Badger status: ELITE | Wisconsin Badgers

MADISON, Wis. — In front of a fired up UW Field House crowd, the No. 3 Wisconsin volleyball team beat Penn State, 25-11, 28-30, 25-12, 25-18, in the NCAA Regional Semifinals on Thursday night.

It was all tied up at 3-3, until a kill from Carter Booth kicked off a 5-0 run from the Badgers (29-3) and forced an early Penn State (23-9) timeout to start the first set. The Nittany Lions sided out after the timeout, and the two teams traded points back and forth to make it 11-7 in favor of the Badgers. A quick UW 3-0 run was halted by a kill from Hannah Camryn. However, Wisconsin responded with a 10-1 run, including back-to-back blocks from Booth and Devyn Robinson to give the Badgers a 21-8 advantage. From there, the Badgers closed it out on a kill from Temi Thomas-Ailara, taking the first set 25-11. 

After the Badgers ran away with set one, Penn State came out in set two with more intensity. Wisconsin grabbed the lead from the jump, but Penn State remained in striking distance until they were able to tie it up at 17-all. A kill by Robinson gave UW set point at 24-23, but Penn State sided out. Wisconsin earned another set point at 25-24 but Penn State put another stop to it. The Badgers then fought off three set points after running out of subs before Penn State took the second set 30-28. 

Wisconsin came out of the break strong and grabbed a quick 4-0 lead in the third set. Penn State battled back to bring it within one…