FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The No. 1 Wisconsin volleyball team held off No. 21 Arkansas in a five-set thriller on Wednesday night. In a match filled with comebacks, the Badgers (3-0) defeated the Razorbacks, 21-25, 25-20, 26-24, 22-25, 15-13.
After dropping the first set, Wisconsin trailed 13-8 in the second set. The Badgers came storming back, taking a 19-15 lead behind back-to-back kills from Anna Smrek. UW continued its comeback, equalling the match with a 25-20 win.
In set three, the Razorbacks jumped out to a 14-7 lead. However, a serving run by Izzy Ashburn, paired with the Badger block, brought Wisconsin back within two (14-12) and forced an Arkansas timeout. A pair of runs gave Arkansas set point at 24-19. With Ashburn serving again, UW held off five set points by the Razorbacks, scoring seven straight points, including three by kills from Devyn Robinson, to pull out the extra-point win.
An Arkansas win in the fourth set forced the decisive fifth set. With nine ties and 10 lead changes, the teams battled back-and-forth with Arkansas leading 13-12. A Robinson kill tied the score at 13 before s block by Caroline Crawford gave the Badgers match point at 14-13. Wisconsin appeared to have won the match on a back-row attack call but a Razorback challenge forced a replay. This time Sarah Franklin sealed the match with a kill through the Arkansas block.
The Badgers were led by Robinson, who tied her career high for kills with 21. Smrek added 13 kills, while Franklin and Carter Booth both tallied 12 kills apiece.
Wisconsin hit .295 (70 – kills 18 – errors 176 – attempts) on the night, while Arkansas finished at .249 (69 – kills 24 – errors 181 – attempts). Outside Hitter Jillian Gillen led the Razorbacks with 22 kills.
Setters Ashburn and MJ Hammill both recorded double-doubles with Ashburn putting up career highs of 34 assists and 15 digs while Hammill had 22 assists and 11 digs.
Sophomore Gulce Guctekin put up a team-high 22 digs while Julia Orzol tied her career best with 16 digs.
The team finished with 17 blocks, nine each from Robinson and Booth as well as six from Crawford.
Straight off the court
Head coach Kelly Sheffield
On how the match went: “That’s a great road win. We spent most of the match behind in each set, just trying to grind it and fight. That’s a really, really good team, that’s a really well-coached team. We got quite a few blocks but it was a real struggle with their speed, their size and their craftiness.”
On the block: “The first set, they got four kills off of hard swings (while) 11 of their kills were crafty swings… A lot of their left-side swings were high hands sailing over us, and those were great shots. There’s nothing you can do. We got better at defending. It took us a long time to be able to slow down the ride-side attack. They showed us things we didn’t see on film.”
Notes to know
• The Badgers play their first five-set match of the season, improving to 3-0 on the year.
• Wisconsin hit .295 (70-18-176) against the Razorbacks, which ranks third on the UW five-set single-match record list.
• UW defeats its second-ranked team of the season after defeating No. 15 Baylor at the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge last weekend.
• Junior Julia Orzol tied her career high with 16 digs, her third-straight match this season with 10-plus digs.
• Sophomore Gulce Guctekin had a season-high 22 digs, the sixth time in her career with 20-plus saves.
• Senior Devyn Robinson took a career-high 48 swings, tying her career-high with 21 kills.
• Grad student Izzy Ashburn had a career-high 15 digs and a career-high 34 assists. The 5-foot-11 setter picked up her second double-double of the season and eighth of her career. She also added a kill while hitting 1.000 (1-0-1).
• Senior MJ Hammill also earned a double-double with 22 assists and 11 digs, the seventh career double-double for the setter.
Up next
Wisconsin and Arkansas face off again on Thursday at 7 p.m. on ESPNU. The Badgers open their home season on Sunday when they face Tennessee at 1 p.m. in the UW Field House. Fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 12:45 p.m. as UW drops the 2022 Big Ten Conference Championship banner in pre-match ceremonies.