MADISON, Wis. -- It may have been a slow start but the No. 13 Wisconsin volleyball team came from behind to win a thrilling first set and carried that momentum through the rest of the match to sweep No. 25 Michigan. The Badgers downed the Wolverines 32-30, 25-12, 25-20 on Friday night in the UW Field House.
 
In front of the third-straight sell-out crowd of 6,012, the Badgers (17-6, 9-4 Big Ten) gave the fans plenty to cheer about. Wisconsin had three players in double-figure kills as it hit .311 (51 kills - 14 errors - 119 total attempts), while Michigan connected on just .138 (37-20-123) of its attempts.
 
"There's not a lot to complain about tonight," UW Head Coach Kelly Sheffield said. "I was proud of the way that we battled in game one even after they came back and they were battling with us.
 
"We had a couple service errors by both teams there kind of toward the end, and each time we responded the right way with a good pass and didn't side out. Like I told them down in the locker room, I thought we did a great job of getting back to work. That game one was a heck of a battle."
 
Junior Haleigh Nelson and sophomore Lauryn Gillis each totaled a match-high 14 kills. Sophomore Kelli Bates added 10 kills and picked up her ninth double-double of the season with 10 digs.
 
Impressive hitting by the Wolverines put Michigan ahead to start the first set, but what looked to be a slow start by the Badgers soon became a set to remember. The set seemed out of reach after a Wolverine block brought the score to 21-17, but a kill by redshirt junior Romana Kriskova sparked a pivotal 6-0 Badger run that restored life to the UW defense.
 
Nelson fired off a kill to bring the first set point at 24-23, but a Michigan block and kill quickly reversed the tide to make it Wolverine set point at 25-24. Rising to the occasion was Gillis, who fired off two straight kills to bring yet another set point for UW at 26-25. But a service error for each side and a Michigan kill tied it up at 27-27. Two straight kills by Nelson staved off another Wolverine set point at 29-28 and gave Wisconsin set point at 30-29. A kill by Michigan's Caroline Knop brought the score to 30-30, marking the 14th tie of the set. To seal the Badger comeback, Nelson added her ninth kills of the set and teamed with Kriskova for the set-winning block.  
 
Just shy of the school record of 34 points, the Badgers held off four Michigan set points while converting on their third set point.
 
"Haleigh Nelson came out and had a career match in the first set," Sheffield said. "Having nine kills in the first set… so we were kind of riding her in the first set. She came into the match with a lot of confidence, and it's good to see her holding on to that throughout the start of the match. We're excited for her. She did a nice job."
 
The Badgers carried their momentum into the second set and never looked back. A 7-1 UW run forced a Michigan timeout, but there was no slowing Wisconsin as two service aces by Bates extended the UW lead to 12-2. An ace by freshman Amber MacDonald paired with a Gillis swing brought another Michigan timeout at 16-4, but the Wolverines had no answer to the powerful UW attack. Unlike the first set, the Badgers ended the set right away as a Gillis kill and block with junior Tori Blake sent Wisconsin to the locker room with plenty of confidence.
 
After racing to a 7-3 lead in the third set, the Badgers struggled to defend an energized Michigan offense as the Wolverines went on an 8-1 run to tie it at 11. Behind two straight blocks and one kill apiece from Kriskova and Nelson, a 4-0 Badger run gave UW a comfortable 17-13 lead. Refusing to go down without a fight, the Wolverines came as close as 20-18 as the Badgers struggled to put the ball away.  To complete the sweep, a block by Kriskova and Nelson brought set point at 24-19. Another Knop kill held off the first match point but a big swing by Bates out of the middle sealed the victory.  
 
On defense, UW and Michigan recorded eight blocks apiece but the Badgers had a 54-45 advantage in digs. Nelson and Kriskova led UW with four blocks apiece
 
Senior Taylor Morey tallied a match-high 22 digs. Wisconsin finished with a 4-2 advantage at the service line as Bates tied her career best with two aces.  
 
Junior Lauren Carlini tallied a match-high 44 assists and chipped in eight digs.
 
The Badgers complete their four-match home stretch this Sunday as they take on Michigan State at noon in the Field House live on ESPN2.