Wisconsin vs. Florida: 2020* NCAA volleyball quarterfinals | FULL REPLAY

well thank you so much i was able to catch up with wisconsin badger head coach kelly sheffield before the match and he said you know what the biggest challenge they might face tonight is just florida's athleticism he said my gosh we're watching film and they're making plays that you just can't believe he said i'd hate to see what their highlight video for the season looks like because it would be intimidating he said they play out of their mind sometimes so they just have to stay the course he said we know that they're going to make runs and we will have to weather some storms but he said really we don't want to worry about too much tonight we want to enjoy the celebration that we got to this end and that we are playing in a big arena for a national championship thank you holly a quick look at kelly sheffield what a job he's done with this wisconsin program now in his eighth year underway [Music] and as the higher seed wisconsin will be in their home white uniforms that's going to be a three meter line violation by thayer hall the opening point here best three out of five sets you're going to see a lot of backer attack on the side of florida so keep an eye on that between hall and caesar for florida easy ashburn defensive specialist 511 sophomore out of dayton minnesota on to serve and misses that one just long sixth meeting all time florida a perfect 5-0 the last meeting not that long ago florida upset wisconsin in the 2015 regional semifinals and on the shank pass there nice start for florida from the service line their outstanding freshman liberal ellie mckissick wearing number 23 5-7 freshman out of windermere [Music] needless to say salima serving and the level and quality thereof may well decide who advances in this regional final well absolutely both teams understand how much pressure they need to put on one another from the service line because of the firepower they both have on each side of the net so it's going to be critical you're going to see some missed serves i think because of how much pressure they want to put on one another tonight holly carlton six foot seven red shirt senior out of sterling virginia missed that one on the wrist away just cross court and one of the best liberals in the nation according to her coach kelly sheffield this is lauren barnes a transfer from minnesota boy that's a pretty nice play by tara caesar it was pretty awkward but caesar comes up with a saving block that's a really nice play and that and that's the thing about caesar she has such great body awareness she gets up over the net and can follow that ball and track the ball not net on a play like that big play play is still alive you can play the ball below the waist we've seen it previously in the tournament a nice rule change from some years ago i wasn't even sure if i was seeing the right thing but she kicked that ball she did kicked it legally carlton tough server coming from that angle at six foot seven perfect reception first look at recce is dug by hull and away from barnes and a break there for florida well you're gonna watch florida just really try to move the ball around and see how how much they can utilize the net they understand the size of the block on the other side of the net and and how they can block scheme wisconsin's a very good blocking team so florida is going to have to do a lot with their offense on the overpass to the back row once again thayer hall going off speed but that rejected by dana rekki six foot eight out of the middle for wisconsin well dana rookies just has such great vision and tracks the setter well and her foot speed laterally is something that i wanted people to keep an eye on she's big yes she moves well but she moves really really well for anyone for any size giorgio chiveta five foot six senior out of milan italy on to serve has overcome three acl injuries in order to get deep into this ncaa tournament originally transferred in from wichita state for a tough run for monterey who was really good yesterday against ohio state three sets to one win for florida and quickly down the line there's some of that explosive balance for wisconsin well chivita putting that pressure on the on the passers right now and creating that three ball coming over the net you're going to leave grace lowberg one on one and she's going to be able to score every time lowberg 2.9 kills you saw the support that is given to retki along with sydney hilly it's 302 first team all big ten 6-3 senior out of [Applause] some early nerves we've had a couple of service errors as we'll take a look at tierra caesar for the first time 17 kills on 46 swings yesterday against ohio state quick turnaround is there but can't be tracked down that starts with a nice pickup by diana kraft in the background has done a nice job for wisconsin coming in controlling the ball passing wise and defensively putting that ball right on the money for sydney hilly to set dana recce diana kraft her role has really expanded and it's really helped molly haggerty it definitely has freed her up a little bit allowed her to just hit and do what she she does right now and does well wow what a dig by barnes and by caesar but that is over and out of bounds but you got to look at lauren barnes the 5-6 senior out of naperville illinois wearing number one just a magnificent defensive play i tell you she has embraced this role and really has done such a fantastic job for wisconsin gotten better and better as the season has gone on and i tell you what it's plays like that that's huge for wisconsin right now javita with the dig wisconsin on a 5-1 run good stab by hagerty oh good block that's a big block by the transfer out of the university of california lauren forte wearing number 24 in white out of tempe arizona i'll tell you this is a nice move and see how she spills this space and keeps going she holds her position turns her hands back into the court we saw that a little bit against sanorecki versus byu the middles are just showing up a little bit late pressing their hands back into the middle of the court hagerty again continues her run in this ncaa tournament 14 of 28 against byu with no errors she gets her first kill so far on the evening in omaha i really like the speed that they're running with hagerty right now when that ball is perfect it's a perfect pass and they're running a nice in-system rhythm for her and it's really difficult for the block to close and get all the way out there she's getting the ball from sydney hilly the six foot senior out of brooklyn park minnesota the setter of the year in the big ten conference nice dig in the cross court and thayer hall is able to thump that through and around the block that time of hillary along with retki they're hall doing a nice job already for for the gators you're going to see them like i talked about moving the ball around a little bit just remember keep in mind the gators don't run a slide in their offense so you're going to see a lot of d-balls with caesars you'll see something from both pins that's how they make up that difference on the right side of the court out of windermere florida here's marley monserrate the six foot junior who had eight kills yesterday and five block assists that was a really productive performance against ohio state well i'll tell you she's just such a fun set up to watch and watch her develop over the years was really smart saw the block saw the defense and was extremely effective last night already a couple of service errors for both teams maybe showing some nerves all going off speed nice choice good decision by thayer hall number 20 in orange for florida well really nice decision when that ball's falling inside you don't want to take a big blast and hit right into this huge block she takes a little bit off of it a beautiful roll shot to the middle of the court love that touch by fair hall that is really perfect touch and another service error we talked about the schedule and the quick turnaround for florida having played ohio state just yesterday but not the same for wisconsin they played byu on saturday how might that impact either team's preparation and does it give wisconsin an advantage well i tell you what it's always nice to have more rest and more prep time so for sure i mean you talk to anybody they would say yes we'd love some time we like to have more time to prepare but physically it's huge but for florida let me tell you what these guys are physical they are fantastic volleyball players and athletes and they can come back i have no doubt about it you see it right there with how they're playing long rally caesar missing that ball just out of bounds [Applause] here's hagerty who will serve but then give way in the back court to diana kraft caesar tough swing against this block going off speed carlton into the block and is stuffed by wisconsin well danielle hart and grace lover getting all the way out there closing that block and hart doing a nice job taking that seam away a very solid number one seed wisconsin on top of florida by four in the first ncaa women's volleyball championship coverage continues with the national semifinals beginning thursday april 22nd at 7 eastern on espn for more information on the ncaa women's volleyball championship visit ncaa.com your home for all 90 ncaa championships back with three-time all-american saleem rockwell in austin texas i'm paul sunderland big run here right now for wisconsin the number one ranked team in the nation virtually all season and the overall number one seed that killed by carlton salima puts an end to a 10-5 run what was wisconsin doing or what was florida struggling with well i think they were just struggling to put the ball away and wisconsin doing a nice job with the