MADISON, Wis. – It was a tale of the good and the bad on Friday night for the fourth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team.
The good was that Wisconsin set the NCAA regular-season attendance record as a sold-out crowd of 16,833 filled the Kohl Center.
The bad was that the Badgers (5-2) fell to No. 16 Florida in five sets, 21-25, 18-25, 28-26, 25-13, 13-15.
UW started out slow, losing the first two sets and trailing by as many as six points (19-13) in the third set. But behind the block of Caroline Crawford, Wisconsin rallied to tie the score at 22. The Badgers served for set point at 24-22 but Florida (7-2) rallied to know the set at 24. The Gators served for match point at 26-25 but UW scored three straight, including a service ace by Izzy Ashburn, that sent the match to four sets.
The Badgers dominated the fourth set and led 8-5 in the decisive fifth set before Florida got its second wind. The Gators went on a 4-0 run to lead 9-8. Wisconsin tied the score at 10 and against at 11 but errors cost UW in the period as Florida scored four of the last six points. Wisconsin had six hitting errors and two service errors in the final stanza.
It was defense that ruled the night as Wisconsin out-blocked the Gators, 20-16, including 10 stops from Crawford. Danielle Hart added eight blocks while Anna Smrek (7) and Devyn Robinson (6) also had strong nights at the net.
Both teams hit .115 but…
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