Coming off their loss to the No. 1 Nebraska Cornhuskers, the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers took care of business at home, beating the Maryland Terrapins 25-18, 25-23, 25-18 in a sweep of their own.
Wisconsin fought hard in the Nebraska loss, and head coach Kelly Sheffield was pleased with his team’s performance afterwards. Even with the loss, the Badgers moved back up to No. 6 in the AVCA Top 25, as Florida fell two spots to No. 7.
Wisconsin opened the first set on a 6-1 run, quickly setting the tone as
Lynney Tarnow, Eva Travis, and Decelise Champion all got kills. From there, the Badgers never really got into trouble in the first set, and a kill from Champion got them the finish at 25-18.
It was a clean set from Wisconsin, which had 15 kills and only three attack errors, as they hit .500 in the opening frame.
The second set was the closest of the three, as it was Maryland that got out to an early 7-5 lead. But the Badgers went on another 6-1 run, thanks to a pair of kills from Champion, a kill from Travis, and a trio of attack errors on Maryland.
From there, the set was back-and-forth, with the Terrapins even taking a 21-18 lead late on the verge of tying things up at one a piece. But the Badgers rallied to rattle off six straight points before closing the set 25-23 after Maryland brought things to within one. This time, it was a Charlie Fuerbringer kill to seal the deal and put Wisconsin up 2-0.
The third set was close in the early going, with both sides tied at 5. But the Badgers went on a 5-1 run, creating some distance, and they were in control the rest of the set, even when the Terrapins provided some resistance. Wisconsin went on an 8-2 run to go up 18-10, and the Terrapins never got within six, as the Badgers got the sweep with a 25-18 win in the third set.
Wisconsin out-hit Maryland .344 to .155, and Decelise Champion finished with 17 kills and five blocks. Lynney Tarnow also had eight blocks, while Charlie Fuerbringer had 35 assists. Anna Bardaro added 15 digs as well, as she and Kristen Simon both played well.
The Badgers will take on the Iowa Hawkeyes next on Sunday, with first serve set for 1:00 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