block and just getting in front of them and that's what we saw against byu getting some great block touches controlling the ball a little bit and that's what florida is going to have to work their way around it and eliminate some of the unforced errors service and at the net that ball hit out of bounds by another a large group of top freshmen in the country devin robinson 6-2 freshman out of iowa just a tremendous shot down the line but just a little bit wide unbelievable yeah it takes your breath away at her ability back again and that ball off the block and out of bounds and i love the repeat you know you go back to someone they take a healthy swing just miss you know they want it you know they want the ball again and hillary going right back to robinson robinson hitting 4 42 in the big ten there was no non-conference all of those matches are in the big ten which is far and away the best conference in the country chancellor for wisconsin hilly with the first contact oh good luck good response once again by forte with some help on the outside i tell you that is a monster block out there but forte does such a nice job getting from pin to pin especially when that balls off the net look at this perfectly timed huge block on the right side with carlton and forte beautifully executed job by florida florida shank pass opportunity for florida trailing by only two now trailing by three saving block right back at you by recce with some help from robinson well what i like about the block is how they line up that ball's a little bit inside they do a nice job give credit to robinson lining up perfectly and allowing dana record to close right to her for that stuff block robinson 11 of 18 against byu named to the first team all big ten again as a freshman there are so many wonderful young players in college volleyball this year i have no idea who's going to be the national freshman of the year by florida good dig by hall and recce off the top of the block and down salina when you watch dana recki against byu and she really struggled six of 21 with four errors hit under hundred what did you see there and it shouldn't be a concern to wisconsin and wisconsin followers you know i i what i saw was what sydney hillary has done really all year flinging that ball back there to her and taking some chances which is nice and what you'd like to see but byu did a really nice job filling in the seams blocking the cross court because a lot of those balls that are far were falling inside a little bit and she was forced to hit cross court and that's where byu got her when the ball was high all the way to the pin she started having more success good block touched by florida and a nice play outside to caesar number three in the orange jersey but tiara caesar really struggling to start this you can see the frustration on her face selena she's old for seven yeah and that's tough i mean she had a big night last night and she wants to have that same kind of success but we talk about these these matches getting to the semifinal is a tough match it's a big deal everybody knows you try not to think about it but the magnitude of it is big bayer hall looking for the deep cross court corner so back to back hitting errors off both wings the star outside hitters and they are indeed that tiara caesar and feyer hall and mary wise now in her 30th year 30 30th consecutive ncaa tournament call in a timeout they had gotten back within two but now gave up in combination with that an 8-3 run so florida forced to call the timeout trailing wisconsin 18 to 12. mary wise what an incredible career at florida on the list of the winningest coaches of all time she's fifth overall with 979 overall wins now that puts her fifth russ rose your former mentor is on top with 1309 and also mary wise in terms of winning percentage is one at a clip of 8 45. just a tremendous performance by coach wise looking to get back into the ncaa national semifinals once again well this has been something that's been consistent with mary wise over the years how she's gotten her teams prepared in conference winning conference championships and then prepared for the postseason someone that everyone knows is always in the conversation always in the mix mary was doing such a phenomenal job with that florida program all right suleiman now you be coach wise what's she telling her team right now not only to get back into the set but really smooth things out well i tell you i think they're pressing a little bit too hard right now trying to go after some big swings big rips maybe just hit the edges of the block look for areas of the court that are open and and available but just kind of settle in and steady down we you could see it like you said on tiara caesar's face hey guys it's okay everything's gonna be all right let's pass the ball and do what we normally do not try to do more than what we normally do florida right now hitting negative against wisconsin seven kills eight errors on 30 swings they hit over 300 in the opening round against morehead state and yesterday hit 236 against the buckeyes wisconsin however offers up a different kettle of fish caesar's still looking for her first kill nice play by forte they're going to get that in the middle from forte if they can control the ball and handle it feed her the ball a little bit she can score because she can go toe to toe with this wisconsin team hitting high enough has the ability to hit har hard enough over top and around the block so if the outsides aren't getting it done right now if they can fire it in there that's going to help them tremendously a serve tierra caesar you talked about it yesterday did a wonderful job in reception and defense and now getting some momentum going for florida at the service line back within four there's time saliman you made a great point forte is leading florida in kills four out of seven and the outsides really haven't gotten going at all another good serve and the tap down beautiful serving by caesar it's this line the line ball that's it's tough to handle and gianna kraft is in there hanging out there down the line she's driving this ball right at her getting it to drop a little bit bottom drops out of it a little bit as well good pass by chavita in the clutch and that leads to a kill on the outside let's go down court side to holly rowe for more on the early at least hitting struggles for florida well that's right i think people really underestimate sometimes when they get into a match with wisconsin just how huge they are at the net like 6-8 dana redke 6-4 across the front with heart and loberg they have really got this big massive physical block and just kind of learning to work their way around it find the seams i saw tara caesar go high off the hands on her last attempt just figuring out how to get through and around this big wisconsin block does take some time the first time you play this well holly thank you so much for that you're absolutely right about that size of the wisconsin vlog you just don't see that every day when you're playing volleyball and when you get against it you have to figure out wow there's some hands in front of me but these are big hands in front of me can i go high can i go deep tough serve lauren dooley out of the middleware number 99 should have been able to put that ball to the floor nice first contact by chevita [Music] left side to hagerty off the edge of the block [Applause] big time rally by both teams playing some excellent defense but that's what molly haggerty has done so well just really expanded her game and knows when it blocks in front of her that she can't hit that straight down gonna tool off the edge take some big cuts off the edges of the block go back to paige hammonds the sub who had played an awful lot for florida coming she did her job lauren dooley's got to throw that ball straight to the floor that was a big opportunity missed as florida was getting back in this opening set hall and this is that wildly out of bounds defensive specialist ash burn on to serve again the lead now is five once again good read out of the middle what a good reaction by the high-flying monster well it's just tracking that ball and being super athletic at the net that's a fantastic play by monterey on an overpass you see hart is there ready to crush that ball and she does a nice job timing it getting those hands pressed over the net remember what mary wise told us earlier in the week when we had a chance to speak with her about most improved player in her gym is marley monterey she's doing it she's done it last night she's just playing at such a high level running the offense so effectively as well another chance for florida to caesar looking for a first kill not yet [Music] javita has been good in the back court so far for wisconsin off speed for hagerty she's been so good and paul that's that's an excellent point what you're seeing right now those balls that caesar might normally put down or hall might normally score on are not going down right now against wisconsin we all know about the firepower of wisconsin but it's a defense right now that's really stepping up and controlling this florida offense right now caesar and hauler combined two for 18 and a kill off the left side maybe that will open things up a little bit one-on-one nice delivery from monterey i tell you this florida team when they can handle the ball that ball is perfect right on the money man it's it's difficult to defend but when they're off the net a little bit right now against wisconsin that's where they're having some trouble you know if i'm florida i i think we're down to the top team in the country 22 to 18. and we have not played well at all i think they can take some positives out of this they really can their outside hitters are not doing anything right