Wisconsin hands No. 1 Nebraska volleyball its first loss of the 2023 season (2024)

The top-ranked, undefeated Cornhuskers suffered a rude awakening in Wisconsin on Friday.

The Badgers entered the match with something to prove; Wisconsin lost to Nebraska 3-2 in October and had fallen in two of its previous three contests, with hitter Anna Smrek benched due to injury. But Smrek came back better than ever, and thus, the Badgers were ready to give the Huskers a taste of their own medicine.

Smrek made all the difference for the Badgers, racking up a team-high and season-best 18 kills with a .378 kill percentage. Next to her wasOH Sarah Franklin, who recorded her fourth-straight double-double, killing 16 (while hitting .424) and digging up 12. Middle Devyn Robinson posted a clean effort with five kills and zero errors, hitting .500.

Unlike their last contest, Wisconsin led the Huskers statistically across the board, out-killing them 52-45, out-blocking them 6-3, out-acing them 5-3 and out-hitting them .357 to .243.

Wisconsin mastered the art of the underdog mentality in this match by playing from behind and capitalizing on out-of-system rallies. Nebraska led the majority of the first and second sets; the Badgers remained calm and kept the match in touch before pouncing towards the end of each of the opening sets. They then outright dominated the third, going on a 6-0 run to solidify their lead and out-killing the Huskers 20-13.

👉🏼 See the final stats here

This win marked eight straight in the UW Field House. Eleven of the past twelveNebraska-Wisconsin duels have gone in Wisconsin's favor, as the Badgers now hold a 13-9 advantage over the Huskers.

Got our revenge, in the Dungeon 😈 pic.twitter.com/cP6rFLwICt

— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) November 24, 2023

For only the second time this season, Nebraska is down two sets. The last time this happened, they reverse-swept Penn State.

Wisconsin played close behind the Huskers before making its move with a 4-0 run to gain a 19-17 lead. Nebraska answered a 5-0 run of its own to go up 22-19 before the Badgers responded. A seesaw battle that saw four set points ended the frame with a 28-26 Wisconsin victory.

Back and forth we go 😅 pic.twitter.com/A5oiW0YKDA

— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) November 24, 2023

Anna Smrek and Sarah Franklin were huge playmakers down the stretch, combining for five of the Badgers' final six kills to take the match over the top. Middle Carter Booth delivered the exclamation point at the end of the set, tallying three kills of her own. Nebraska managed to edge the kill count in this set, 23-22.

Nebraska's Harper Murray came alive in this set, killing nine with an overall hitting percentage of .429. Her service ace forced the second set point of the match.

The Badgers have outdone themselves at the service line, acing twice in each of the opening sets(their season average is 1.6 A/S).

Nebraska has dropped only four first sets in 2023 prior to this match against Purdue, Indiana, Penn State and Northwestern. The Huskers have managed to come out on top in every one of these matches, but here are some notable things to know:

• 2/4of these matches have gone to five sets
• Nebraska got out-blocked in two of these matches, and tallied 39.5 blocks in these four matches compared to its opponent's50
  • Wisconsin leads the nation with 3.01 B/S
  • Wisconsin and Nebraska bothfinished the first set with two blocks apiece today
• The Huskers have averaged a .304 clip in these four matches with an average of 16.63 K/S
  • Nebraska killed 13 and hit .290 in the first set today

A jam-packed UW Field House roared as Sarah Franklin put the dagger in the first set, 25-22.

Wisconsin errored thrice in the opening six rallies for Nebraska to get a 5-1 edge. Nebraska held that lead until a CC Crawford block tied the score at 18-all. Wisconsin gained its first lead of the set 21-20, after a joust challenge was called in Wisconsin's favor. This score was bolstered by a Crawford service ace thereafter. The teams went back and forth with three set points forced, but the Badgers put the game away with a bullet to midcourt.

For the first time this season, Wisconsin beat the Huskers in the kill count, 17-13. Franklin killed eight at a .400 clip, and Anna Smrek followed with five kills of her own.

The Badgers sided out at an impressive 68.2% and continued to battle through Nebraska's tricky rallies to overtake the undefeated Huskers in the first.

TIE. GAME.

Set 1
UW 19
NEB 19 pic.twitter.com/TT2NyhxXJT

— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) November 24, 2023

First serve is at 4 p.m. — here are this afternoon's starters:

🌽 Nebraska

• Bergen Reilly
• Harper Murray
• Bekka Allick
• Merritt Beason
• Laney Choboy
• Andi Jackson
• Lexi Rodriguez

🦡 Wisconsin

• MJ Hammill
• Anna Smrek
• Carter Booth (MB)
• Sarah Franklin (OH)
• CC Crawford (MB)
• Gulce Guctekin (DS)
• Julia Orzol (L)

Here's how to tune into the Nebraska-Wisconsin match:

• 🗓️ When: Friday, Nov. 24
• 📍 Where: Madison, Wisconsin | UW Field House
• ⏰ Time: 4p.m. ET
• 📺TV:Big Ten Network
• 👉🏼Click here for live stats

Although the Huskers have already won the Big Ten championship, these conference rivals have a lot to duke out today. Both season-long top-5 powerhouses, the Badgers and Huskers fought tooth and nail to settle the AVCA No. 1 debate in October, during which Nebraska emerged victorious in five sets. Nebraska’s now 27-0 and the unanimous AVCA No. 1 heading into the postseason. Wisconsin lost two matches since facing Nebraska, sitting at 24-3 on the year.

