The Wisconsin women's volleyball team beats Oregon in four sets to make NCAA Final Four

MADISON – The Wisconsin Badgers reached the Final Four for the fourth time in the last five years, but to hear the players tell it, they haven’t reached their ceiling.

“We’re still climbing,” senior Devyn Robinson said. “We haven’t reached our best volleyball so we’re on our way up.”

That was the message following a gritty, exhausting and inspiring performance by the Badgers in the regional final Saturday night at the UW Field House.

The No. 1 seed in its portion of the bracket defeated No. 2 seed Oregon, 25-22, 25-22, 25-27, 25-18, in a match that produced 30 ties and eight lead changes and was played in front of packed house of 7,229. Following the 2 hours and 21 minutes of action it’s easy to see why UW coach Kelly Sheffield has called this stage of the tournament the hardest.

“We had no give up tonight,” he said. “Just the amount of fight to keep the ball off the floor and pursuit to give ourselves a chance of staying in the rally was the best I’ve ever seen.

“And then the mental toughness. …. That was something we talked about, but it’s a lot easier to talk about and discus than to actually do it in practice with the Final Four on the line.”

Wisconsin (30-3) will face defending champion Texas (26-4) Thursday at Amalie Arena in Tampa. The starting time will be announced Sunday. The Longhorns defeated No. 1 seed Stanford in four sets in the final regional final of the day.

UW's block and scrambling a unique combination

The Badgers earned their spot by fighting though Oregon’s best serving day of the season, scrambling to finish a handful of momentum-swinging plays and managing to hold the Ducks to .203 hitting percentage with the help of another strong match of blocking.

The difference came down to Wisconsin being able to grind out points at the end of the first and second sets and finally get on a bit of a serving run in the final set.

“It was kind of bend, don’t break. Fight,” Sheffield said. “One of the things we feel like we’re really good is we’re very comfortable being out of system and so fight like crazy to keep the ball off the ground. Somebody step in there put a ball up there and we’ve got the hitters that can get up there and take good swings.”

Senior Sarah Franklin finished with 20 kills and a .283 hitting percentage. Temi Thomas-Ailara, a graduate student, overcame a slow start to post 11 kills and a .286 hitting percentage. Junior Anna Smrek went for 10 kills, a .400 hitting percentage and seven blocks.

Senior MJ Hammill tied her season high with 26 assists. Sophomore Gulce Guctekin and junior Julia Orzol posted 17 and 16 digs, respectively and along with Franklin anchored the team's serve receive.

UW finished with 16 team blocks and had four players with at least five. Sophomore Carter Booth finished with nine blocks, one shy of her season high. Senior Caroline Crawford totaled seven and Robinson, who also recorded the 1,000th kill of her career, posted six.

“To be able to block the way they block and have those scramble plays that they had, just some amazing effort plays, that combo has got to be really, really rare,” Oregon coach Matt Ulmer said. "I thought their heart was great.”

Izzy Ashburn's serving run gives UW breathing room in final set

The matched turned on a handful of moments.

The first came at the end of the first set when UW scored two straight points after the Ducks cut the Badgers’ lead to 23-22.

The next came in the second set when the Badgers erased an early five-point deficit and closed the set with a 7-3 run that was capped by two kills by Franklin. The first off an in-system ball from Hammill, who was fed a perfect ball by Guctekin. The second came out of system and ended a long rally.

And the last came in the final set when graduate student Izzy Ashburn, who also posted 23 assists, served five straight points to give UW a 15-8 lead. The Badgers ran out of substitutions at the end of the third set and the fourth set appeared headed that direction before Ashburn found a rhythm.

“She came in and got that first ace, got a few out of system balls and we were starting to feel a little better with the sub situation,” Sheffield said.

Sarah Franklin named most valuable player of regional

That final set was Wisconsin’s best. It led by as many as eight points, its largest lead of the night, and posted a match-high .520 hitting percentage.

Franklin had six kills and a .417 hitting percentage in the fourth set and went on to be named most valuable player of the regional. She was joined on the all-region team by Booth, Robinson and Orzol.

Franklin is one of seven players on the roster who will make their first Final Four appearance. She’ll get to do it in her home state six months after her career was in jeopardy due to a rare condition with her shoulder.

“To be in this situation is really cool and I’m grateful,” she said. “There are no other words to put it. I’m just grateful that all the staff here and everyone at the UW hospital was able to get me back fully for the season. I think it makes it a little sweeter. Not being here would have torn me apart.”