Five Wisconsin players had at least five kills and hit above .300 in the Badgers' three-set sweep over Illinois.
MADISON – Charlie Fuerbringer caught some slack from her head coach after Wisconsin’s women’s volleyball win over Illinois.
“I thought Charlie was a lot better during the match than what she was after the match,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said to a chorus of laughter as the UW setter arrived early for the press conference while Sheffield was unknowingly waiting for her outside the locker room.
In all seriousness, though, Wisconsin had plenty to be happy about during and after the match as the Badgers swept Illinois (25-15, 25-17, 25-20) on Oct. 2 at the UW Field House. It was UW’s ninth consecutive win and eighth sweep in the last nine matches.
“We played within ourselves, and that allowed us to get on some of these really nice long runs that we had tonight,” Sheffield said after a match that included an 11-0 run in the first set and 9-0 run in the second set.
Here are three takeaways from the win:
Mimi Colyer looks dominant (again), but it wasn’t just her
Oregon transfer Mimi Colyer, who entered the match ranking third nationally in kills per set, once again had a starring role in the Badgers’ victory.
She finished with 16 kills while hitting .343, extending her streak to 13 matches with at least 10 kills (dating back to last year).
“She had some bombs today, but there was some craftiness to her swings to get her to get the block the direction that she wanted them to,” Sheffield said.
Half of her kills against the Fighting Illini were in the first set, and Sheffield noted that quite a few were in transition out of the back row.
Those kills “definitely opened up a lot,” Fuerbringer said.
“We knew scouting that they wouldn’t have more than two hands up on the block,” Fuerbringer said. “So that BIC (back row attack) was super open the whole match, and she was just killing the ball, hitting it super hard.”
While Colyer had the headline-grabbing performance, she was far from the only UW player to be effective offensively. Una Vajagic had 10 kills, Madison Quest and Carter Booth each had six kills and Alicia Andrew had five kills. Each of those players all hit above .300 as well.
Kristen Simon succeeds in serve-receive game
Wisconsin libero Kristen Simon was on the receiving end of 32 of Illinois’ 53 total serves – more than three times as many as any other Badger – and was largely up for the challenge.
Simon, a freshman from Louisville, Kentucky, had only one reception error, finishing the match with an outstanding .969 reception percentage. She has not suffered multiple reception errors in a match since the Badgers’ season-opening win over Kansas on Aug. 29.
“My mindset this game was just, ‘Come at me,’” Simon said. “I wanted to pass the ball. I was kind of sad sometimes when they missed.”
“Sad?” Sheffield said with a laugh.
Taylor de Boer was a bright spot for Illinois
Illinois outside hitter Taylor de Boer was one of the few bright spots for the Illini, as she finished with 13 kills and a .360 hitting percentage. No other Illinois player hit above .200, and the Illini hit .103 as a team.
“The amazing thing is she wasn’t playing back row,” Sheffield said. “And for most of the match, she was only playing two of the six rotations – only two of the three rotations in the front row. … Tremendous player.”
She had the most kills by anyone facing the Badgers since then-No. 15 Florida’s Aniya Madkin and Alec Rothe had 18 and 13, respectively, in the Sept. 21 Kohl Center Classic.
The last time an unranked opponent had a player with 13-plus kills was Sept. 4 against UC Davis, when Jade Light had 15 kills.
“When they’re able to run speed and your middle can’t get out there to get across, then a couple things she’s able to do,” Sheffield said. “She’s able to go off that late-arriving middle. She’s able to get underneath that middle. And she’s also able to get into that corner, that cross-court corner, and she does it with pace.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Badgers sweep Illinois for ninth straight volleyball win
Category: General Sports
