Piotr and Anna Orzol definitely seemed the calmest of the group, which was somewhat surprising considering their daughter wears her emotions on her sleeves on the field.

“Probably jet lag,” Badgers senior outside hitter Julia Orzol said of her parents. “In Poland it is the middle of the night.”

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The Orzols first arrived in Madison a day earlier. Other than Wisconsin’s offseason trip to Europe last year, they had never seen their daughter play in her four seasons with the Badgers.

They will now see Julia play three home games in the space of eleven days, culminating in senior night on November 30. However, it will be difficult to top this one.

Not only did this marathon match last 2 hours and 39 minutes and keep fans on the edge of their seats, Orzol also played a key role in the No. 6 Badgers’ 25-21, 12-25, 22-25, 25-20, 20 -18 win over No. 16 Minnesota.

Orzol, who finished with 14 kills and three aces, was eager to meet her parents after the post-match interviews concluded. She thought about starting with an apology.

“I promise it won’t take this long every time we play,” she said. “That’s crazy.”

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It was worth the wait for Orzol and the Badgers (21-5, 15-2 Big Ten), who showed great grit to emerge with a split in their season series with their border rivals. The Golden Gophers (17-10, 10-7) had won a five-set thriller over Wisconsin nearly two months ago in Minneapolis.

Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said after this game that his team would not have won early in the season.

He received no argument from Orzol.

“We seem tougher,” she said. “If one thing doesn’t go our way or a few things don’t go our way, it doesn’t fall apart and all that. We can stay with the ugly and just get on with it. I feel like a lot of people realize that.”

Things were certainly ugly early in the season for Wisconsin, which opened the campaign with losses to Louisville, Texas and Stanford in high-profile games.

It was even ugly at times on Wednesday against the Gophers, who ravaged Wisconsin in the second set and showed more poise in the third set.

Wisconsin had to dig deep in the final two sets and did just that to outlast Minnesota despite hitting .158.

Even Orzol had some tough moments along the way. She followed a service error with a service reception error as Minnesota took a 13-12 lead, but the look on her face – and those of her teammates – never wavered.

They were determined to bounce back.

“It doesn’t always have to be pretty,” Orzol said. “You just have to stick to it.”

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A trip to No. 2 Nebraska is scheduled for the Badgers to cap off a week in which they will have a chance to avenge losses from earlier in the season.

The regular season ends next week and NCAA tournament play begins in early December. It’s all coming to an end for Orzol, who has seen plenty of wins during her career at Wisconsin.

There was the program’s first national championship in 2021, Big Ten titles her first two seasons, another trip to the Final Four last season. She feels her career is coming to an end, and yet she isn’t ready to let it slip away.

“You’re starting to feel it,” Orzol said. “But I feel like we can stay in the present so well. Senior night will be a tough moment, but for now there is still so much ahead of us.”

Orzol said she is looking forward to spending time with her parents during their extended stay. They don’t have any big plans, but she doesn’t want to waste a minute they have together when she’s in class, practice, or at a game.

Piotr and Anna were probably ready to crash after leaving a match that ended at 10:38 p.m. But what a memory.

“I’m glad they saw it,” Orzol said. “It’s a good day.”