Badgers Battle with Italian National Team

MILAN, Italy – The Wisconsin volleyball team took the Italian National Volleyball (B) Team to five sets, but fell just short of a victory, falling 20-25, 24-26, 25-19, 25-13, 11-15. The Badgers move to 3-1 in the Foreign Tour.
 
The Badgers got off to a bit of a slow start in the first set having always to try and play catch up. Julia Orzol led UW with seven kills in the set.
 
In the second set, Wisconsin trailed by as many as three points, but would fight back to tie the set eight different times. The Badger defense at the net stepped up, blocking the Italians six total times with five different players contributing towards the Badgers defensive wall. At 24-24, Italy would score to next two points for a two set lead.
 

update: the Badger block you know and love made the trip pic.twitter.com/7QJiFnZQ4h

— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) June 11, 2023

Italy looked to end the match early going up by as many as six points with a 12-6 advantage over the red and white, but Wisconsin slowly chipped away and eventually took an 18-17 lead, forcing Italy to take a timeout. Out of the timeout, Wisconsin held their opponent to just two points, winning the third set 25-19.
 
Wisconsin took the momentum from the second into the third and the team was firing on all cylinders, up 15-3 at one point, and eventually go on to win the fourth, 25-13 and force a fifth set, winner-take-all. MJ Hammill led the team with three aces in the set, while Gulce Guctekin and Orzol chipped in with a service ace each. The Badgers would finish with a total of nine aces in the match.
 
In the fifth set, Wisconsin would get within three points, but couldn’t overtake Italy, falling 11-15.
 
Carter Booth and Julia Orzol each reached double digit kills with Orzol leading the team with 15, while Booth had 11. Anna Smrek and Devyn Robinson each had nine kills as well.
 
Izzy Ashburn (23) and MJ Hammill (18) dished out a total of 41 assists, while the Badger bigs totaled 18 blocks at the net with Orzol leading the charge with four.
 
Next Up: The Badgers will get a second chance at the Italian National (B) Team Monday and round out their competition on the tour.