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Badgers take care of business with an opening round over Fairfield

Badgers take care of business with an opening round over Fairfield

The No. 2 seed Wisconsin Badgers took care of business in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, eliminating the Fairfield Stags in straight sets (25-16, 25-16, 25-14).

Senior opposite Anna Smrek led the way with 14 kills and a .684 hitting percentage as she really wore down the Stags in the latter stages of the match. She also picked up five blocks, tied with junior middle blocker Carter Booth for most of the evening, as UW helped overcome slower starts to sets to earn comfortable wins.

Wisconsin started the match on a positive note as freshman Saige Damrow and senior CC Crawford had aces in the early going. Crawford’s ace gave UW a 10-8 lead. The Stags kept it fairly close to start — compounded by some opening-game jitters on the defensive end by freshman setter Charlie Fuerbringer — but Wisconsin took a 15-11 lead at the first intermission, thanks in part to four early kills from Booth .

Initially a problem at the start of the season, Fuerbringer and Booth linking up on quick sets in the middle caused the Stags problems. After the timeout, two blocks gave the Badgers a 17-11 lead and forced a Fairfield timeout. Senior Julia Orzoł added an ace to make it 23-14 as Wisconsin cruised to victory in the opening set. Orzoł, Smrek and Booth each had four kills in the opening set.

The second set again got off to a closer start before UW opened up a commanding lead. Fairfield tied the set at 7-all before a 4-0 run gave Wisconsin an 11-7 lead and forced a Stags timeout. To that point in the set, the Badgers were hitting .538. They finished that set with .531.

Things clicked and senior outside hitter Sarah Franklin also started to hit her stride. The Big Ten Player of the Year had 12 kills, eight digs and three blocks for UW and had seven blocks in the second set. Smrek closed the second set 25-16. In other welcome news for Badger fans, junior Gülce Güçtekin saw her first action since Nov. 14 against USC. She scored two points in a brief cameo while dealing with an injury.

After the Stags took an early 5–4 lead, Orzoł sparked a 4–0 run with two aces to help the Badgers take an 8–5 lead. Wisconsin scored two more points to force a Fairfield timeout as the Stags hit -.143 in the set and struggled against the Badger block. Smrek hit home three straight kills that pushed the UW lead to 15-8 and there was no return for the Stags as Wisconsin won 25-14 to advance in the NCAA Tournament.

Wisconsin will hope to keep dancing with a tough matchup against the No. 7 seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Tech defeated Tennessee in a five-set thriller in the earlier match in Madison, which could help UW as it wrapped up the match quickly. Either way, a spot in the Sweet Sixteen is on the line Friday night at the Field House. That game is at 7:00 PM Central and will be on ESPN+.