3 takeaways as Wisconsin volleyball sweeps Rutgers despite Grace Egan’s injury absence

MADISON — Another unranked opponent, another Wisconsin volleyball sweep.

The Badgers swept Rutgers, 25-17, 25-17, 25-12, on Sept. 26 in their Big Ten opener at the UW Field House. It was the sixth sweep of the season for Wisconsin, which includes all five of UW’s matches against unranked opponents.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

Grace Egan misses Big Ten opener with ‘small injury,’ expected to be out for ‘small period of time’

Wisconsin outside hitter Grace Egan, who has been starting at right-side hitter this season, was not present at the Badgers’ Big Ten opener.

“I think Jordan’s Big Ten Pub might have had the match on TV, so I think she’s over there watching it from the bar,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said jokingly. “I don’t know. Actually, this is being broadcast on the radio, so let me take that back. She’s not at the bar right now.”

All jokes aside, Sheffield said Egan had “a small injury and will be out a small period of time and was getting that tended to this afternoon.” Asked specifically about her status for Wisconsin’s next match on Sept. 28, Sheffield said she will not play.

Any extended absence for Egan would be notable for the Badgers.

Egan’s 71 kills are second-most on the team, trailing only Mimi Colyer’s 149 kills. The Ohio State transfer has hit .278 so far this season and also ranks second on the team with nine service aces, trailing Una Vajagic’s 11.

Madison Quest shines in Egan’s place as she makes first career start

Madison Quest’s first start as a Badger was an impressive one.

Quest — or “Mad Dog,” as Sheffield referred to her — had seven kills without any errors on 11 total attacks. The former Divine Savior Holy Angels star’s .636 hitting percentage was the best on the Badgers by a comfortable margin.

“Dotted the entire box score,” Sheffield said of Quest. “A complete game for her, and that’s the type of player that she is.”

It did not take long for Quest to be a factor in the match as she had UW’s third kill of the first set.

“I don’t think that surprised anybody from her,” Sheffield said. “She lives for these types of matches and these types of environments. It’s why she came here. She doesn’t get too worked up with moments and had herself a really fine first match.”

Quest appeared in 19 sets before the Rutgers match, including three sets against then-No. 14 Kansas, all three sets against then-No. 21 Georgia Tech and all four sets against then-No. 15 Florida. But this was a more prominent role for DSHA’s all-time kills leader.

“I told myself just to go out there and to play free and have fun competing; that environment let me do that,” Quest said in her first post-match press conference of her UW career while also sharing credit with setter Charlie Fuerbringer.

Aniya Warren also had some opportunities as a substitute at defensive specialist as Egan’s absence changed Wisconsin’s substitution philosophy. Sheffield has previously said that Warren “hasn’t gotten a ton of playing time primarily because our three pin-hitters do a really good job in the back row, and they take swings, which our defensive specialists don’t do.”

“I thought both of them did really well,” Sheffield said after the Rutgers match. “Really proud of both of them.”

Middle blockers show Badgers' attack is 'more than a one- or two-trick pony'

Wisconsin’s middle blockers played a particularly productive part in the Badgers’ three-set sweep of Rutgers both offensively and defensively. Carter Booth and Alicia Andrew combined to have 10 kills without any attack errors. Andrew had a team-high seven block assists, and Booth had four.

“We’re more than a one- or two-trick pony,” Sheffield said.

Booth in particular had seven kills on 14 total attacks, which tied her season-high for kills in a three-set match. (The other three-set match where Booth had seven kills was on Sept. 17 at Marquette.) Her .374 hitting percentage is second behind Quest (.383) among players with at least 20 sets played this season.

“I think, too many times, people forget about what type of elite player that Carter Booth is,” Sheffield said. “She is an elite player. And if teams are going to defend us a certain way, then we’re going to go — they’re not going to dictate us. We feel really comfortable being able to go anywhere at any time with any of our attackers.”

Fuerbringer, meanwhile, “really opens up the court” for Booth.

“I can really get a great picture of what’s in front of me and be able to avoid those blocks to get the kills that you saw tonight,” Booth said. “I think the way that Charlie moves the balls around and sees where the block is shifting during the play really helps with some of those kills because some of those were wide-open court. Just had to find the ground, and it’s my job to terminate, which I did tonight thankfully.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 3 takeaways as Wisconsin sweeps Rutgers despite Grace Egan’s absence