and 10 digs.
“The Large Ten is a dogfight on a regular basis. Each single match. That’s an ideal group,” Hamill mentioned. “I’m positive there will likely be a time after we will see them once more (within the NCAA Match).
Wisconsin hit .357, Nebraska .243. Wisconsin had a 6-3 benefit in blocks and 45 digs to the Huskers’ 45. Each groups served powerful as Wisconsin had 5 aces and 5 errors and Nebraska three and three.
“We made some progress, however I’m giving Wisconsin all of the credit score,” Prepare dinner mentioned. “They made the performs when it mattered and bought it completed these first two video games.”
It added as much as the tip of the undefeated season, and, to save lots of you from trying it up, the final groups to go undefeated had been Penn State, 38-0 in 2008 and 2009 as a part of its 2007-2010 four-year NCAA-title run.
“All people else talks about it, so we by no means discuss it,” Prepare dinner mentioned. “We made a number of nice effort to get thus far, we gained the Large Ten, however this can be a actually good studying match for us. Now we have a greater understanding. As an alternative of me telling them, they realized from the expertise tonight what it’s going to take.”
A reset and a educating second?
“That’s how we’re taking a look at this week,” Prepare dinner mentioned. “As a result of subsequent week there’s no room for error.”
That wasn’t misplaced on Rodriguez, the Nebraska tremendous junior libero who had eight digs and eight assists. She’s been by the Large Ten wars and has performed right here. For thus a lot of her younger teammates, this was a primary to Wisconsin, the second-toughest place to play.
“Higher to occur now than two weeks from now,” Rodriguez mentioned. “Now we have to remind them there’s a lot extra to the season and one loss doesn’t decide our group’s success. We’ve completed so many nice issues this season and we simply have to return to fascinated with how we had been in a position to get these large wins over groups and carry that from there.”
