The No. 7 Wisconsin volleyball team (7-1, 0-0 Big 10) fought hard against No. 15 Florida Gators (5-4, 0-0 SEC) Sunday, securing their sixth straight win (19-25, 25-22, 25-20, 36-34) before heading into conference play.
The Badgers have begun to make their way up in the all-time meetings versus the Gators, adding to their winning record (6-2 all-time). The squad have won three of the last four matchups against Florida since 2015.
Wisconsin faced a tough first set, falling to Florida (19-25) after a standout performance by the Gators. Florida went on a 6-0 scoring run against the Badgers, who had 12 errors in the first set. One player that stood out in the first set for the Gators was redshirt sophomore Aniya Madkin who put down seven kills, hitting .158% throughout four sets.
After a tough first set, the Badgers set themselves back up for success, winning the second and third sets (25-22, 25-20) with help from Big Ten Setter of the Week Charlie Fuerbringer. Fuerbringer had four kills, 50 assists and one serving ace throughout four sets.
.sno-68d4b80be9e9e {
background-color: #ffffff;border: 5px solid #888888;box-shadow: -1px 0 2px 0 rgb(0 0 0 / 12%), 1px 0 2px 0 rgb(0 0 0 / 12%), 0 1px 1px 0 rgb(0 0 0 / 24%);margin: 30px auto; float: none;}
.sno-68d4b80be9e9e h5 {
color: #000000;
}
Wisconsin and Florida had a back and forth battle going throughout the second and third sets, switching servers nearly every play. But the Badgers didn’t let the heat get to them, putting down kill after kill.
Senior outside hitter and Big Ten Player of the Week Mimi Colyer didn’t come to play. Colyer had three back-to-back kills to end the third set, putting the Badgers over the Gators 25-20.
But Colyer wasn’t the only superstar, senior middleblocker and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, Carter Booth, had a standout game. Booth had three all time high season stats against Florida, reaching a high of two digs, nine blocks and zero serving aces allowed.
After three hard fought sets, the Badgers entered the fourth set on top, but the fight wasn’t over yet.
Florida came out hot, not showing any signs of stepping down, and this showed through Madkin, once again, but this time with support from redshirt junior setter Alexis Stucky. Stucky ended the match against the Badgers with 40 assists and a hitting percentage of .600%.
But, yet again, Wisconsin came out on top with a hard fought back-and-forth fourth set that ended at 36-34. The resilience that Wisconsin displayed showed the true power of the Badger volleyball program.
The Badgers ended the match with kills from Colyer and redshirt sophomore outside hitter Una Vajagic.
Wisconsin is set to face Rutgers University (9-3, 0-0 Big Ten) back at the UW Fieldhouse Sept. 26 at 7 p.m to open up Big Ten play.