now that's going to be four contacts the combination not there looking for danielle hart the six foot four redshirt junior out of virginia beach virginia when you look at this rotation this is where they use devin robinson in different ways she hits a one or a two in the middle of the court and keep an eye on the opposite devin robinson who used to be a middle they like moving around and using her in that way as well look at look at that pass by barnes free ball coming to florida a chance to get within two caesar off the edge [Music] what a play by caesar i tell you what she's getting fired up and she wants it you can see it on her face right now but look how this ball is delivered all the way out to the pin she catches just that right hand of devin robinson tooling it out of ball intentionally three nothing run by florida wisconsin needs a timeout and they'll take it no question about that this is a really nice run because when you look at the numbers you know wisconsin's not lighting it up offensively they did not necessarily except for hagerty and with some help from lowberg and others against byu a match they won three sets to none but uh florida i think has got to be feeling pretty good about themselves because eventually caesar will get going and so will thayer hall absolutely and you add those two into the mix right now i mean just a couple more kills by each of them and they're right in this and completely in this match well they are right now but they can absolutely win this set so i think they're having that conversation they've been a little bit smarter with their swings more patient with what they're doing right now and getting wisconsin a little bit more off balance florida back within two and want to remind you on tuesday catch an mlb match up as the mets take on the cubs the first of a three-game series at wrigley field it begins at 7 30 eastern time on espn and the espn app everybody's pretty excited out where i am in los angeles the dodgers off to a pretty good start took care of the padres over the weekend wisconsin has won 45 of 48 sets on the season this season has been very interesting we had a very long and pleasant conversation with kelly sheffield earlier today all the coaches so generous with their time long range via zoom and he reminded us that his team has played before the tournament started so then they have played a grand total of five matches since february 21st because of covid which the big ten was hit really hard they played one match against minnesota the other was canceled the two matches against nebraska were canceled and the two matches against penn state were cancelled florida a chance to get within one and they do polly carlton with a rip into the cross court you know that's what kelly sheffield said hey she's the wild card if they can get her going she's very difficult to defend she goes hard she works hard in transition gets off the net and that left arm is hard to read at times as well short story quickly out of the middle and a rip once again by the very versatile devin robinson that's what they like to do in that rotation we talked about that a little bit want to get her the ball because she can see she hits so well in front of the setter gets on the ball quickly but of course can can hit on the right side as well that's where she's playing but that's a nice luxury to have her be able to hit a variety of sets coming right side to robinson over the top nice dig by hall oh good block that seems to me where it started it florida started getting some things done not only with stuffs but with some good block touches when you see them move and shift as soon as that ball is passed to the right side of the court they know where it's going dooley shuffles over there they are completely surrounding the ball and there's zero chance that logar can hit this ball around that block big stuff blocked by number 99 lauren dooley six foot six out of plano texas and florida within one no touch and we're tied just a remarkable turnaround in this opening set i'll see wisconsin change his pattern a little bit here put robinson on the right and try to mix things up with their rotation and how they're conservative another block wow lauren forte has been the best gator on a 7-1 run and who would have thought this forte and the gators now salima with a set point and the second timeout taken by wisconsin i tell you at this point in the sea in the season during the tournament i shouldn't be surprised at anything but i tell you what this is an unbelievable run by florida right now but look at forte and that timing getting up and over the net huge play for florida right now and a crucial time in the set let's give florida a lot of credit one for hanging in when they were really struggling they were trailing by as many as six but they've been doing it at the defensive end wisconsin as of today is the number two offensive team in the country behind only kentucky hitting at a 345 clip and after that stuff they're at 0.88 what a wonderful defensive response and effort by the florida gators well i tell you what this is what i was so impressed with with them yesterday is how they were staying patient not getting rattled and not letting things just run away from them you could you absolutely could in those situations but they have a pretty mature team that's poised and and and really methodical with what they're doing it's super impressive to watch them respond and come back in these situations and speaking of comebacks remember what they did to ohio state they fought off four set points in the second came back scored six straight points to win it 26-24 and mary wise told us afterwards that's what turned around the whole match they eventually won it in four forte in the middle of your screen number 24 in orange has been absolutely superb a block four kills set point for florida [Applause] robinson is blocked what a cover that time by hilly caesar been struggling goes off speed dug again by hilly [Applause] well that was an unlucky deflection really really misfortunate unlucky deflection wisconsin was on the ground and somehow selima made a play out of that unbelievable nice play you see how happy daniel hart is she knows it everybody knows it big play right now for wisconsin wow that was really really lucky if you will for wisconsin barnes back to serve tied at 24. caesar still really struggling and robinson threw the block and down and just like that back-to-back points and wisconsin will have a set point and i like how wisconsin is playing defense and reading the hitters really well in the right spots [Applause] barnes has 11 aces so far on the year wearing number one in the libero jersey one of the best in the country at her position caesar tentative going off speed but a good shot florida will get a free ball forte again with her fifth kill absolutely ride the hot hand you have the ability to do it get her the ball she doesn't care who's in front of her right now here is carlton pretty dangerous server for florida caesar deep swing covers clutch swing once again on the outside in transition by number 21 grace lowberg i'll tell you what a set by sydney hilly this is a ball that was tight to the net and could have gone awry but she does such a nice job clearing the net there setting that ball beautifully out to grace loberg for the kill that florida block wasn't able to close in time that was a wonderful shot of one of the best setters in college volleyball no question about it setter of the year in the big ten set point number two for wisconsin and finally tiara sees her sometimes if you just close your eyes lima good things happen that's exactly what it looked like i don't think you know they didn't even know where the ball was going caesar's been good in the defensive phase and at the serving line very easy sir hammers that on the slide what that perfect pass and dana recky she knows she knows the importance of this i mean she she starts i'm going to say she starts flaring those nostrils when she gets a kill and she's serious about what she's doing i mean watch out but look at barnes handling this ball and a beautiful set by sydney hilly recki's lateral movement for a woman that stands six foot eight out of bounds just out of bounds well left she is the most mobile six foot eight player i've ever seen there have been a lot of women of her stature playing the game not so many collegiately but around the world as you well know selima but have you ever seen anybody at that size playing in the middle they're usually on the outside they're usually on the outside you're right but no and and that's her foot speed that that allows her to do that she's so good in the middle of the court good serve by hammons perfect set haul into the cross court dug by barnes look at caesar beautiful overhand dick and a big swing thayer hall number 20 in orange and i tell you talk about that dig from caesar and everything she's doing if she's not getting it done at the net right now and she's working on getting her kills she is playing phenomenal defense let feyer hall go ahead go up and get it and finish the play for you set point number two for the gators after they mounted a huge comeback their washington husky's impersonation retki again slicing off the angle even further i'll tell you what that's a sharp sharp swing that's hard to defend blocks there they know where it's going she still cuts that ball inside the block see the black tape on her right hand been playing with a fractured finger on her attacking and serving hand most of the season hall misses that out of bounds well left by chevita [Applause] you gotta like that swing that's a big swing she's going for the sideline there it's just a little bit of a miss it's a tough time to do it but i like how hall's playing