Box score

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — The No. 3 Wisconsin volleyball team lost its first match of the season, as it fell to No. 6 Louisville 25-18, 17-25, 24-26, 20-25 at the KFC Yum! Center on Tuesday night.

The Badgers came out of the blocks in front of a crowd of 9,280 and jumped out to a 6-1 lead, forcing Louisville to take a timeout in the first set. The Cardinals came back to pull within two points, at 11-9. But a quick 3-0 run gave UW a commanding lead, and the Badgers never trailed. Wisconsin won the first set, 25-18.

Set two brought a back and forth battle as the teams went point for point. After a kill from Carter BoothThe Cards went on a 4-0 run to force a Wisconsin timeout as Louisville took an 18-14 lead. The Badgers could never recover, as Louisville won the second set 25-17.

Wisconsin came from behind to rebound with 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 quickly responded with a 6-2 run to take a 15-12 lead. A solo block by Trinity Shadd-Ceres followed by a kill of Devyn Robinson tied at 16-16. The teams traded points, but it was the Cardinals who ultimately put together two points to take the 26-24 victory, and a 2-1 lead in the game.

UW fell behind early, but clawed back to tie the score at 11-11 with a block by Robinson on fourth down. The Badger block came alive with a huge block by 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 could not erase the deficit and lost 20-25 in the final set.

Sarah Franklin led the Badgers in offense with 17 kills and a .183 batting average. Wisconsin hit .179 that night (47 kills – 21 errors – 145 attempts).

The Cardinals finished the night with a .166 batting average (53 kills – 29 errors – 145 attempts). Charitie Luper and Sofi Maldanado Diaz had a team-high 11 kills.

Freshmen Charlie Fuerbringer got her first real start in the first game of the 2024 season and provided 42 assists. Julia Orzol had the lone ace for the Badgers, but the team committed 17 service errors.

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

Straight from the court

Head coach Kelly Sheffield

About the AVCA First Serve Showcase: “I’m so happy to be a part of this event and what a great way to start the season, on a short runway too, to make this happen. Kudos to the AVCA staff and everyone here in Louisville, this wasn’t something that was put off for years.”

On Service errors: “We need more players who take that part of the game more seriously during training.”

Sarah Franklin
Some key points from the match: “I’m happy to be back in the gym. We saw in that first set what we can do and I think we can just close that out. Trusting each other in endgame situations in the red zone. Performing under that pressure. There are five points to go, we just have to get better in that area.”

Julia Orzol

When completing the final straight: “I think it all comes down to mindset. And part of the movie is that we just have to go back and ask ourselves questions and what are we feeling at that moment, and how can we do it better next time?”

Notes to know

Next

Wisconsin is one of four teams competing in the 2024 Women’s College Volleyball Showcase at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Badgers will face No. 1 Texas on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. and No. 5 Stanford on Monday at 4 p.m. Both games will be televised on FOX.