Wisconsin gives volleyball no 1 from Nebraskas first loss of

Wisconsin gives volleyball no. 1 from Nebraska’s first loss of the 2023 season – NCAA.com

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Although the Huskers have already won the Big Ten Championship, these conference rivals have a lot to deal with today. The season’s two top-five powerhouses, the Badgers and Huskers, fought tooth and nail to settle the AVCA No. 1 debate in October, where Nebraska emerged victorious in five sets. Nebraska is now 27-0 and the No. 1 AVCA is unanimously heading into the postseason. Wisconsin has lost two games since the Nebraska game and is 24-3 on the year.

In five

It’s easy to see that these opponents challenge each other at the highest level. The Badgers have been pushed to five sets five times this season, and against Nebraska on Oct. 21, they posted the most blocks (18) in a five-set but the fewest kills (52) in a five-set setter this one Season. Nebraska has been pushed to five sets three times this season by Purdue, Penn State and Wisconsin. The Huskers played their worst statistically against Wisconsin, killing 69 (71,000 against Penn State and 74,000 against Purdue) and blocking seven (9 against Penn State and 15.5 against Purdue).

Attack versus defense

The top-ranked Wisconsin block will once again be a problem for Nebraska. The Badgers lead the nation with 3.01 blocks per set (compared to Nebraska’s 2.5, which ranks 38th), thanks largely to Carter Booth (149 B) and Caroline Crawford (121 B). During their Oct. 21 contest, Booth and Crawford each tallied nine blocks, helping to kill Nebraska’s momentum in the second and third sets and giving Wisconsin the advantage.

The attack in Nebraska this year proved absolutely deadly. In their last meeting, the Huskers defeated the Badgers in every set except the third (they had 13 points) and scored nine more points than Wisconsin. The difference will be clean hits – Nebraska has fumbled 44 times, Wisconsin has 18, reducing its hitting percentage to .130 compared to UW’s .217. These teams are also rally teams; Nebraska went to 15 in the fifth set and hit a game-high .545 with 13 K’s and one error in 22 swings, while Wisconsin also hit a game-high .500 with 9 K’s and no errors.

Now Wisconsin has lost consecutive Big Ten games to Penn State and Purdue in the last two weeks after losing right guard Anna Smrek to injury. With the return of Smrek last Sunday, the Badgers returned to their old self with a 3-0 win over Indiana. Smrek contributed 10 kills at a .667 clip and five blocks in this matchup. Although Wisconsin fell to No. 5 in the final 2023 AVCA poll, the Badgers will face the No. 1 team in the country while the Huskers will fight to maintain their undefeated season.