the game right now fourth set point for reckey in wisconsin tough swing out of system from well off the net javita standing in hagerty for the win and has it inside the block you've talked about javita and said her name over and over and over again and she has kept the badgers in it kept them alive well it looked like it was all the number one seeded wisconsin badgers early but tiara caesar and lauren forte got florida right back in it took overtime wisconsin takes it 30 to 28. the wait is over and it's time to decide a champion number two catherine plummer he has been torching the opponent stanford continues to roll look at plummer are you kidding me and here comes wisconsin [Applause] [Music] [Applause] madeline gates just having a phenomenal tournament must win situation for wisconsin obviously what a play that's what this team has been all about for the championship stanford now stands head and shoulders above the rest well that was back in 2019 and kelly sheffield is trying to take his number one ranked and number one seeded badgers to the ncaa semifinals for the fourth or fifth excuse me for the fourth time and last year they lost a stand for three sets to none and you heard the name catherine plummer who's now playing professionally in japan she went for 22 kills on 37 swings 15-0 7th big 10 title 146 out of 49 sets no five set matches and uh kelly sheffield like you and i selema during the break we were looking at the numbers going wait a minute what really happened there because it was looking like a it was going to be a very comfortable first set win for uh wisconsin but florida had certainly something to say about it tell us about that pad and what kelly sheffield would be looking at well he's looking at all the stats that they they give you everything that you need as far as the normal box score stats or anything rotationally so he's trying to try to get a handle on everything they're doing what's working in each rotation where you can serve what they're hitting off of certain passers there's so much information that's available sometimes it's a little bit of an overload and and it can be too much but really you can squeeze points just saying hey we know exactly what's going to happen right here in this rotation at this time and that's where you can score a point just knowing what you've got ollie carlton starts things off once again florida could certainly use a better start caesar came on towards the end of that opening set which was won in overtime by wisconsin 30-28 but you look at hall and caesar they were combined six of 32 and florida was right in that opening set obviously it went into overtime here's mckissick again let's go down courtside once again to holly rowe well are we molly you're you're in touch with the technology so this is the right place to go i was just going to say are we really not going to talk about the fancy stand i mean jared elliot told us he has an 86-page scouting report kevin hambly would always have the ipad in his hand but i think this is next level kelly sheffield and his group the stand where they can just turn it to him at a moment's notice that's next level that you're absolutely right holly that i'm gonna have to get one of those in my home office i've got everything else trust me caesar finally going hard high hands that's good for florida and off to a 3-1 start well they definitely look a little bit more comfortable right now understanding that that that first set was right within their grasp and they they're coming off of that same kind of energy and you can carry that momentum into the next sets and that's what that's what can win you matches mckissick who's gotten florida off to a pretty good start doing an outstanding job at the libro position filling big shoes left by ally gregory outstanding liberal which proceeded who preceded her with the florida gators florida 21-3 overall kentucky and purdue coming up later kentucky the winner once again of the sec for the fourth year in a row look at that first contact right on target and opens things up for redkey i tell you look at that transition move as well gets all the way out there on the block a great block touch on carlton and then transitions to the slide that's the one thing they that kelly shepherd said they've been working on is their block touches and that's what impressed me so much about their match against byu so many controlled touches and dana wreck is always a big part of that tough servant what a smart shot crossbody out of the back row by hall number 20. they're going to continue to use hall wherever she is get her going as much as they possibly can and they're going to move that ball to the right side of the court to carlton and get hall going as well misses that ball out of bounds looking for a touch we might have our first challenge players are headed to the sideline so we no we're not going to have a challenge dana retki's just getting ready to get at it once again three challenges per team if we go a fifth set each team gets an additional challenge as that ball drifts just long we've had some pretty important challenges so far already today you remember one early between washington and pittsburgh late in that match unbelievable so and then we saw some yesterday as well and even even before that watching just end of sets challenges some tight ones lowberg on deserve hit 302 on the year this isn't a really a powerful offensive unit jar caesar is starting to find some rhythm as an outside hitter you played setter but if you had a hitter that was really struggling what would you say to them what would you try to because they can't win this match without her being productive right i mean you got to get in her ear a little bit you have to know your hitters though what do they respond to they respond to you firing them up a little bit or just keeping them calm and everyone responds just a little bit differently and sometimes you move them around hey i'm going to give you a different look let's run it inside a little bit just create some space and it just really depends on the on the hitter great decision by tiara caesar who really struggled in the opening set but has been almost perfect here in the second tell you that was a beautiful shot out of the back row and she's working hard back there to get in position look at monterrey throw that ball in there keep the team in system way off the net and a beautifully placed ball by caesar at the end nice start offensively here for the gators six of nine and the run continues first by mckissick and now by caesar they made a remarkable comeback in the opening set they were struggling not playing well but in the block and defensive phase they put some pressure on wisconsin got right back in it 5-1 run for florida off speed by hagerty she just has all the tools as an outside hitter she does she sees the court so well knows the game plan as well where are they lined up defensively where can you tip this ball right over the top of the block when the defense is deep down the line that's tough for the off blocker to play running across the court just a little quick house cleaning the chi health center now we've moved into the big arena for all of the regional finals today and of course it will be the site of the national semifinals on thursday in the championship on saturday tough serve [Applause] on the slide look at this block forte what has she given to florida number 24 in orange i'll tell you what watch on the perfect pass they know where it's going she's a little bit late and hall is there but i tell you what forte making some big moves getting all the way out there and helping hall with this stuff block yeah give thayer hall all the credit hall got all the contact but forte got there to close nicely done hammond's again on the floor to serve and this is that one out of bounds so other than a couple or maybe too many service errors for florida they look like a really really confident team right now in the second set big ten setter of the year back to back years first team all-american caesar and that off of hilly wow tiara caesar has complete what a credit to her to just forget what happened in the first set it's unbelievable and and i tell you what you got to watch her work so hard the pass is coming and then look at her move from the left side of the court all the way over to the right they do this not just in service but in transition as well it's so impressive the movement on the back porch quickly to the floor once again by devon robinson what an advantage does it give wisconsin and kelly sheffield to have a player like robinson who's has experience in the middle and now playing on the right can you move her around offensively well you absolutely can i mean he does it in almost every rotation they like to either run her in front they start with her doing that and then they switch to her going on the right side insert in serve receive but here you have her on the right that's one thing that he said that she struggles with a little bit is kind of those out of system balls but i tell you what so many options with devin robinson and for more on this outstanding freshman let's go back down to holly well guys i met devin robinson when she was about 15 years old because her father danielle is a assistant basketball coach at iowa state and i cover the cyclones quite a bit this shy young lady came up to me and said i see you on volleyball i'd love to play volleyball someday and i said you should consider the big ten it's close to iowa where you guys live and she actually i put her in touch with some of the coaches at minnesota and here she is ending up at wisconsin and the freshman has stepped on the court and made an immediate impact i just love how far she's come and watching her grow up i know her dad is