Wisconsin volleyball fends off Indiana in another ranked win | 3 takeaways

MADISON – Wisconsin volleyball picked up its second top-15 win in five days although it was much closer the second time around.

The sixth-ranked Badgers fought off No. 15 Indiana in five sets, 25-19, 25-14, 22-25, 20-25, 15-8, on Oct. 1 at the UW Field House.

The threat of a reverse sweep was a stark contrast from UW’s previous three-set win over No. 10 Purdue, but the Badgers hit .545 and never trailed in the fifth set to finish off their third Big Ten win.

“It’s important for us to stay together as a team and not give up on each other in those moments because that’s when we really need each other and need to lean on each other and trust each other,” Wisconsin middle blocker Jaela Auguste said. “The work that we’ve been putting in the past few weeks just showed right there.”

Here are three takeaways from the win:

On a night when not all of Wisconsin’s usual contributors were playing at their usual levels, outside hitter Audrey Flanagan delivered an outstanding performance.

Flanagan led the Badgers with 17 kills while hitting .441. The latter was her highest hitting percentage against a ranked opponent, and it was just short of the freshman’s overall career-high of .444 against Auburn.

She picked up 15 of those kills in the Badgers’ first three sets.

“We needed her,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said. “She carried a massive weight for us early on in the match, and then we started getting some other people to kind of join her as we were going forward.”

Flanagan’s early production helped the Badgers overcome lackluster showings by starting pin hitters Decelise Champion and Eva Travis.

Travis had four kills and five attack errors, finishing the match with a minus-.056 hitting percentage. It was her worst hitting percentage of the season and her first time hitting below .250 since Sept. 2.

Champion – the 17-year-old star who had 10-plus kills in three of her previous four matches – had four kills, three attack errors and a .100 hitting percentage.

Sheffield subbed Champion out of the match in the first set, and she did not return until the fourth set. She made a difference upon her return, taking part in three blocks in the fourth and fifth sets and clinching the victory with an authoritative swing from the left side.

“She stayed with it,” Sheffield said. “She didn’t get down or anything. And came up with some huge plays for us.”

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Jaela Auguste’s 2026 season hardly started according to plan after missing several matches with an abdominal strain. Her results after returning were hardly at the same level that she played when earning third-team All-America honors in 2025.

The Indiana match seemed to be a turning point.

Auguste had a season-high 11 kills while hitting .526. It was her highest hitting percentage since Aug. 22, when she hit .615 in the Badgers win over then-No. 7 Louisville.

“It was kind of a hard process to get back, but I think that me and Charlie [Fuerbringer] have been recognizing where we are at fault and where we’re falling short,” Auguste said. “We’ve been practicing in the gym every day and just getting after it, and then it showed tonight.”

It was part of an overall positive night for Wisconsin’s middle blockers. Fellow starter Lynney Tarnow had six kills while hitting .357 and was involved in a team-high six blocks. Natalie Wardlow came in off the bench and had two aces and one block.

Wisconsin seemed to be in firm control of the first two matches, never trailing by more than one point in the first two sets. That was especially the case in the second set, when UW hit .586 and sided out 92% of the time.

But as the match went on, Indiana made life more difficult for UW with its attack, among other areas.

The Hoosiers raised their hitting percentage from .028 in the first set to .200 in the second set, .289 in the third set and .353 in the fourth set. At the same time, Wisconsin often struggled with its first touch and was consequently out of system.

“They picked up their serving a lot after the break, and we were kind of scrambling and had a little bit tougher time getting into our offense,” Sheffield said.

Wisconsin returned to earlier form in the fifth set, though, while optimistically showing “fight” and “playing with courage” that excited Sheffield after his third ranked Big Ten win in as many opportunities in 2026.

“Because of that, they were able to walk out of here with a fantastic home win,” Sheffield said.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin volleyball fends off Indiana in another ranked win | 3 takeaways