MADISON, Wis. – On a special senior night, the No. 7 Badgers concluded the regular season with a 25-19, 26-28, 25-19, 25-18 win over Michigan State on Saturday night in the UW Field House.
Seniors Sarah Franklin and Julia Orzol both finished with double figure kills, as Franklin recorded 23 and Orzol added 13. As a team, Wisconsin hit .262 (59 kills – 20 errors – 149 attempts) on the night.
Outside hitter Taylor Preston led the Spartans with 16 kills, and as a team they finished at .144 (51 – 28 – 160).
The Badgers (23-6, 17-3 B1G) got out to a strong start in set one, establishing a 9-5 lead. But Michigan State (13-18, 6-14 B1G) erased the lead to tie it up at 10-all. A Franklin kill kickstarted a 6-0 run for UW, highlighted by two service aces from CC Crawford to give the Badgers a 16-10 lead. The Spartans got it as close as 21-19 again but couldn’t break through, as Wisconsin scored the final four points to win it 25-19.
The Badgers picked up right where they left off, grabbing a 4-1 lead in the second set, but Michigan State responded with three kills in a row to take the lead at 6-5. The teams battled back and forth, trading points and runs. The Spartans held off two Wisconsin set points before winning the second set 28-26 and tie the match at one apiece.
Wisconsin regained its momentum in the third set, but back-to-back errors from UW tied it up at seven apiece. Wisconsin hit its stride with two blocks in a row by Charlie Fuerbringer and Carter Booth that led to a 6-1 run, as MSU called a timeout down 7-10. UW continued to build upon the lead, tallying nine total blocks in set three. The Badgers took set three 25-19.
Wisconsin fell behind early in the fourth set, but quickly tied it up at five-all. UW forced an MSU timeout after three kills, two from Franklin and one from Orzol, as they led 10-6. Wisconsin maintained a steady lead throughout the set. Julia Orzol tallied two service aces in three serves to give the Badgers a 22-14 advantage. From there, UW finished it out with a kill from Booth to win it 25-18.
Wisconsin finished with four players in double-figure digs, as libero Saige Damrow led the way with 19. Both Lola Schumacher and Charlie Fuerbinger added 12 and Orzol finished with 10….
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