so proud of her he caught my eye from this dance i was like can you believe it here she is all these years later and she said thank you holly said a wonderful start to her career and kelly sheffield told us earlier today when he recruited her as a sophomore so many coaches around the country were just you know we love you you're already great you got to come play for us but kelly sheffield said if you want to play in the big ten you got a lot of work to do and he really challenged her and that was one of the attractions that's why she came to wisconsin because she wants to be good and she responds to what kelly has to say about how hard she's got to work well you got to love players that want that you know that's rare to find you know a lot of players want to hear what they want to hear that they're great and they're awesome but she's like okay all right i need to be better i need to be better than what i am this is what i want i want you to make me better had a wonderful freshman season again 11 of 18 against byu 6-2 first team all big ten when she was recruited out of high school in her last year she was considered the 14th ranked recruit in the country they had it wrong look at the year she's had hitting over 400 in the big ten nice dig by mckissick chance in transition kept alive by retki what an athletic reaction along with robinson and then to the floor out of the middle by forte some big plays on both sides of the net first with kisik making a huge play to keep that ball alive but i tell you what it's forte we're gonna keep talking about her on a perfect pass get her the ball florida struggling from the service line that's the only criticism for the gators here in the second set they hit 0.91 in the first 5 62 so far here in the second give them all the credit in the world particularly tiara caesar because caesar was really struggling to transfer out of georgia there is chivita who's been right on target so far as a defensive specialist 14 to florida has led throughout the second set chavita again good dig by monserrate caesar tough chance going off speed and chavita there again with a good touch [Applause] look at the mobility of dana rekki after a long rally tell you what that's what makes her so impressive big moves getting there transitioning hitting this ball fast she had to get on it quick and you see monterey in the back row getting in there you got to respect it she crashed in there on that ball knowing it's coming but got blown up by that swing by dana recce how many times did dana retki jump just in that particular rally and was still there to put that ball away let's go back to holly for more on the all-american middle blocker for wisconsin talk about the mobility in movement yeah we've got to go to a media timeout 15 10. well you're talking about the mobility of dana redke at 6 8 look at her be able to transition from defense to the slide so quickly whether it's the block or coming around the back side of the center those feet are true and here's the reason why when she was growing up and hitting all of her growth spurts for 13 different years she was a very serious jazz and tap dancer she has been used to doing a lot of activity with her feet and it shows she plays so well moves across the net and it's very unique for a woman her size thank you holly no question about that dana recki is a unique talent who has had a magnificent collegiate career wants to have a championship no question about that nice play by caesar and if she wants to she will represent the united states for a long time in the olympic games and internationally struggled if you will against byu we talked about it you know salima 6 of 21. well those struggles are over she's back to her usual self as evidenced by that seven kills one air hitting over 350. and right now you're seeing sydney hilly getting her well first of all the ball control is really really good right now for wisconsin passing the ball well these are perfect passes flinging it back there not really having to force it from way off the net which i saw a lot against byu which is part of those issues as well and all of that said florida is leading 16 to 11. caesar wonderful bounce back and montserray continues to be very offensive minded and so smart again eight kills yesterday against the buckeyes one she's so balanced when she sets this ball she's high she looks like she's gonna set the ball to an attacker and just flings it over the net and everyone forgets i mean it's on the scouting report i know it is we all saw it yesterday we've seen it all season but she's so good at that it's a beautiful play and especially in that two hit a rotation where you've got both hitters in front nice job finding that empty spot right in the middle of the court that is a magnificent look i love that look you can see the block and the defense react or not the timeout is called by wisconsin so wisconsin trying to slow things down so we want to remind you nba friday's double header features some of the hottest teams in the nba coverage begins with nba countdown at seven then it's go time at 7 30 and 10 p.m eastern on espn and the espn app the boston celtics and the nets taking on and then the nuggets and the warriors steph curry injured an ankle just the other day and he has been on an incredible hot streak so hope that he's back healthy and ready to go that's nba friday brought to you by state farm on espn back with salem rock while i'm paul sunderland we've got a moment here selima what did you think earlier the match between texas and nebraska oh man what what a match you know at first it was back and forth and then you could see you could see texas really just start to get in a groove getting a rhythm certainly skyler fields was unbelievable pretty much unconscious playing that in that match and logan eggleston with her serve so putting a ton of pressure on nebraska and they just couldn't get their footing and couldn't get get back in her groove lauren stivers wasn't set very much you know she was out the night before seeing her come back in the match they started to get get her going late but it was a little too too little too late washington survives purdue versus kentucky to fill out the national semifinal bracket kentucky as you can see the number two seed and looked absolutely unstoppable last night against a very very good team out at conference usa western kentucky hagerty taking a tough swing beautiful location for hagerty that's a tough ball to hit in that position off the net you'll see the defense not in the position and she sees it and hits that ball again not super hard but just right in the middle of the court where there's no defender logan eggleston schuyler fields had a career high yesterday and came back with another 18 kills brianne butler was tremendous as well so texas has advanced again for the 13th time good contact out of the play not a lot of back row from wisconsin but they do there nice dig by lowberg and hagerty again look at the block lauren forte once again number 24 in orange having a big big finals match regional final five kills a couple of blocks just unbelievable moves by her and reading the play wisconsin making some good defensive efforts but as soon as that ball again shifts a little bit to that side of the court she makes her move does a nice job pressing over the net florida had some serving issues early on so going to the bench now to bring in serving sub civita with another very nice reception chance here in transition look at monzerray again lauren barnes all over that saving dig by the libreo barnes a huge play by lauren barnes because i thought that ball was going to fall was the right time to do it barnes read it a chief blue got off the ground laid out for that pancake knowing how important that play is unbelievable move by barnes hagerty now with seven kills on 14 swings one air she was almost perfect the other day against byu good play by caesar stretching out hall is blocked that is a big block out of the middle danielle hart six foot four second team all big ten and i tell you what saw that dig by barnes keeping the one ball alive and then dug the second one off of caesar during in the middle of that rally it's barnes keeping keeping the badgers in it right now barnes again florida has led throughout hagerty robinson off the top of the block wisconsin used a timeout earlier on to try to slow down florida you think it's time for floor to return the favor think they're going to take a look at it because there's a lot of momentum right now on that wisconsin side yep there you go a time out called by mary wise aptly named this is a smart timeout given up a couple of points here in a row been told it's a challenge not a timeout called by florida challenging whether or not the ball was up or down you can challenge ball in or out ball up or down four contacts a ball in the plane of the net three meter line foot fault service line foot fault a net touch or a touch off the top of the block and again three challenges per team and unlike if the olympic play was this ball down what do you think selima i think it's up i thought it was up from the beginning um and looking at it again i i think she's got both hands completely underneath it it's just an awkward play and a weird bounce off of her hands so it could have looked down it's also a good time for a challenge with this momentum i agree with you on both counts i agree that the ball was up legally and i agree that it's a good use of the challenge and not having to burn a timeout because this set might get very very close just like the first between florida and the number one seed wisconsin badgers that was won by the badgers 30 to 28 after they had a very comfortable lead early on now the call will be confirmed the ball was indeed up as we