Oct. 8, 2011
Wisconsin 3, 18 Michigan 1
Cliff Keen Arena • Ann Arbor, Mich. | |
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| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Wisconsin
| 25 | 25 | 18 | 25 | -- | Michigan
| 18 | 19 | 25 | 15 | -- | | | | Stats Leaders
| | WIS | | MICH | | Chapman - 12 | Kills | Hunt - 15 | | Thomas - 24 | Assists | Dannemiller - 45 | | Thompson - .412 | Hit %
| Fletcher - .312 | | Thomas - 15 | Digs | Donhoff - 19 | | Graff/Mitchell - 6 | Blocks | Cross - 4 | | Hickey - 2 | Aces | Dannemiller - 2 | | Stats Comparison
| WIS | MICH | | Kills | 53 | 49 | | Hitting Pct. | .259 | .137 | | Assists | 48 | 48 | | Service Aces | 4 | 4 | | Digs | 59 | 53 | | Total Blocks | 16.0 | 10.0 | | |
• Box Score | Box Score 
MADISON, Wis. -- Behind a strong offense and a conference season-high 16 total blocks, the Wisconsin volleyball team beat No. 18 Michigan, 3-1, on Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich., for its second upset over a ranked team in six days.
| Fast Facts | | • Badgers win over highest-ranked team since 2009 | | • UW ties season high with 16.0 total blocks | | • Three different players get more than 10 kills | |
The Badgers (11-7, 3-3 Big Ten) beat the Wolverines (14-4, 2-4) 25-18, 25-19, 18-25, 25-15 to finish 2-2 during their first Big Ten road stand of the season. The 18th-ranked Michigan squad was the highest ranked opponent that a Wisconsin team beat since the Badgers defeated then-No. 13 Michigan two seasons ago.
"That was fun," said head coach Pete Waite after the match. "We just came out very composed and we passed well. We didn't have to make a lot of subs because everyone was doing well out there."
Three different players scored on 10 or more kills each for the Badgers, led by freshman Ellen Chapman with 12. Sophomore Dominique Thompson tied her career-high with 11 kills, while freshman Crystal Graff finished with 10. Thompson also led all players with her .412 hitting percentage (11 kills - 4 errors - 17 attempts). Lexi Hunt had a team-high 15 kills for Michigan, while Courtney Fletcher had eight for UM.
The Badgers hit .259 (53-18-135) as a team while the Wolverines hit .137 (49-29-146).
Wisconsin outdug Michigan 59-53 behind freshman Courtney Thomas' 15 saves. Senior Janelle Gabrielsen and sophomore Annemarie Hickey finished with 14 and 13 digs, respectively, to lead the Badger defense. Sloane Donhoff led all players with 19 saves for Michigan.
Both setters recorded double-doubles on Saturday night, with Thomas adding 24 assists and Gabrielsen adding 19.
The Badgers also had the advantage in total team blocks over the Wolverines at 16 - 10 behind Graff's career-high six total blocks, including three solo stuffs. Junior Alexis Mitchell also finished with six blocks, while Thompson recorded five. Chapman also had two block solos for UW.
"It was strong," said Waite about his team's defense. "Ellen and Crystal did a great job just sealing the seam between the middles...sometimes getting the one-and-ones, just jumping in and getting them the way we've been teaching them.
"They're learning quickly. It was nice to see it all show up at one time tonight."
After the teams tied the first three points of the opening set, Wisconsin scored on a kill from Gabrielsen and capitalized on two straight Michigan attack errors to go up 6-3 and it never looked back. The Wolverines were able to put together a 4-0 run to cut UW's lead to 18-16, but the Badgers responded with a 4-0 run of their own to take the lead for the rest of the set.
Wisconsin scored four straight points in the beginning of the second set to go up 5-1 and force a Michigan timeout. The Wolverines came back to pull within one point, but that marked the closest point of the set. Wisconsin hit a set-high .344 as a team with only two errors in the second set, while Michigan hit .205 (15-7-39).
Waite says he's happy with his team's fast starts to the first two sets of the match.
"As a staff, we've been talking to them about mental toughness," he explained. "It's something you can talk to them about until you're blue in the face, but they've got to come out and (be) composed and confident, use positive self-talk, a lot of different things we work on.
"It's starting to show up more and more, and that's what's exciting."
The momentum of the match switched to Michigan's side of the court after the break, as the Wolverines were up 13-3 over the Badgers at one point in the third set. Although Wisconsin rallied to cut Michigan's lead to just three points at 16-13, its efforts came too late. Michigan scored two straight kills at the end of the third set to win it 25-18.
The Badgers rallied to start the fourth set after an early 3-0 Michigan run to go up 5-3. Although the Wolverines tied the set twice, the Badgers kept UM to a -.024 (9-10-42) hitting percentage in the final frame while hitting .286 (14-4-35) themselves. Wisconsin sealed the win with a 6-0 run late in the set and a kill from Mitchell at the second match point.
Up next for the Badgers is a match with No. 6 Nebraska at the UW Field House on Friday at 7 p.m. Although Saturday's win will certainly give his team a boost of confidence before the teams' highly-anticipated first match as conference opponents, Waite says that they didn't overlook this weekend's opponents because of that.
"The Big Ten is just that way," he said. "You really can't look past anybody - you can't look to some bigger name or higher ranked team (on your schedule). You just got to improve your game, and get the win when you can, especially the road wins. That's phenomenal."
Friday's match is Rowdy Crowd Night and part of the Naturally Pink ticket promotion for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For more information on both promotions or to order tickets, visit uwbadgers.com.
