By Nathan Denzin, BADGER STRIPES
Well, last Saturday night didn’t exactly go how the Badgers volleyball team wanted. The (formerly) No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers fell to the (formerly) No. 2 Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln three exciting sets to two.
The game couldn’t have ended in a more crushing way – Wisconsin roared out to a 2-1 set lead, and led in the fourth, but Nebraska got on a roll and took the set 26-24. Wisconsin went up in the fifth but Nebraska clawed its way back to a 14-13 match point. The Badgers looked like they had extended the game after a Nebraska hit out of bounds, but a review found a net violation and gave the match to Nebraska.
“I think it’s one of those games where both teams and both coaches learn a lot, and we certainly did,” Badgers head coach Kelly Sheffield said in a press conference after the game. “The level of play was really exceptional on both sides.”
When the dust on the match had settled, the Badgers and Cornhuskers swapped spots in the AVCA top 25. While both teams have plenty of sets in between, everyone’s eyes are set for the Nov. 24 rematch in Madison.
But some real positives materialized from Saturday’s loss.
Wisconsin far outpaced Nebraska in blocks 18-7. The Badger’s hitting percentage was also much higher, hitting .217 to Nebraska’s .130.
The real gem of the night was Sarah Franklin, who put up some unbelievable numbers. She attempted 47 attacks on the night, 16 of which ended in a kill and only 3 of which were errors. Of those errors, two were blocked.
That puts Franklin’s attack efficiency at .277, almost unbelievable considering Nebraska’s strength. Remember, as a team Nebraska’s efficiency was just .130, so Franklin was twice as efficient as the Cornhuskers entire team on Saturday.
She also received 52 serves on Saturday, and racked up an astonishing 85% positive pass rate.
“The skill and the toughness and the execution on her was really impressive” Sheffield said after the game. “
Some other positives from the game, more than 600,000 people watched the game on Big Ten Network, according to their Twitter account, which marks the largest audience for a regular season volleyball match this season. Volleyball audiences are also up 13% on BTN, according to the network, which is amazing news for those of us who can’t get enough.
“I think that we’re seeing in this sport that we’re just scratching the surface,” Sheffield said. “It’s about time.”
The Badgers’ next match is against a struggling Michigan State team on Friday night, before taking on Minnesota in Madison on Sunday. Luckily for us, the Minnesota game is set to start at 3:45 p.m. right after the Packers play, so we’ll get a nice palate cleanser after watching a (probable) loss to the Vikings.
Badger Stripes is a sports news organization that provides in-depth coverage of Wisconsin athletics. Follow us on Facebook.