thought not absolutely right salima florida 21-3 wisconsin officially at 15-0 yep stays with wisconsin now if you're florida let's take a look at where they are offensively what do they have to think about first well first of course they have to handle the wisconsin badgers have been serving tough right in that scene between caesar and hall so they have to handle this ball first and look for a back row attack maybe from caesar mission accomplished and over the top that that ball was down that's good work by the second referee and the linesman aggressively looking at that play fantastic pass by thayer hall under pressure tell you what that's what it's all about handling the ball keeping the defense especially that block at the net they know caesar's gonna get set or they could set the outside ball to haul but a nice job and a designed play tipping that ball over the top during that challenge i'm sure that's what they discussed and again magnificent comeback in the second set for caesar two kills in the first set and seven here in the second carlton is doug on top of the net joust coming ball's still alive caesar and that's gonna be four contacts that's tough it looked like a set that was just not perfectly timed you know that sometimes with that rhythm coming out of the back row and she's telling her right talking to her right now and saying hey i need it just a little faster that's all caesar's been fantastic in the second set how tough is she after a really difficult start how tough is she coming right back to put the ball away well and mozzarella i love the trust between the two of them going back to her and saying okay you told me what you needed i'm going to give it to you she sees the block i mean she could have hit that ball just straight ahead cuts it across her body for the point seventh kill here in the second set florida with a 20 to 16 lead trying to even this match at a set of peace florida is 5-0 against wisconsin but their most recent history does date back to 2015. right side tight set caesar's all over that and an unforced error by lowberg on the outside logar trying to make something with with the ball couple of sets of ones tied on the right side of the court then they have to make some adjustments leverage needs to chop that ball high and inside the court jay demps another freshman coming on 6-2 freshman out of raleigh north carolina lober goes to the sideline boy demps welcome to it and what a big swing by jay demps just off the sideline i tell you what i've seen her play all season when she comes in the game she takes some monster swings gets up tracks the ball well and i tell you what when they need to stop out and they need some points she can do it wisconsin with some very valuable depth in demps loberg was only five of 18 with three errors here's caesar again back to demps no yeah to demps again nice dig right on target by mckissick and the off speed what has florida found they're working the off speed very effectively against wisconsin well that's right now everybody's on their heels a little bit you see the wing defenders a little bit deeper to back on that back row attack they come a little bit deeper defensively waiting for the big swing and i tell you what that's what they decided this is open let's score here right to the middle court time out called by wisconsin and one of the keys and you know this is an all-american setter molly marley montserrae is putting that ball in a very hittable position so the defense is back on its heels monterey has been superb really good location and choice well and you talk about the location especially with a back row attack you want to lead them far enough or they can really get a nice big approach get on top of the ball that ball's not drifting behind them so they can take a big rip at it or they can tip over the top monterey locating beautifully tonight let's go down courtside to holly where for the montereys it's been a family affair for a long time at the gators you know that's right if people are watching this and thinking i thought that monster ray player graduated well there's a good reason you're confused there have been 11 straight years of monserrate sisters at florida sister madison got the party started when she played for the gators from 2011 to 2014 then ali transferred in from south carolina 2015 to 2018 and marley also crossed past 2018 until now you know marley said i wasn't sure if i wanted to go there and be in my sister's shadow but i just decided i can outshine those shadows and she has she's been so terrific but think of the security blanket for mary wise high level family high level volleyball iq and the monster a have been literally making a name for themselves because they just never leave a name that will be never never be forgotten it's been around it's been around for over a decade and this monterey wearing number 21 has had a superb season leading the way she's got another year six foot junior out of the windemere area of florida it's in the orlando area and as mary wise repeated to us a couple of times during the conversation the most improved player from the fall season into the spring the sec like the big 12 and a couple of other leagues played in this fall and now extending into the spring big 12 also dempse's roofed carlton once again along with forte [Music] it's not just a big block it's a controlled block they do a nice job turning their hands back in and pressing back into the court look at that right hand of holly carlton pressing back into the court commanding that lead now for the gators [Music] and that's out of bounds multiple set points florida has led tiara caesar has completely turned her match around thayer hall as well lauren forte has been superb throughout caesar now with 10 kills on 34 swings after having only two kills in the opening set on 18 swings here's mckissick set point number one and this is that out of bounds [Applause] she's definitely going there in serve receive of course that's what she wants to do i'm going to tell you what she's she's missed quite a few here tonight and kiss just needs to kind of drive that ball in the seams keep that ball in play here is javita again who's been really solid in the backcourt until then misses it there florida nearly won the opening set with a storming comeback and they've come right out reset the table we're going at least forward tied at a set apiece and the number one seeded wisconsin badgers a little bit on shaky ground tied at a set piece tiara caesar has been high flying and spectacular when we come back we'll go to the studio with sam and katie and once again and katie talked about it tiara caesar the comeback player of the day so far really struggled in the opening set and then put up some phenomenal numbers and save for that very slow start for caesar and the rest of the gators they have been the better team they could be up two sets to none and then we'd really be talking about some headlines number one seed wisconsin that 18 points that's the fewest points they have scored so far in a in a set so far this year of course they've only lost a few so they're usually scoring 25. kelly sheffield hasn't had to sweat it too much so far on the year but i imagine he's looking very closely at that pad and looking for some answers caesar doing a good job keeping that ball alive all set too tight for this big block did caesar get a piece looking for a touch both officials look at one another and that ball missed out of bounds well she definitely was going for it and that's the right play when that ball is tight to the net to really take it push it against the block and throw it out of bounds but she she just missed the block [Music] lowberg back to serve so far five kills on 19 swings four errors so the offense is struggling so far and that's going to be a back roll blocker called against monserrate that's what wisconsin needs to do serve tough to florida force them pass the ball over the net of course off the net as well that's what they want to do wisconsin needs to up their serving game and really force florida into some situations they don't want to be in good cover that time by hilly and then that missed wildly out of bounds tiara caesar once again the key to that play really good first contact and reception so far in the match wisconsin for them at their standard hitting a paltry 167 and right now florida out hitting them at 168 after a very slow start carlton number 40 in orange transferred from north carolina six foot seven a combo right side was a setter she was five foot eight and a setter as a junior in high school and now she's six foot seven and a top college player he's had a wonderful career at florida yeah it's crazy when you say it when you hear it out loud five foot eight as a junior in high school she's six foot seven that just doesn't happen that had to hurt at some point growing that many inches javita again who's been really solid as a ds so far for wisconsin and tiara caesar again wow what a lesson for young players who just putting putting aside a bad start just has been ripping the ball since so impressive and moving that ball around now i like how she's mixing up her shots and that's when you know someone's comfortable when they're starting to mix up their shots hit something different not just hit the same shot all the time and he's been really good at the service line we featured her before first serve showed a lot of her attacking but really she's the total package isn't she selena she absolutely is and what she does from the service line and defensively is huge for florida and that's what that's what helps them that's what makes them so good she and thayer hall [Music] that was an easy serve to cevita and that ball just out of bounds caesar smartly lets that go and let's