Addy Horner's continued improvement and Wisconsin's blocking were among the things that stood out in the Badgers' win over UCLA.
MADISON — Addy Horner had seemingly no chance at evading Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield as he dumped his postgame cup of water on the freshman setter at the end of the postgame press conference.
“I hope that you got that on camera,” teammate Alicia Andrew said.
“Oh, he’s getting that,” Horner said while drenched after the “uffda”-worthy moment.
But many other things did go Horner’s way on the court as the ninth-ranked Badgers swept No. 23 UCLA, 25-14, 25-20, 25-21, in UW’s fourth ranked win of the season and Horner’s third start of her career.
Horner had 29 assists and four blocks and was responsible for two of UW’s four service aces.
“That’s three matches where she has started for us, and I think each match she’s been better than the previous one,” Sheffield said. “And that’s what you want to see. … She’s just going out there and playing good volleyball.”
Horner also had four kills on six attacks as the 6-foot-3 setter’s dumping adds to Wisconsin’s already-impressive arsenal of weapons in its attack. Horner attributed the success to UW’s “really strong backcourt.”
“It makes it really easy to run a balanced offense,” Horner said. “And then throwing in a couple dumps here and there to free up the pins, I think, helps a lot.”
She orchestrated a Wisconsin offense that hit .267. That may not jump off the page for a UW team that was hitting .324 before the match, but it was the highest percentage by any Big Ten team against the Bruins so far this year.
“That’s a tough block,” Sheffield said. “It’s hard to find holes in their block, and their backcourt is fantastic and digging with a lot of range.”
Here are three other takeaways from the win:
Badgers’ blocking at another level in first two sets
Wisconsin already was one of the better blocking teams in the country, averaging 2.78 blocks per set heading into the ranked match against UCLA. That was good enough for 17th nationally and second in the Big Ten (barely behind USC’s 2.82 blocks per set).
But the Badgers’ blocking was on another level against the Bruins, especially in the first two sets.
UW had a 11-3 advantage in blocks in the first two sets. UCLA was better at the net in the third set, but even then, UW finished with a 11-7 advantage in blocks. Andrew led the Badgers with eight blocks, all of which were block assists.
“We did a really good job with our serving of keeping them off balance and then defending, getting our hands in really good space and trying to take away their primary shots with our blockers’ hands,” Sheffield said. “Our serve and our block was synchronized, working together really well.”
It was among the factors that led to UCLA hitting a mere .062 against the Badgers in the match. The Bruins had as many attack errors as kills in the first two sets.
“We’ve got the ability of being a pretty darn good defensive team,” Sheffield said. “I thought we did that tonight.”
Middle blockers again provide efficient offense
While star outside hitter Mimi Colyer’s 16 kills stood out the most on the box score — “she’s putting some gnarly balls away,” Andrew said — the middle blockers were relatively efficient weapons in the Badgers’ attack.
Carter Booth had eight kills with only one attack error in 13 total attacks, which translated to a .538 hitting percentage. Andrew had three kills on seven attacks. The only other player to hit above .350 was Horner with her aforementioned .667 hitting percentage.
Sheffield attributed some of the middle blockers’ offensive success to the work they put in with setter Charlie Fuerbringer before her Oct. 5 injury and now Horner.
“There had been a lot more repetitions with Addy, “Sheffield said. “Thought she did a really good job of finding them.”
Booth has recorded five or more kills in six of Wisconsin’s last seven matches. She has hit above .500 in her last two matches and at or above .400 in her last seven matches.
Andrew, meanwhile, has recorded five or more kills in four of UW’s last six matches. She had .625 hitting percentages in UW’s wins over Michigan and Maryland.
UCLA’s Lola Schumacher impresses in return to UW Field House
UCLA’s starting libero had plenty of familiarity with the UW Field House when she took the court for the Oct. 17 ranked showdown.
Lola Schumacher was Wisconsin’s starting libero last year — and had plenty of success with 3.64 digs per set and all-Big Ten freshman team honors — before transferring to UCLA in the spring. She has fared well at Pauley Pavillion, leading the Big Ten heading into the Oct. 17 match with 4.27 digs per set.
Schumacher played well in her first match against her former team, finishing the match with 13 digs in three sets. She repeatedly kept one rally in the second set alive with some Herculean efforts, for example, before Wisconsin ultimately won the point.
The former Badger received some applause from the UW Field House crowd during starting lineup introductions.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Addy Horner, Wisconsin Badgers' blocking stand out in win over UCLA
Category: General Sports
