MADISON – Wisconsin volleyball got one last tune-up in the spring.
The Badgers, while showing some things that still need to be tuned up, ultimately won four sets against Northern Illinois, 25-18, 25-18, 25-13, 25-22, on April 24 at the UW Field House to conclude their spring schedule.
UW and Northern Illinois planned to play four sets regardless of the outcome of the first three sets (although they did not record stats for the fourth set).
The second and third sets had a combined 13 ties and six lead changes in the four sets as the Badgers faced a Northern Illinois team with only eight players (and no players taller than 6-foot-2). UW broke free in the third set with a 12-0 scoring run, but the fourth set was tied as late as 21-21.
Here are three takeaways from the Badgers’ win:
Eva Travis, Jaela Auguste again have starring roles (and highlight-worthy kills)
Eva Travis’ first spring after playing in the Big West ended with a big performance against Northern Illinois, recording 10 kills while hitting .643 as she started the first two sets and subbed in for the third set.
“Eva’s getting a lot better,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said. “That’s not to say that she hasn’t had a great first freshman and sophomore year because she did. But where she’s been the last two weeks versus the first month here – she’s really settling in and becoming the player that we thought she was capable of being when we went after her in the portal.”
Fellow transfer Jaela Auguste also had 10 kills while hitting .769 and recording four blocks. Sheffield will especially remember one of those 10 kills – an authoritative blow off a one-handed set by Charlie Fuerbringer that excited the UW Field House crowd.
“That’s probably one of the top five highlights this building has even seen,” Sheffield said. “Unfortunately, we threw the next ball into the net when we were serving. But for that one fleeting moment, that was a pretty sweet play.”
Travis and Auguste’s starring roles were a similar story as six days earlier, when Travis had eight kills and Auguste had 10 against UW-Green Bay. Auguste also had six blocks in the road win.
Wisconsin’s depth on display against Huskies
While Auguste and Travis were at the top of UW’s box score, the Badgers also showcased the depth of their attack in the win over Northern Illinois.
Freshman outside hitters Audrey Flanagan and Halle Thompson each had seven kills. (Flanagan hit .455, and Thompson hit .353.) Sophomore middle blocker Natalie Wardlow had six kills while hitting .625.
Freshman middle blocker Lynney Tarnow’s stat line did not jump out as much – three kills while hitting .429 – but one of those was practically a bullet down the right side that landed right in front of the NIU back row.
Eight of the 10 non-libero UW players recorded at least two kills in the three sets that counted toward the official stats, and those eight players each hit above .350 in the process. The Badgers hit .525 as a whole.
That was all while the Badgers were once again without Grace Egan and Grace Lopez amid their continued injury recoveries. Neither player saw the floor in any of UW’s three spring matches.
“It’ll be a nice parlor game trying to figure out who’s going to play for this team,” Sheffield said. “Especially on the pins, there’s a lot of capable players, and we had some of them that didn’t even get in today.”
Wisconsin gets sloppy from service line
The Badgers certainly did not have their finest showing from the service line in their spring finale against Northern Illinois.
UW had 14 service errors while recording only three service aces in the three sets where the team kept official stats. Those 14 errors came from eight UW players, as Sheffield said jokingly that “everybody felt like it was their duty to miss two or three.”
“In three [sets]? You’re too kind not counting the fourth set,” Sheffield said. “It was sloppier than it’s been in previous matches. … Sometimes that can be a little bit contagious, like free-throw shooting.”
The 14 service errors against NIU were up from Wisconsin’s seven in the first three sets against UW-Green Bay and 11 in four sets against Marquette. Sheffield seems unlikely to lose too much sleep over the woes at the service line, though.
“I really think that’s going to end up being a strength of ours, so I’m not overly that concerned,” Sheffield said. “We’ve been really good behind the service line in the other matches that we played. We’ve been really good behind the service line in practices.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 3 takeaways from Wisconsin volleyball’s spring win over Northern Illinois
Reporting by John Steppe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