go down holly to holly quickly you guys talked about the resilience of trs caesar and getting off to that slow start well this is nothing new for her she's had to overcome an acl tear her senior year of high school she has a rod in her leg she has been through more adversity than most volleyball players and out here she just looks flawless so far she overcame that quick start or excuse me that slow start and she's really coming alive hagerty luckily gets that ball through the block thank you yeah tiara caesar wearing number three in the orange jersey for florida started two of 18 with two errors so she hit zero since that time she's nine of 18. been passing nails and serving the ball very very well indeed season high four aces so far in the match tied at a set of piece forte look at the dive and save hilly got that ball up but lowberg was unable to follow i like how monserrate fires that ball in there to forte she's off the net push far to the right side she still knows that forte is going to be available and fortes with his long arms can just fling it down monterey very offensive minded but doing it at both ends already in double figures with diggs what a good shot by thayer hall change in pace at ball set was 11 11 feet off the net and let's start with that block touch by dooley and monster i think they're doing a nice job scouting it's knowing what's coming from the wisconsin side controlling the touches and of course thayer hall is out there to finish and close well that ball missed out and i'll ask you again selima because wisconsin everybody consensus number one team in the country and here they are really being pushed by a florida team that was seated at number eight are you surprised at the level or lack thereof so far from wisconsin well and you know what i i think this is a very very good florida team you know and i'm not sure you know you don't when you're not in it and you're not seeing them all the time you just don't know but i'm telling you what you watch the offense of florida and how they're playing the game i mean they're pushing them as hard as any team has so far this year so i i'm not surprised at how this match is going based on how florida is playing lauren dooley out of the middle number 99 with the kill and you make a great point because you look at florida seated at number eight but they split with kentucky and kentucky's really good but then they had a couple of quote-unquote unusual losses if you will going back to georgia and south carolina and that's why they receded but they look like they were under-seeded because they're playing at a very high level and given wisconsin everything they want tied it to set a piece and on top 8-6 barnes as advertised has been superb at the liberal we'll give you her defensive numbers already with 17 digs for barnes and a shank pass that's a rare mistake for caesar big serve for barnes going hard i mean this ball is not just going right at caesar she's driving it with pace an excellent server for wisconsin 12-8 so far on the year for barnes carlton going off speed good cover carlton again look at the dig by barnes oh look hagerty's down barnes is down retki couldn't get there in time what a good effort by both teams and a break that time for florida but what the but the initial take by barnes down the line unbelievable dig by barnes but this this play they both kind of crash into each other you've got nobody there to help everyone else is getting ready to hit [Music] here is hall florida continues to lead tied up to set a piece a little bit of a slick out of the middle that time hadn't seen that from wisconsin and rekki misses it wide a very concerned kelly sheffield in his eighth year head coach the number one seeded wisconsin badgers they've been to the national championship match three previous occasions lost to stanford last year again going off one foot cutting that ball back out of the middle well they've got hagerty in there playing all the way around i know she's been in there a while handling some of the passing responsibilities and florida's trying to trying to force the balls to her to lowberg as much as possibly can keep it away from barnes and i think that's what what florida is really working on doing but they're he wants haggerty in there hagerty's a competitor she wants to be in the game and he's going to use her as such shank pass florida and mckissick will not track that down and when we spoke with head coach chef kelly sheffield earlier today he said molly hagerty is a big time player i know exactly what i'm going to get from her in big important matches and now he's given her more responsibility to play all the way around instead of using diana craft and splitting that position tight pass carlton misses that into the cross court and we're tied at 10. [Applause] nice push here by wisconsin putting some service pressure on the side of florida and holly clarkton carlton just needs to control that ball a little bit limit those unfirst errors wisconsin still really struggling at the offensive end for a team of their capabilities nice play by chavita again keeping that ball off the floor tight quickly out of the middle and thrown cross body nice play that's a good quick move by lauren dooley wisconsin wants to call a violation there they thought that that ball was was carried or thrown across body but dooley will get the heck out of dodge and register the kill well dooley's just up and available gets her arm high and they can fire that in there and she doesn't get a ton of sets but every once in a while throw it in there not really expecting it she's gonna get a one-on-one she's got long arms she's at six six and she can score throw being the operative word selima i'll give you the offensive numbers so far here in the third set kind of stunning when you look at what's what wisconsin ordinarily does what their track record is caesar that ball cannot be dug tiara caesar once again has been just tremendous in this set after that kill tiara caesar and florida are hitting 294 wisconsin 0.62 wisconsin has not hit below 293 all season and again they're the second ranked offense statistically in the country at 3 45 and that's against only big ten competition that's more like it if you're a wisconsin fan lowberg when they get the ball right in there to hilly and she can fling that ball with that pace and that speed to the outside to lowberg that's that's what she needs that's the ball that's the pace and the distance she needs chavita again getting lots of good touches out of the back roche coach sheffield it doesn't happen very often but it did there demps chavita again tracked down by hilly a little pinball and then tap down ball's still alive but caesar caesar violated the center line what a play by dana redke and giorgio chavita wearing number seven making a number of tremendous defensive plays wow what a finish and you got to give caesar credit she's in there and that awkward position gets her hands high tries to make a play on it carlton misses that out of bounds so that's a couple of misplaced swings that time by carlton on the outside wearing number 40 in orange eight of 21 third error now for florida so far here in the third set tied at a set a piece wisconsin won the opener 30 to 28 and then florida dominated the second 25-18 talk about holly carlton monterey is trying to fling that ball there back there getting it gets the flow give her some space to work with that worked earlier on in the match right now carlton not able to get on top of it and score but i think she'll find her way back still a nice play nice early quickly read by sydney hilly i'll tell you the number seven the transfer out of wichita state has come back from three acl injuries she's been really really valuable for wisconsin in this third set as they have come back to take the lead well in all of those long rallies you say her name and then you say her name again she's right in the middle of the action making huge plays for wisconsin working on caesar and up to the task going off speed here going to be a chance probably go to hagerty got to come over that was a little bang bang play in the backcourt between mckissick and hall and missed out of bounds wisconsin looking for a touch but none detected javita saying yeah indeed the florida block got a piece so we might look to the sideline for a challenge wasn't quite sure chivita was pretty sure they're all trying to now shuffle doesn't want to waste the challenge that's for sure and he's asking his players well yeah he knows and we've seen it selena this match could go on for a long long time and going back to the match earlier today take another look what'd you see there salima i i saw it over the block no touch it was close enough that you know if we ran it back a few times we might see it but i saw no touch well caesar somehow keeps the ball alive [Applause] hart nice play in transition on the slide it's not only dana recky who can go behind the center we've come to the media timeout tied at a set a piece wisconsin leading by one in the third and after a slow start for tara caesar offensively she has picked it up and really led gators here she started two of 18 and has now 10 kills on 24 swings i tell you what mixing up her shots staying confident and marley monserrate staying confident in her attacker in tiara caesar didn't look like it to start but caesar once again with a double-double there's a double-double machine playing at both ends of the floor and again getting off to really you just could have to be just a terrible start nice dig by barnes but caesar has come flying back [Applause] caesar out of the backcourt no to forte lauren forte has been solid all night long in omaha for the gators well that's the trouble with this offense they runner on this three right