Wisconsin volleyball sweeps Maryland in a milestone win for coach Kelly Sheffield

The Wisconsin volleyball team had its best hitting match of the season Friday night on the way to a milestone win for coach Kelly Sheffield.

The Badgers posted a season-high .500 hitting percentage in a sweep of Maryland front of a sellout crowd of 1,938 at the XFINITIY Center Pavilion in College Park, Maryland.

The second-ranked Badgers, who improved to 23-1 overall and 14-1 the Big Ten, never trailed. They raced out to scores of 16-1 in the first set, 6-1, in the second set and 11-1 in the third.

Wisconsin commits just one hitting error with shuffled lineup

The performance came without junior right-side hitter Anna Smrek, who did not play. To compensate for her absence, Sheffield moved outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara to the right side and moved junior Julia Orzol from libero to outside hitter. Sophomore Gulce Guctekin, normally a defensive specialist, played libero.

"We started out really well in all three sets and I think that was kind of the key …” said Sheffield, who became UW’s all-time leader with his 171st Big Ten victory. “I loved how we were scrambling the entire match. ... I was real proud, with a new lineup."

Senior Sarah Franklin finished with 10 kills, three blocks and was one of the team’s anchors in serve receive. Senior Devyn Robinson (nine kills, six blocks) and sophomore Carter Booth (nine kills, five blocks) hit .571 and .750, respectively. UW had just one hitting error in the match.

Orzol finished with five kills, no errors and a .385 hitting percentage. Thomas-Ailara had four kills, no errors and a .364 hitting percentage. Guctekin recorded eight digs.

Orzol experienced the biggest change in the switch. She hadn’t hit since a five-set win over Tennessee Sept. 3.

"It was wonderful to be back there,” she said. “I feel like I didn't notice a lot of difference. Just balling out, and there was a lot of support from the girls … it was fun. I feel like it felt very natural."

Kelly Sheffield becomes UW's all-time Big Ten wins leader

The victory allowed Sheffield to move past Pete Waite for the most Big Ten wins for a Badgers coach in program history. Sheffield owns a 171-37 (.822) mark in conference play in 10 seasons.

The match Friday was the first half of the Badgers’ first back-to-back of Big Ten play.

Next up will No. 19 Penn State at 7 p.m. Saturday.

As for UW the lineup change, the Badgers took it in stride as Sheffield expects.

"Those are some things we do in training. That's the strength of our program,” he said. “When you have some people move around, it's not that big of a deal. They don't treat it like a big deal.

“We really wanted to come in here and play well. This is a tough place to play well, as is the place we are going to play tomorrow."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin volleyball beats Maryland; Kelly Sheffield reaches milestone