Wisconsin lost to No. 25 USC and beat No. 23 UCLA, which moved them down to third in the Big Ten after entering the weekend tied with Indiana and Illinois for second.
No. 23 UCLA
Wisconsin excelled offensively in a Friday night matchup against UCLA in the Field House. Wisconsin’s middle blockers and new setter Addy Horner especially stood out with strong games.
In a promising sign for the Badgers, outside hitter Grace Egan, who previously missed six games due to injury, warmed up with the rest of the team Friday against UCLA. This was Egan’s first game warming up since the Badgers played Florida on Sept. 21.
Wisconsin middle blocker Natalie Wardlow kicked off the first set with a service ace, with great crowd support from a packed student section and lower bowl.
Badgers outside hitter Mimi Colyer got three points in a row early in the first set. First, she tipped the ball just onto UCLA’s side of the net, tripping the Bruins up for a point. Then Colyer finished two kills that put the Badgers ahead 8-4.
UCLA controlled the serving for a few points before Horner won the ball back for the Badgers with a solo block. Outside hitter Una Vajagic went on to tally two kills to give Wisconsin a 15-8 lead.
Middle blocker Carter Booth began her skilled blocking game halfway into the first set. She tallied a kill, waited out a UCLA timeout and came back with a solo block.
The Badgers' set-winning point came from Horner. Wisconsin finished ahead of UCLA with a score of 25-14.
The second set of the night was far closer, with Wisconsin losing the first point, but they gained offensive advantages quickly with a pair of blocks from Colyer and Alicia Andrew.
Horner recorded another service ace and followed it with a second-touch tap back to UCLA for a trick point. The freshman recorded another point this way halfway through the set.
With a few crucial kills and blocks toward the end, the Badgers finished set two 25-20.
During set three, the Badgers hung close. The Bruins had a more successful return and blocking game.
The final set was the closest of the night, but the Badgers finished strong with a score of 25-21.
Horner set a career high in kills, points and total blocks in the game against UCLA.
Head coach Kelly Sheffield praised her performance, calling it the best performance of her three consecutive starts for the Badgers.
Before facing the last two opponents, Horner had 122 assists. After UCLA and USC, she had 197.
No. 25 USC
While the score remained close throughout the match, Wisconsin only managed to win one set in the four-set game against USC.
Egan returned to play in this match and helped secure the Badgers’ first set win with a pair of kills early on.
Hitters Colyer and Vajagic also contributed greatly to Wisconsin’s hitting game. Colyer recorded 23 kills and a lower hitting percentage than usual at .239. Vajagic tallied 15 kills throughout the game.
The Badgers found themselves trailing most of set two. At one point, Wisconsin was down by five, but they fought back to within one before USC pulled away with the second set win.
Set three showed the most promise for Wisconsin. Booth and Carter were able to tally kills in the middle of the third set that put the Badgers ahead by three. However, USC slowly came back with two points to every Badgers’ one. Wisconsin lost the set by two.
Set four began disastrously for the Badgers, and USC got ahead 11-2. Wisconsin came back later in the set, getting as close as 21-20, but USC won this final set as well.
Sheffield said his team will learn from this loss going forward. “They forced us to play hard and to play together,” he said. “We will get better because of this match.”
On Sunday, the momentum went USC’s way, but the Badgers will get a chance to gain some of their own next week on the road against Washington and Oregon.
