No. 1 Wisconsin sweeps up Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. — A dominant performance led the No. 1 Wisconsin volleyball team to a 25-18, 25-12, 25-13 sweep over Northwestern in the Big Ten season opener on Friday night.

After a competitive start to the first set, Wisconsin (10-0) took control.  A kill from senior Devyn Robinson sparked a 6-0 serving run from Gulce Guctekin and the Badgers secured a 18-11 lead. The Wildcats continued to fight, and brought it back within six (22-16), but kills from Temi Thomas-Ailara and Carter Booth put it out of reach for Northwestern (6-5). UW took the first set, 25-18. 

In the second set, Wisconsin dominated. The Wildcats got out to a 3-1 lead, but it was all Wisconsin from there. An 8-0 serving run from Julia Orzol, including two aces, along with a 7-0 serving run from Izzy Ashburn, propelled the Badgers to a commanding 25-12 victory in set two. 

8-0 run for BUCKY 🔥

Set 2

UW 11

NU 4 pic.twitter.com/oktK5OqcCJ

— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) September 23, 2023

Completing the sweep, UW continued their balanced attack in the third set, taking the set and match, 25-13. The Badgers took the lead from the get-go and didn’t look back, hitting a match-high .476 in the final frame. 

Robinson led the Badgers with a match-high 11 kills. Sarah Franklin and Carter Booth added nine and eight kills, respectively. Wisconsin hit .367 (41 kills – 8 errors – 90 attempts), while holding…