In five-setters

It's easy to see that these foes challenge each other at the highest level. The Badgers have been pushed to five sets on five occasions this season, and against Nebraska on Oct. 21, they tallied the most number of blocks (18) in a five-setter, but the least amount of kills (52) in a five-setter this season. As for Nebraska, it’s been pushed to five sets thrice this season by Purdue, Penn State and Wisconsin. The Huskers played the worst statistically against Wisconsin, killing 69 (71 K vs. Penn State and 74 K vs. Purdue) and blocking seven (9 vs. Penn State and 15.5 vs. Purdue).

Offense versus defense

The top-ranked Wisconsin block will, again, be a problem for Nebraska. The Badgers lead the nation with 3.01 blocks per set (compared to Nebraska’s 2.5, tying for No. 38), which is primarily at the hands of Carter Booth (149 B) and Caroline Crawford (121 B). During their Oct. 21 bout, Booth and Crawford tallied nine blocks each, which helped extinguish Nebraska’s momentum in the second and third sets for the Wisconsin advantage.

The Nebraska attack has proven to be absolutely lethal this year. In their last meeting, the Huskers out-killed the Badgers in every set except the third (they tied with 13) and put up nine more points than Wisconsin. The difference will be clean hits — Nebraska erred 44 times to Wisconsin’s 18 to bring its hitting percentage down to .130 compared to UW’s .217. These teams are also ralliers; playing to 15 in the fifth set, Nebraska hit a game-high .545 with 13 K and one error on 22 swings as Wisconsin also hit a game-high .500 with 9 K and no errors.

Now, in the last two weeks, Wisconsin dropped consecutive Big Ten matches to Penn State and Purdue after losing right-side Anna Smrek to injury. With Smrek back in last Sunday, the Badgers returned to their former selves in a 3-0 win over Indiana. Smrek contributed 10 kills on a .667 clip and five blocks in this matchup. So although Wisconsin dropped to No. 5 in the final AVCA poll of 2023, the Badgers will put up a fight against the No. 1 team in the country, as the Huskers will battle to maintain their undefeated season.

B1G Black Friday Battle in Madison.

🆚 : Wisconsin
🕒 : 3pm CT
📺 : @BigTenNetwork
📍 : UW Field House
📻 : @HuskersRadio pic.twitter.com/ndGGoA9xwJ

— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) November 24, 2023

Here are some fast facts about the Wisconsin-Nebraska rivalry, which began in 2011 upon Nebraska's joining the Big Ten.

• Nebraska won the first six consecutive matchups from 2011-13.
• Before the teams met in October of 2023,Wisconsin had claimed the last 10 matches — 50% of them were shutouts.
• In their most recent meeting on Oct. 21, Nebraska won in five sets (25-22, 17-25, 20-25, 26-24, 15-13).
  • Nebraska out-killedWisconsin 69-52, but the Badgers out-blocked the Huskers 18-7.
  • This was the fifth time in their 21-match series history thatthe teams had gone to five sets.
• The two teams met in the 2021 national championship — No. 4 Wisconsin beat No. 10 Nebraska in five sets for its first national title.
  • This match also set the then-NCAA volleyball tournamentattendance record at18,755.
• In the last 10 years ...
  • Nebraska has gone to the national semifinalsfivetimes and won two national championships.
  • Wisconsin has gone to the national semifinalsfourtimes and won one national championship.

Nebraska coach John Cook tipped his red cowboy hat to salute the Huskers' top-2 victory as thousands of fans lingered in the sold-out Devaney Center to celebrate No. 2 Nebraska's 3-2 (25-22, 17-25, 20-25, 26-24, 15-13) win against No. 1 Wisconsin on Oct. 21. The win halted the Badgers' streak at 10 in a row in the series.

GET CAUGHT UP: Complete stats from the Nebraska-Wisconsin match

Nebraska took the first set, but the Huskers lost their momentum and dropped the next two — hitting .016 during the second and third set combined. The Huskers continued to play from behind in the fourth, but kept the match in check and forced a fifth set with three consecutive kills by Harper Murray, Andi Jackson and Bekka Allick.

Three final bombs from Harper Murray decided the match. Murray notched a double-double with 14 kills and 15 digs, but was held to a .091 clip on the evening.

Outside hitter Merritt Beason attacked from the front and back line, killing 21 — one off from her career high — on 52 swings and digging up seven.

This match wouldn't be recapped properly without credit given to the Wisconsin block. The Badgers denied balls left and right specifically in the second frame, stuffing 12 — this was double what they blocked the rest of the match (totaled 18 overall), and also double what Nebraska blocked the entire match (7).

With this win, the Huskers remained undefeated and snapped Wisconsin's 18-match win streak. Nebraska took the Badgers' No. 1 spot in the AVCA rankings, which Wisconsin had held since Week 1, and has been the AVCA No. 1 team since.