Badgers Break Attendance Record in Loss

MADISON, Wis. – It was a tale of the good and the bad on Friday night for the fourth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team.

The good was that Wisconsin set the NCAA regular-season attendance record as a sold-out crowd of 16,833 filled the Kohl Center.

The bad was that the Badgers (5-2) fell to No. 16 Florida in five sets, 21-25, 18-25, 28-26, 25-13, 13-15.

UW started out slow, losing the first two sets and trailing by as many as six points (19-13) in the third set. But behind the block of Caroline Crawford, Wisconsin rallied to tie the score at 22. Crawford had five of her match-high 10 blocks in the third set. The Badgers served for set point at 24-22 but Florida (7-2) rallied to know the set at 24. The Gators served for match point at 26-25 but UW scored three straight, including a service ace by Izzy Ashburn, that sent the match to four sets.
 
The Badgers dominated the fourth set and led 8-5 in the decisive fifth set before Florida got its second wind. The Gators went on a 4-0 run to lead 9-8. Wisconsin tied the score at 10 and against at 11 but errors cost UW in the period as Florida scored four of the last six points. Wisconsin had six hitting errors and two service errors in the final stanza.
 
It was defense that ruled the night as Wisconsin out-blocked the Gators, 20-16, behind 10 stops from Crawford. Danielle Hart added eight blocks while Anna Smrek (7) and Devyn Robinson (6) also had strong nights at the net.

Both teams hit .115 but Florida finished with seven more kills (57-50) while also outscoring the Badgers 5-3 from the service line. Hart and Sarah Franklin were the only UW to players to put away double-figure kills, tallying 10 apiece.

The Gators also edged Wisconsin in digs, 56-52, as Gulce Guctekin recorded a team-high 12 digs.

Straight off the court

Head Coach Kelly Sheffield
“What a special environment this was. It is a night (that) some point down the road, that this will be a night our players will never forget. I think the moment was a little bit probably big for most of us starting out and we were on the mat a few times. But we kind of stayed in there and gave ourselves a chance and really started to play some good volleyball there.”
 
Julia Orzoł
“Especially when you’re losing by a few points, it’s frequent to feel the nervousness in the gym and playing here in the Kohl Center, you couldn’t feel it at any point. Fans were staying with us all the time supporting us and people did an incredible job showing up.”
 
Danielle Hart
“The Field House regulars taught the rest really quickly about our traditions over at the Field House and it was really cool to see those transfer over into the Kohl Center. Just the energy was absolutely awesome and everyone was on their feet and loud and really got into the game and it was really cool to feel that.”

Notes to know

• Wisconsin set the NCAA regular-season attendance with 16,833 fans in attendance. That mark broke the previous record of 15,797 set by Creighton at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, on Sept. 7, 2022. The attendance is also the 15th largest to ever watch a college volleyball match.
• The Badgers lost the first set for the first time this season.
• Junior Caroline Crawford tied her career high with 10 blocks.
• Redshirt junior Liz Gregorski tied her career best with two digs.
• Freshman Gulce Guctekin put up a career-best seven assists.

Up next

The Badgers return to the UW Field House to play Rhode Island on Sunday at 1 p.m.  The match can be heard on WIBA 1310AM and streamed on BIG Ten+.