Badgers make a STATEment | Wisconsin Badger

by Junna Base November 10, 2024

MADISON, Wis. – The No. 7 Badgers hit .465 in a 25-23, 25-12, 25-13 victory over No. 3 Penn State on Saturday afternoon, handing the Nittany Lions their first Big Ten loss of the season.

Wisconsin (18-5, 12-2 B1G) recorded just three errors en route to a .465 batting average with 50 kills on 101 attempts. Sarah Franklin And Anna Smrek both finished with 13 kills. Julia Orzol Added 11 kills to round out double-digit kills.

Penn State (23-2, 13-1) hit .117 (36 kills – 22 errors – 120 attempts), with Camryn Hannah leading the team with 10 kills.

The Badgers blanked Penn State’s block by outsmarting the PSU 11 to zero. CC Crawford and Smrek each reached five blocks.

For the second game in a row, freshman Charlie Fuerbringer posted a double-double with 38 assists and 12 digs, a match-high.

After a back-and-forth start, the score was tied at 7 as the Badgers went on a 4-0 run with three kills from Franklin to give UW an 11-7 lead. Penn State called a timeout to slow the run. They were tied at halftime, but Wisconsin extended its lead to 14-8 with back-to-back kills from Smrek. From there, the Nittany Lions got back on track with two straight aces and forced a UW timeout with the Badgers leading 15-12. It was a tight 25 point race with a tie at 22 points after Jess Mruzik defeated UW. The Badgers scored two points in a row to secure the set point. Penn State held off a set point before Wisconsin closed out the first set 25-23.

It was all Wisconsin in the second set. The Badgers posted a 13-0 record, giving the team a 15-2 lead. Within this run Julia Orzol scored four kills, Crawford managed two kills and two blocks and Smrek recorded two consecutive kills. The Nittany Lions scored just 10 more points as the Badgers cruised to a 25-12 win in the second set.

UW picked up right where they left off in the third set. Penn State held a 2-1 lead, but Wisconsin never trailed after that. It was a 4-0 run fueled by a solo block and a kill from Devyn Robinson and two kills from Franklin that gave Wisconsin an 11-4 lead. Everything was going full speed for Wisconsin and the Nittany Lions couldn’t slow them down. Wisconsin ended the game with a three-point run and won 25-13.

Straight from the court

Head coach Kelly Sheffield
About the game overall: “That’s a hell of a team we played against on the other side of the net. We put the pressure on and got over the finish line in the first set. I thought our maturity and determination were on display tonight. They threw a lot of balls.” Lola [Schumacher]. Our two freshmen played really, really well tonight, and that was probably Charlie’s fault [Fuerbringer] best match.”

What stood out: “What I really enjoyed is that for most of the game, if there was a service error, we came right back, stuck the pass and had a lot of first-ball kills. In the first game we played two in a row, but when we From then on, we didn’t stop the pass, we played at a very high level, out of system.”

Outside attacker Sarah Franklin:
What went well: “It was so much fun. I think we were all kind of dominated by the joy of this game and we just found things that clicked and we tried over and over again to find that and it was just a lot of fun to be a part of.” There.”

Middle blocker CC Crawford:
The key to victory: “I think an important factor that dominates today is simply communication. Communication before and after the games. I feel like we’re putting a lot of emphasis in the middle by leaving out our left hand. She really likes to take that undercut and just close that seam and.” Anna does a great job setting up the block so it makes my job easier.

Opposite Anna Smrek
About the atmosphere: “We made a point of looking out for each other and I feel like when we do that, everything kind of flows. Then the fun is just crazy, and then of course the energy of the fans in the field house.” That just adds to it.

Notes on knowledge

Wisconsin held Penn State to its lowest hitting percentage so far this season at .117 (36 kills – 22 errors – 120 attempts).

For the 13th time this season, Wisconsin posted double-digit block scores. Wisconsin outrebounded Penn State 11.0-0.0.

Wisconsin outscored its opponent for the 20th time this season.

Freshman setter for the second year in a row Charlie Fuerbringer scored a double-double. Fürbringer had 32 assists and 12 digs. Against the Nittany Lions, Fürbringer totaled 38 assists and 12 digs.

The last time the Badgers beat Penn State was on September 30, 2022 at the Field House. Wisconsin won 25-20, 25-16, 31-29. Overall, this is the fifth time in program history that Wisconsin has defeated Penn State.

Today’s game marked the first time this season that Wisconsin did not allow an opponent’s block.

Wisconsin hit. 465 (50 kills – 3 errors – 101 attacks), the second best strike rate in three sets this season.

Junior Carter Booth reached the 500-kill milestone against Penn State. Going into today’s game, Booth only needed two kills to reach the milestone.

Freshmen Lola Schumacher reached 10, just four digs away from 300 digs this season. Schumacher is just 26 digs away from breaking into the top five in freshman digs. Kristen Roman (1985) is No. 5 with 322, while Jocelyn Wack, who tops the list, recorded 567 for the Badgers in 2004.