Wisconsin Badgers
5-4,0-0Big Ten
Marquette
3-5,0-0Big East
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marquette | 25 | 17 | 19 | 15 | 1 |
| Wisconsin | 22 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
No. 6 Badgers defeat Marquette in four sets
September 17, 2026 | Volleyball
Five Badgers tally double-digit kills
MADISON, Wis. — The No. 6 Wisconsin volleyball team defeated the Marquette Golden Eagles in four sets (22-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-15) on Thursday evening at the UW Field House.
Freshman Decelise Champion paved the way for Wisconsin with her first career double-double on a career-high 20 kills and 11 digs, also turning in three blocks. Freshman Audrey Flanagan added 13 kills and a trio of Badgers in Lynney Tarnow, Jaela Auguste and Eva Travis tallied 10 kills each.
Setter Charlie Fuerbringer continued to provide steadiness, chipping in 54 assists and six digs. Libero Anna Bardaro contributed 16 digs, her seventh double-figure total this season.
The match opened in back-and-forth fashion as both teams traded points before a 5-0 burst from Marquette forced the Badgers into a timeout. Wisconsin claimed the next two points off a kill from Auguste and an ace from Isabelle Hoppe before later putting together a 6-1 run.
Another late 3-0 burst from Wisconsin leveled the score 20-20, but Marquette claimed four of the last five rallies to grab the first set win, 25-22.
Wisconsin found a quick response in the second set, finding three separate 3-0 runs to help cruise to a 25-17 set victory. Champion helped spark two of those runs with kills, ending the set with a seven-kill performance on a hitting percentage of .778 (7 - 0 - 9) in the set alone.
UW maintained its momentum in the third set, sparking a 6-0 to take a six point advantage into the media timeout. In that span, Flanagan put together a strong performance from the service line, posting a service ace as Auguste and Travis each turned in a kill of their own.
From there, the Badgers saw another strong hitting performance from Champion and Flanagan. Champion turned in four more kills as Flanagan tallied another ace. Marquette provided a late answer, but Wisconsin won the last two rallies to seal the third set and take a 2-1 advantage into the fourth.
Flanagan continued to find a spark in the fourth set, tallying six kills in the frame. The two teams traded points to hold the score close, 16-14, before the Badgers went on a 9-1 run to seal the match win.
Straight from the Court:
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield (on the first-set comeback):
"Even when your best player or one of your best attackers is not on top of their game, there's enough talent in here where everybody else can kind of steady the boat and that's the goal. The goal is to be a great team, be resilient when things aren't going well, and lean on each other."
(on the team's progress this season)
"We're getting better every week. Certainly having Decelise and her size up there can make a difference as well. But across the board, I think we're understanding, we're getting cleaner feet and our hands, we're lining up a lot better. We're heading in the right direction."
Senior Eva Travis (on the Badgers' multiple attacking threats):
"We have so many weapons on our team. Charlie spreads us out a lot, which gives us one blocker a lot and that's why we're able to put up these numbers. It's just so fun to be able to rely on each other."
Notes:
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Wisconsin improves to 26-1 all-time against the Marquette Golden Eagles, and 14-1 when playing in Madison.
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With the win, the Badgers improve to 92-8 (.920) when playing at the UW Field House since 2020.
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The Badgers totaled 64 kills in the four sets, setting a new season-high.
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UW had five players who achieved double-figure kill totals in the four-set match over Marquette. Decelise Champion led all with 20, while freshman Audrey Flanagan added 13, and Jaela Auguste, Eva Travis and Lynney Tarnow tallied 10 each.
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Setter Charlie Fuerbringer dished out 54, one shy of her season-best of 55 against Florida on September 2.
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After missing the last five matches, middle blocker Jaela Auguste achieved a 10 kill, three block stat line.
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In her first match in the Field House, freshman Decelise Champion had a career and match high 20 kills, 11 digs, three blocks, and clipped a .441 (20-5-34) hitting percentage.
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Wisconsin clipped a .369 hitting percentage, a new season-high.
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With 16 digs, libero Anna Bardaro tallied her seventh match with a double-digit dig total.
Up Next: Wisconsin returns to the UW Field House to take on in-state rival Milwaukee on Friday, Sept. 18. First serve is set for 7 p.m. with the match airing on B1G+.
