Wisconsin volleyball: led by Devyn Robinson, UW sweeps UW

The annual Red-White Scrimmage saw fans back in the Field House for the first time in forever.

For the first time in over a year and a half, the Wisconsin Badgers volleyball team played at the Field House in front of Wisconsin Badgers fans and, by the looks of it, both players and spectators had an excellent time during the annual intra-squad scrimmage.

The Red Team swept the White Team 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-17) and head coach Kelly Sheffield decided to cut the match one set short (they were scheduled to play four sets) to keep everyone fresh since the season starts on Friday. As with all intra-squad scrimmages the real victory was the fact that no one got hurt.

Here are the rosters and some stats if you’re interested:

Red Team: Izzy Ashburn, Dana Rettke (five kills, four blocks), Devyn Robinson (10 kills, five blocks), Lauren Barnes (11 digs, three aces), Joslyn Boyer, Grace Loberg (seven kills), MJ Hammill, Lauren Jardine (five kills), Anna MacDonald

White Team: Giorgia Civita (nine digs), Jade Demps, Liz Gregorski, Danielle Hart (seven kills, five blocks), Sydney Hilley, Julia Orzoł (seven kills), Anna Smrek (eight kills), Julia Wohlert

A few other stats: Red Team hit .215 (32 kills – 15 errors – 79 attempts) and the White Team hit .066 (30-24-91). Both teams recorded 10 team blocks while the Red Team finished with a 35-25 advantage in digs. The Red Team had five aces

“With all scrimmages, it’s great to get out there and play in front of fans again,” Sheffield said. “It was a real exciting day, being able to drop the banners (and) being able to have fans for the first time in 20 months. We had nine people who have been here and never played in front of fans. It was cool to see how many people were here today.”

Wisconsin opens the 2021 season on Friday when it hosts the Big Ten-Big 12 Challenge in the UW Field House. The No. 2 Badgers take on TCU at 6 p.m. while No. 7 Minnesota faces No. 10 Baylor at 8:30 p.m. The teams switch opponents on Saturday with UW taking on the Bears and the Golden Gophers facing TCU at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., respectively. Both matches air live on the Big Ten Network.

Lastly, since there wasn’t a real Senior Night with fans in attendance last season, Deahna Kraft and Nicole Shanahan (who transferred to Tennessee) recorded video messages that were played on the jumbotron while Molly Haggerty was able to receive one last raucous ovation from the Badger faithful.