LINCOLN, Neb. – The No. 2 seeded Wisconsin volleyball team was swept by No. 1 Nebraska 24-26, 17-25, 21-25 in the NCAA Regional Final on Sunday afternoon.
Nebraska swept Wisconsin in all three meetings between the two teams this season.
The Badgers were led by Sarah Franklin with 12 kills, as the team hit .126 (38 kills – 22 errors – 127 attempts) on the day.
The Huskers hit .210 (42 – 17 – 119), with Taylor Landfair leading the way with a match-high 13 kills.
The match started with the two teams going kill-for-kill before a 4-0 serving run from Gulce Guctekin, fueled by a kill and a block from Julia Orzol, pushed the Badgers ahead 6-4. UW upped their lead to 11-7 after back-to-back aces by Charlie Fuerbringer. Nebraska (33-2) took the lead at 15-14 after a triple block on Sarah Franklin’s hit out of the back row. The Huskers maintained that lead to force a UW timeout. Out of the break, Nebraska scored three more to take a 21-16 advantage and force a second Wisconsin timeout. The Badgers rallied to tie it up at 24-all after two kills in a row from Anna Smrek. A service error by Lola Schumacher and a kill by Taylor Landfair gave Nebraska the first set, 26-24.
Nebraska came out strong in set two to take a commanding 8-2 lead. The Badgers sided out with a kill by CC Crawford, but the Huskers sided out right away and extended their cushion to a 10-point lead (14-4). Wisconsin slowly chipped away at the lead, bringing it back within five on two occasions at 15-10 and then again at 22-17. The Huskers scored the final three points to win it, 25-17.
Wisconsin picked up the intensity in the third set, notching back-to-back blocks followed by a kill to take a 5-2 lead. The Huskers put together a quick 3-0 run to tie it back up at 7-7. The Badgers took a four-point lead heading into the media timeout. Out of the timeout, the Huskers ran four-straight to force a Wisconsin timeout. Smrek tallied a kill to side out, but Nebraska picked right back up where they left off with another 4-0 burst to take a 19-16 lead. Franklin brought it within one (20-21) with a kill, but Nebraska pulled away and took the set and match, 25-21.
Fuerbringer finished with 32 assists and nine digs. Franklin and Orzol each finished with nine digs, as well. Nebraska out-blocked Wisconsin…
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