No. 9 Wisconsin volleyball sweeps North Carolina

For a team with high expectations for 2018, the No. 9 Wisconsin volleyball started the year with a bang.

In Minneapolis for a four-team round-robin, Wisconsin took it to North Carolina on Friday, sweeping the Tar Heels 25-13, 25-18, 25-16.

“I thought we played pretty clean,” head coach Kelly Sheffield said via UWBadgers.com. “We missed two out of their three last serves but other than that I thought we played pretty clean volleyball. That’s kind of unusual coming out of the gate this early in the season. I think you have to be pretty pleased. A lot of people got some time in there and did a pretty good job.”

The Badgers set the tone in the first set, hitting a blistering .611 to North Carolina’s .000. The defensive dominance continued throughout as Wisconsin held the Tar Heels to just .067 for the match.

Sophomore middle blocker Dana Rettke (10) and sophomore outside hitter Grace Loberg (9) led Wisconsin in kills. Rettke also added five blocks, with sophomore setter Sydney Hilley tallying 27 assists.

Hilley also led the way for Wisconsin in hitting .750, while senior middle blocker Tionna Williams hit .667.

Redshirt sophomore Molly Haggerty was on the floor for the first time since 2016, returning from a back injury to post three kills.

“I’ve never really been on a team that has this many hitters that can really put the ball down,” Haggerty said via UWBadgers.com. “We have so many go-to hitters. It’s really fun to be on this team. I don’t think I’d want to play against us because of just how many options we have.”

Wisconsin faces off with Florida State on Saturday in Minneapolis at 4:30 p.m. CT. The match will be televised on Big Ten Network.