Wisconsin volleyball falls at No. 16 Purdue; Nebraska assured of share of Big Ten title

Wisconsin’s five-set loss to Purdue Friday night was the latest example of the thin line between winning and losing in the Big Ten.

The 22-25, 25-19, 25-20, 12-25, 16-14 defeat to the Boilermakers in front of 2,415 at Holloway Gymnasium in West Lafayette, Indiana, gave the Badgers their third Big Ten loss. Two of UW’s league setbacks came after it served for the match.

The Badgers had Nebraska on the ropes last month but couldn’t close out the fourth set. Friday the team was on the brink of victory vs. the Boilermakers but ended up the wrong side of 3-0 run to end the fifth set.

The loss, which dropped Wisconsin’s record to 23-3 overall and 14-3 mark in the Big Ten, coupled with Nebraska’s sweep of Michigan on Friday assured the Cornhuskers of at least as share of the conference title.

“It was just two teams that were brawling out there,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said during his post-match interview on the Badgers Radio Network. “It’s a locker room that’s pretty bummed right now, but I thought we fought.”

Sarah Franklin finished with a career-high 28 kills

The match was the third straight the Badgers played without junior right-side hitter Anna Smrek, who has an upper body injury, though unlike last week, she traveled with the team.

Senior Sarah Franklin carried the scoring load for the Badgers for most of the night. She posted career highs for kills (28) and attempts (67) while hitting .343. She also had 12 digs to complete her fifth double-double of the season.

Sophomore middle blocker Carter Booth added 11 kills, five blocks and a .525 hitting percentage.

Right-side hitters Devyn Robinson and Temi Thomas-Ailara came on strong during the final two sets to reach 10 kills. Robinson, a senior, had six kills in the fourth set, including a run of four straight during a run of 10 straight Badgers points, and two in the fifth. Thomas-Ailara, a graduate student, had four kills in the fourth and another in the fifth.

Graduate student Izzy Ashburn (32 assists, 19 digs) recorded her 12^th double-double of the season. MJ Hammill, a senior, added 25 assists and eight digs.

“I thought the setters for both teams did a really good job,” Sheffield said. “You sit there and you can find points that you wish you had back, but it’s over a 2½ hour match and I thought both teams played really hard. It was hard to stop both teams.”

Purdue had one of the top hitting performances against UW this season

Purdue’s .249 hitting percentage tied for the third-highest by a Badgers' opponent this season.

Sophomore Eva Hudson’s 30 kills and 69 swings were career highs. Not only did the 6-foor-1 outside hitter have a volume of opportunities but she was sharp, hitting .333 for the match.

Wisconsin out-hit Purdue for the match, but in the fifth set the Badgers dipaped to .194  after hitting .306 in the third and .459 in the fourth.

UW fell behind, 9-5, before rallying to take a 14-13 advantage.

Purdue, however, tied the match on a kill by Raven Colvin and took a 15-14 lead on Hudston’s final kills of the night. The match ended on an attack error by Franklin, whose shot rolled across the tape and out of bounds.

Next Wisconsin plays at Indiana at noon Sunday.

More: Wisconsin volleyball slips in poll, but still in hunt for top-four NCAA tournament seed

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW volleyball loses to Purdue; Nebraska assured of share of B1G title