The Wisconsin Badgers are moving on to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament, fighting off a rough start against the Miami Hurricanes to win in straight sets 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-15).
Junior middle blocker Anna Smrek led the Badgers with 15 kills while outside hitters Sarah Franklin and Temi Thomas-Ailara both finished in double figures with 13 and 10 kills, respectively.
Although the score from a birds’ eye view is a Wisconsin romp, the Hurricanes did a lot to scare the crowd on the night. Head coach Kelly Sheffield said Miami did a lot of things that “stress teams out,” and felt the tempo and their work from serving was really tough for Wisconsin early but the team did a good job of learning and getting stronger through the match.