NCAA Womens Volleyball

Badgers roll past No. 23 Trojans

UCLA

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The No. 6 Wisconsin volleyball team tallied six blocks in the final set to propel the Badgers to a 25-18, 25-19, 25-12 sweep of No. 23 USC on Thursday night.

The Badgers hit .333 (40 kills – 10 errors – 90 attempts) as Sarah Franklin finished with a match-high 13 kills. Carter Booth was one short of double figures with nine kills. 

USC hit just .079 (28 – 20 – 101) with outside hitter Ally Batenhorst leading the team with eight kills. 

Both teams looked to get their footing early as they exchanged six ties. The Badgers (19-5, 13-2 B1G) jump started a 4-0 run with a kill from Sarah Franklin followed by back-to-back aces from her as well. UW led 13-10 as USC (17-8, 9-6 B1G) called a timeout. Out of the break, the Trojans scored two points to bring it back within one (13-12), but Wisconsin didn’t let USC get too comfortable, notching two kills and forcing two USC hitting errors, grabbing an 18-13 lead. USC rallied to bring it back within four (21-17), but couldn’t break through. Wisconsin took set one 25-18. 

Wisconsin created some distance early in set two as Devyn Robinson and Franklin went kill for kill and forced a USC timeout, trailing 4-9. USC slowly chipped away, capitalizing off three kills from Jadyn Livings and two team service aces as the Trojans now faced only a 15-14 deficit. USC inched closer again at 17-16 but failed to tie it up. The Badgers finished off set two on a 5-1 run to take it 25-19. 

Wisconsin started out set three on a 7-1 run highlighted by back-to-back blocks from Anna Smrek and Booth to prompt a USC…

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