Despite having a great deal of momentum from a pair of conference victories last weekend, the No. 11 Wisconsin volleyball team (6-3 Big Ten, 14-5 overall) could not bring border rival No. 17 Minnesota's (8-1, 14-5) hot streak to an end last night, as the Badgers fell to the Golden Gophers 30-20, 30-25, 30-28.
Minnesota now holds sole possession of second place in the Big Ten after handing UW its third conference loss in five games.
Even though senior outside hitter Maria Carlini returned to the starting lineup after being out three matches with a foot injury, the Badgers could not get themselves into an offensive rhythm. Wisconsin hit .133 for the night, including a .022 percentage in the first game. Carlini shared a team-high 13 kills with freshman outside hitter Brittney Dolgner.
""Our passing wasn't that great and setting location was off a little bit we tried forcing a few things,"" UW head coach Pete Waite said. ""We didn't recover.""
Wisconsin also had trouble finding a soft spot to serve to, as they failed to come up with a single service ace for the first time this season. In addition, the team had a few miscues on the receiving end as Minnesota managed to ace UW three times.
The Badgers had a chance to send the match into a fourth game after scoring a point to make it 29-28 late in the third. But the Wisconsin found themselves without any more substitutions at the match point and was forced to send 5'5' junior defensive specialist Amanda Berkely to the front line on the last play. Minnesota middle blocker Meredith Nelson easily threw down a kill over the top of Berkley to seal the win for the Gophers.
""We didn't bring our A-game tonight,"" UW head coach Pete Waite said. ""We need to play as well as a team on the road as we do at home. We needed to step up tonight with our energy or our focus.""
The Badgers will return home for a short stay before turning around and moving out to Iowa on Saturday to take on the Hawkeyes (1-7, 12-8), who are tied for last place in the Big Ten.
—uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
