Hogs Battle No. 1 Wisconsin for Second Straight Night
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Top-ranked Wisconsin was back in Barnhill Arena to wrap up a two-game series against Arkansas and showed their metal to wrap up a straight-sets victory.
"The significance of the two matches can only help us," Razorbacks coach Jason Watson said. "There's a ton of stuff we can learn and put into place. Being this early in the season, those are good things. We are disappointed in losing but the effort was great. I thought they were incredibly brave."
Having taken the Badgers to the brink, less than 24 hours ago, the Hogs once again showed no fear. Leading 7-3 thanks to some communication errors as Wisconsin came out of the gate out of sync.
The teams traded big scoring runs, three blocks pushed Wisconsin ahead at 9-7. An ace from graduate outside hitter Maggie Cartwright allowed the Hogs to respond with a 5-0 run of their own as a night after the Hogs shattered the volleyball attendance record, a third-best 2,740 packed Barnhill.
"They (crowd) make a huge difference in the game whether they realize it or not, reigning SEC setter of the week Hannah Hogue said. "We feed off of it. It gets in the opponent's head. Hopefully, we can keep that up."
A combined block from graduate outside hitter Jillian Gillen and sophomore middle blocker Zoi Evans gave Arkansas a 16-13 lead, but for the second night in a row when it came to crunch time, Wisconsin flexed their national championship muscle (2021). A time-out called by Badger coach Kelly Sheffield revitalized his team down 19-17 at the time.
Wisconsin finished the set on an 8-3 run capped off with a kill from three-time First Team All-Big Ten and prized transfer Temi Thomas-Ailara for a 25-22 victory.
Having played for nearly three hours the night before, the Hogs seemed to be running on fumes. With the Razorbacks being undersized compared to Wisconsin, they were working incredibly hard for every point. The Hogs side-out percentage slowly started to dip below 50%. After the Hogs had an early 6-4 lead, a mini 4-0 run by the Badgers gave them a lead they wouldn't give back. The set was keyed by five kills from junior outside hitter Sarah Franklin and four from 2020 NCAA All-Championship senior middle blocker Devyn Robinson. The last Robinson kill capped off a 25-16 set win for the Badgers.
The third set felt more like a formality than anything else. A 10-1 scoring run from Wisconsin from nine all, led to a wire-to-wire set where Wisconsin never trailed. Who else but Robinson, who finished the night with 11 kills, to put the match away and seal a straight-set victory.
The Hogs will continue a week filled with matches tomorrow at Barnhill Arena against Colorado State at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+.
I think they're excited to go play a team whose average height is a little less than it was the last two nights, Watson said. "An elite finish for us would be to get into the round of 16... Colorado State is the next opportunity to make a case."
HOGS FEED:
PITTMAN NEEDS TO REVERSE TREND AGAINST NON -POWER FOUR TEAMS
HOGS MUSSELMAN PROVIDES MUCH APPRCIATED GIFT
HOGS BASKETBALL NON-CONFERENCE SLATE FEATURES SEVERAL BIG NAMES
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