The Wisconsin Badgers had quite the weekend of volleyball, hosting the No. 14 Kansas Jayhawks and the No. 5 Texas Longhorns on Friday and Sunday, respectively, with both games being played at the Kohl Center.
Coming into the weekend after their 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20) exhibition win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish back on August 17th, the Badgers had two hard-fought matches, narrowly edging the Jayhawks 3-2 in a thriller on Friday evening.
Wisconsin took the first set comfortably 25-16,
while Kansas rallied back to even things at one set apiece after a 25-18 second set. But, the Badgers bounced back with a dominant 11-2 run in the third set to get a lead over the Jayhawks, ultimately winning the set 25-18.
Of course, there had to be theatrics in the highly-contested match, as Kansas edged past Wisconsin with a 28-26 fourth set, leading to a fifth and final set, where the Badgers used a 5-1 run to win 15-10 and take the match 3-2 and get their first victory of the season.
The season opener featured double-doubles from four players: Mimi Colyer, Una Vajagic, Charlie Fuerbringer, and Kristen Simon.
Day 2 of the Opening Spike Classic proved to be a bit more challenging, as Texas was able to come into the Kohl Center and sweep the Badgers 29-27, 25-20, and 25-14.
It was a tough battle for the Badgers, who fell behind at several points in the match. While they had some encouraging rallies, especially in the first set, it wasn’t enough to unseat the Longhorns in any set, leading to a 1-1 weekend.
In the latest AVCA polls, Wisconsin stayed put at No. 8, while Kansas dropped one spot to No. 15 and Texas climbed three places to No. 2.
The Badgers have back-to-back matches on Thursday and Friday this week, as they take on UC Davis and Chicago State, respectively, at the Kohl Center. Their next opportunity for a ranked opponent will come next weekend, as they take on No. 22 Georgia Tech on the road next Friday.
