Badgers drop first match of the season | Wisconsin Badgers (2024)

Cardinals edge Badgers 3-1

Box Score

Coming from behind, Wisconsin rallied behind a 3-0 run fueled by Devyn Robinson with a solo block and back-to-back kills to take a 9-7 lead, but Louisville responded quickly with a 6-2 run to take a 15-12 lead. A solo block by Trinity Shadd-Ceres followed by a kill from Devyn Robinson tied it up at 16 apiece. The teams traded off points, but it was the Cardinals who strung together two points at the end to take the 26-24 victory, and a 2-1 lead in the match.

UW fell behind early, but climbed back to tie it up at 11-11 with a block from Robinson in fourth. The Badger block came alive with a huge block from Anna Smrek and Booth to force a Louisville timeout as UW took a 16-14 lead. The Cards responded with a 4-1 run as the Badgers called a timeout, trailing 20-18. They couldn't overcome the deficit and fell 20-25 in the final set.

Sarah Franklin led the way for the Badgers offensively, with 17 kills, hitting.183. Wisconsin hit .179 (47 kills - 21 errors - 145 attempts) on the night.

The Cardinals finished the night hitting .166 (53 kills - 29 errors - 145 attempts). Charitie Luper and Sofi Maldanado Diaz tallied a team-high 11 kills.

Freshman Charlie Fuerbringer got her first true start during the first match of the 2024 season, and put up 42 assists. Julia Orzol had the lone ace for the Badgers, but the team racked up 17 serviceerrors.

Libero Gulce Gucktekin tallied 10 digs, and Orzol led the team with 11 digs. Robinson had a team-high 10 blocks, after transitioning from opposite to middle blocker this season.

Straight from the court

Head Coach Kelly Sheffield
On the AVCA First Serve Showcase:"I'm so excited to be a part of this event and what a great way of starting off the season, on a short runway as well, being able to pull this off. Kudos to the AVCA staff and everybody here in Louisville, that wasn't something that was panned for years."
OnService errors: "We have to have more players that are taking that part of the game more seriously in practice."

Sarah Franklin
On takeaways from the match: "I'm excited to get back in the gym. We kind of have seen what we can do in that first set and I think just being able to close that out. Being able to trust each other at endgame situations in the red zone. Being able to perform under that pressure. It's five points left, we just need to be better in that area."

Julia Orzol
On finishing down the stretch: "I think it all comes down to mentality. And a part of film, we just have to go back and ask ourselves questions and what do we feel in that moment, and how can we go about it better next time?"

Notes to know

Up Next

Wisconsin will be one of four teams competing in the 2024 Women's College Volleyball Showcase at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wis. The Badgers will take on No. 1 Texas on Sunday at 11:30 am and No. 5 Stanford on Monday at 4 pm. Both matches will be aired on FOX.