MADISON, Wis. – A lot is on the line when Wisconsin and Minnesota meet in a Border Battle and that was the case on Wednesday night in the UW Field House. The Badger and Golden Gopher volleyball teams battled to the end with No. 11 Minnesota edging No. 15 Wisconsin 11-25, 26-24, 25-16, 24-26, 15-11.
 
"Two teams totally dominating a set each and then two other sets where two points could've gone either way," UW Head Coach Kelly Sheffield said. "Both teams won that, and (it was) a heck of a game five. I thought it was two teams that were embracing the battle and the fight. That was the best we have fought this year. That's who this team is going to be."
 
In a tough defensive battle that featured 27 blocks and 167 digs between the two teams, neither team hit well. Wisconsin (12-5, 4-3 Big Ten) hit .155 (63 kills - 34 errors - 187 total attempts) while Minnesota hit .147 (56-28-190).
 
The Badgers had a strong team performance with four players in double-figure kills and five players in double figure digs. Sophomore Kelli Bates led UW with 17 kills, tying her career high. Sophomore Lauryn Gillis (13), junior Haleigh Nelson (12) and junior Romana Kriskova (10) all added double-figure kills.
 
Minnesota was led by Daly Santana with 20 kills while Paige Tapp added 10.
 
In the back row, Wisconsin's Taylor Morey led all players with 24 digs while Lauren Carlini added a career-high 21 saves. Gillis (14), Bates (12) and Amber MacDonald (12) aided UW to a season high in digs. Gillis and Bates both recorded double-doubles in kills and digs while Carlini put up a match-high 54 assists to go with her digs to earn her team-best eighth double-double this season.
 
At the net, Minnesota outblocked UW 15-12. Freshman Tionna Williams tied her career high with seven blocks to lead the Badgers, followed by Nelson with five.
 
The Badgers came out firing in the first set and never looked back. Behind a balanced attack, UW grabbed a 17-7 lead to force a Gopher timeout. Nelson's second service ace of the set brought the score to 23-10, and kills by Kriskova and Gillis put the first set away.
 
In the second, Minnesota kept a slight lead until two straight blocks put the Badgers up 14-13. The Gophers regained the lead on two kills by Santana and went up 21-17 as hitting error proved costly to UW The Badgers rallied and a 4-0 run, sparked by a Bates kill, cut the lead to 21-20. Wisconsin held off four straight Minnesota set points but kills from Santana and Paige Tapp tied the match at 1-1.
 
The Badgers trailed 9-4 to start the third set and would never get closer than four (18-14) as Minnesota went up two sets to one.
 
With both teams refusing to back down, every point was a battle in the fourth set.  After trailing 6-2, a Kriskova kill sparked a 5-0 Badger run. Another Kriskova kill put the Badgers up 13-12, but a 4-0 run fueled by two Santana kills put Minnesota up 16-13. The Badgers clawed their way back thanks to sharp hitting Bates and improved passing. A Bates kill tied it at 22, but the Gophers served for match point at 24-22 after a block. Nelson staved off the first two match points in epic fashion with back-to-back kills and two Gopher errors sent the match to five sets.
 
Picking up right where she left off, Nelson got the Badgers on the board first in the fifth set with a statement-making kill. A kill apiece by Gillis and Williams tied it at three, but a 5-0 Gopher run, that included three Badger errors, proved to be too costly of a mistake. A Santana attack error and Bates kill brought it to 8-6, but the Badgers would get no closer. A Gillis kill cut the Gopher lead to 12-10 while a Carlini kill made it 13-11. A kill by Minnesota's Molly Lohman made it match point at 14-11 as another hitting error ended the marathon match.
 
 "Overall, like coach said, it's all about battling," Morey said. "Santana is a great player, but we're going to approach every match against her just like we do with other hitters in the Big Ten. Study their tendencies and figure out what we need to do to be successful against them."
 
UW has a shot at redemption this Saturday as the Badgers travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to face the Gophers in a Border Battle rematch at 8 p.m., in the Sports Pavilion.