No. 4 Wisconsin falls to No. 11 Marquette
September 5, 2019
Madison, WI – The fourth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball lost a thrilling home opening match to in-state rival and 11th-ranked Marquette on Thursday night. For the first time in program history, the Golden Eagles defeated UW, snapping a 20-match win streak, 25-22, 25-22, 29-27, 32-30, 15-9, in the opening round of the HotelRED Invitational.
A season-high 17 blocks was the difference in opening up a 2-0 lead for the Badgers, but it wasn’t enough as Marquette hit .400-or-better in the last three sets. The Golden Eagles finished with a .283 (81 kills – 32 errors – 173 attempts) team hitting percentage, compared to .282 (67-21-164) for Wisconsin.
Four Badgers finished in double-figure kills, led by Dana Rettke, sharing match-high honors with 22. Molly Haggerty added 16 kills, Grace Loberg had 11 kills and Madison Duello put away 10 attacks but Marquette finished with a 14-kill advantage (81-67).
The Golden Eagles also had a 63-50 edge in digs, despite three Badgers in double figures. Tiffany Clark had a team-high 15 digs while Izzy Ashburn added 11 saves and Molly Haggerty tallied her first double-double of the season with 10 digs.
Notes to know
- Wisconsin recorded a season-high 17 blocks, outblocking the Golden Eagles 17-3. Marquette didn’t record a block until the third set.
- For the second weekend in a row, redshirt sophomore Danielle Hart recorded a new career high in blocks. The 6-foot-4 middle blocker led the Badgers with nine blocks against Marquette after recording a match-high seven blocks against Florida State last weekend. Redshirt junior Molly Haggerty had six blocks against the Golden Eagles, upping her career best by one.
- Senior Tiffany Clark tied her career best with two service aces.
- Freshman Izzy Ashburn recorded a career high 11 digs.
- Junior Sydney Hilley put up 59 assists for the Badgers, just two off her career best.
- Marquette beat Wisconsin for the first time in program history, snapping a 20-match winning streak by UW. The winning streak dates back to 1977.
Straight From the Court
“We blocked them a lot early and we weren’t late. They were hitting under .100 after the first two sets and over .400 in the last three. It came down to us not being able to stop those guys. I thought Hope Werch was really, really great for them tonight, and (Martha) Konovodoff made some really big time digs in big moments. (Lauren Barnes) had a couple big time digs when they were trying to close out some sets.
“It’s two teams playing really hard. You don’t want to play two and a half or three hours and then not be able to pull out a win, especially when you’re up 2-0, but they’re a really good team and it was just two really good volleyball teams going at it.” – Head Coach Kelly Sheffield
“No matter what even though we didn’t win, I think going up and swinging big and being confident is what we want and I think we were still doing that. We weren’t shying away from the ball, it just didn’t go our way. I like the way our team was trying to finish at the end.” – Molly Haggerty
Up Next
The Badgers wrap up the HotelRED Invitational on Friday when they take on No. 17 Baylor at 8 p.m. live on the Big Ten Network.