No. 4 Wisconsin (10-1 Big Ten, 19-2 overall) defeated No. 13 Purdue (8-3, 18-5) Wednesday night, as the Badgers swept the Boilermakers 28-26, 25-16 and 25-19 to increase their winning streak to 10 games.
The match kicked off the second half of the regular season. Wisconsin head coach Kelly Sheffield was proud of the first half of the season, but knew the second half would not be an easy battle.
“The travel is going to get harder,” Sheffield said. “We’re playing more teams in the top half of the conference than we did the first 10. It’s bear down here from now on. It’s going to get tougher.”
The matches might be getting tougher, but the Badgers continued to play competitively against the Boilermakers. The first set was tight, and the Badgers had to play their way back into it when down 21-14 at one point in the set.
Sophomore setter Lauren Carlini finished the first set for the Badgers with two kills. She finished with 42 assists in the match.
Carlini’s hitting has proven to be effective after her hits in Wednesday’s and last Sunday’s match and was this week’s recipient of the Big Ten Player of the Week. This was Carlini’s first time receiving the award. Junior libero Taylor Morey also received recognition as the Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row. Sheffield commends Morey’s intensity out on the court.
“If you’re asking me if there needs to be a little crazy in that position, and Taylor Morey’s got a lot of crazy in her,” Sheffield said.
Morey tied her career-best digs in a match with 29 digs in three sets against Nebraska Sunday. She added 13 more against Purdue, outpacing Boilermakers’ libero Amanda Neill’s 16 digs. Sheffield knew playing the second-place team in the conference would not be an easy match.
Sheffield was worried about facing junior outside hitter Annie Drews, who he thinks could be a possible candidate for Big Ten Player of the Year. Drews had 16 kills in tonight’s match, matching the Badgers’ senior outside hitter Ellen Chapman’s swings tonight as well.
Wisconsin will be on the road until returning to the Field House November 12. The Badgers head back to Indiana for their Saturday night match against the Hoosiers (5-6, 14-9).
Indiana defeated No. 23 Minnesota in four sets Wednesday night for their “Dig Pink” breast cancer awareness match. In the fourth set, Indiana won a 35-33 to pull out the win.
Indiana head coach Sherry Dunbar said her team is focusing on themselves as they prepare to take on fellow Big Ten competitors. By looking at getting better on their side of the net, Dunbar hopes for winning results.
Wisconsin will play at University Gym in Bloomington, Ind., 6 p.m. Saturday night.