so they want to push the middle blocker of wisconsin over just a little bit and see do i stay neutral to defend caesar on that d-ball or do i have to make a choice and sometimes you just kind of freeze you're right in the middle of it and it's so fast and high hard to defend for the wisconsin side hagerty comes right back had some back issues early in her career had to take a red shirt season out of glen ellen illinois was wonderful in the regional semifinal match an easy win for wisconsin over byu 14 of 28 no errors and putting up really good numbers again 9 of 23 so far on the evening hall comes right back i tell you what with the serve i mean they're doing what they're intending they're serving jar caesar in front getting her down on the floor then they can send two blockers to their hall but fair hall still able to hit around that big block of wisconsin right now boy has florida turn this match around after a very slow start and then they barely lost the opening set 30 to 28. lowberg going off speed easily covered by hall and into the cross court corner that's a nice comeback in its selema by holly carlton it is and they know they need her they they've used her early especially when the outside hitters weren't having some success they were going to carlton and forte and and carlton needs to continue to have big numbers high numbers and just not make errors right now five kills five errors right side to robinson again mckissick has been so solid caesar having to go off speed goes high hands what a save by the center of the year sydney hilly it looked like that was going to be real trouble but you see hagerty's in the middle back just playing this ball makes a play spins all the way around off of this ball off the block perfect ball and hilly again so good at clearing the net handling those tight plays and i love what dan danielle hart is providing offensively for wisconsin look out below recce looking over to apologize on the overpass that ball was off of dooley and it was still alive but it happened so fast the gators couldn't respond it was really fast wisconsin yeah she almost took caesar's head off and now she almost decapitated lauren dooley dooley looking to throw that one down cross body and missed it now 1917 advantage for wisconsin in a timeout is going to be called by florida [Applause] back and forth three-nothing run here by wisconsin to force the timeout take us inside the floor to huddle salima and what mary wise has got to deal with right now because they are right there dead even virtually if with the number one seeded team in the tournament they are right there and it's really been a couple of just errors and and it's limiting those unforced errors right now dooley hit that ball out of bounds wisconsin of course doing a nice job at the net but she's she's talking to them about what what we need to do right now to side out again where are they lined up defensively sometimes we can't see what they're doing until the ball is served but that's what she's talking to them about how can we come back here just like we've been doing we're down by two points we're in good shape right now and hey let's let's talk about where we need to to put the ball yeah indeed florida has learned by now that they don't have to do anything special they just need to be florida well we've got a timeout want to remind you on tuesday catch an mlb match-up as the mets take on the cubs it's the first of a three-game series at wrigley and it begins at 7 30 eastern on espn and the espn app i'm paul sunderland out in southern california salima rockwell is in our lhn studios in austin texas and this tournament is taking place under a controlled environment and glad to have it in omaha nebraska the chi arena now that we are down to the regional final round washington three sets to two winner over pittsburgh earlier today they were down two sets to none and texas over nebraska 3-1 so texas into the national semifinals for the 13th time for washington their fifth trip and the first in quite some time since 2013. there you see the bracket the winner of this between wisconsin and florida gets the texas longhorns on thursday night and saleem and i will be heading out tomorrow you packed are you packed yet no i'm not i'm i mean i'm close i can't pass talking about a pack that was a packed block straight down that time by retki man she moves so well she's saying how that kind of hurts but gets there closes a big monster swing by hall huge stuff dana recki averages 1.6 blocks per set and if you're not familiar with that's a big number that's a really really big number in wisconsin only behind maryland she's still playing shaking that one off she says god that one hurt middle blockers usually don't they don't look so good when they go to get their rings shank pass here and coming out of the timeout wisconsin has continued to put pressure she's playing with that broken right finger on her right hand and lauren barnes back to serve lauren barnes has been causing florida some fits that tough serve going deep into that corner looking at the passer hitter and working those seams on the left side of the court florida got to get out of this rotation right now starts with a good pass perfect pass by caesar and a kill down the line by thayer hall i love that set all the way to the pin hangs it right where she likes it so she's got all shots available and fair hall so good at cracking that ball down the line and hall likes caesar bouncing back after a slow start now with 12 kills on 32 swings barnes took wisconsin on a four-nothing run to carve out this lead a chance to get right back in it caesar again off the edge hilly scrambling at the defensive end she is really a good defender that ball was set too tight selena why was that set such a problem it's a rare mistake for monterrey yeah you know i'm not sure i was watching just the defense and looking at her finish that ball and i saw it drifting towards the net but that's a tough move for for caesar in that situation but what a play by hilly on the defensive end i tell you what wisconsin playing with a lot more fire getting things going here not sure that ball just fell inside just a little bit sometimes it's not a perfect set devin robinson taking advantage of that opportunity 6-1 run now by wisconsin second time out called by mary wise 22 to 18 is the advantage let's take you back to the start wisconsin got out to a very big early lead they led 13-9 at an early timeout in the opening set closed it out because florida came storming back behind lauren forte block and play and defense taking advantage of some poor plays by wisconsin wisconsin was fortunate to win that opening set 30-28 florida continued their good play in the second they led 15-10 at the media timeout closed it out 25-18 and then it was florida early and now wisconsin's turn to mount a comeback what has wisconsin done to improve the way they've played well i think they're keeping them all alive but they're not just playing good defense they're transitioning and they're finishing plays right now they're finishing those long rallies and that's what they hadn't been doing before florida was winning those long rallies even though wisconsin was playing good defense they weren't finishing and i think that's the difference right now offense is clicking for them a little bit more a little bit more efficiently and and just playing at a higher level with more urgency we talked about dana retki and we also showed you that retki gets an awful lot of help look at this distribution hilly moves it around but hagerty robinson and loberg are all doing a very nice job around their kill leader dana recki 11 of 23 hit 391 and now wisconsin wisconsin fans aren't used to hearing this their hitting percentage is up to 206. it was down around 155 remember they hit 345 on the year well they're doing expensive really good fantastic job just moving up all around like you said and some of the service pressure has really been an issue for florida as well and the wisconsin block able to slow some balls down georgia tvto we've talked about how good she has been in defense and first contact and at the service line and just then she misses that one she's got two service aces to go along with 10 digs doing a very very nice job in the backcourt now in the right back [Applause] those 10 digs are one shy of a season high this will be her only year with the badgers easy serve to barnes and missed out of bounds a break for florida big break but i tell you i like how barnes moves across hagerty's in there in that passing pattern might be just pretending like she's going to pass this ball but watch barnes cut cut off this ball as she goes after her with a nice move now she's switching positions because it going line the line so barnes can't steal that ball but she ends up serving right to her off the block deflection of course you go to dana retki you're talking about lowberg she's struggling six for 29 with six errors so she's hitting zero and on the year very very effective as an outside hitter hitting 302 so florida's done a very very good job king on lowberg carlton finding a spot dug by chavita a beautiful block once again by forte lauren forte the transfer from cal was all pac-12 before she got her degree and then transferred it mid-season and i tell you what she has brought so much to this florida team mary wise said she is just a joy to be around and it's been so wonderful to have her she's not just a great athlete but she's a great human being so what a swing out of the back court to bail out huge swing that looked like it was going to be a free ball for florida a chance for them selima to get within one and this is where they don't use her often but lowberg can swing out of the back row she can attack out of the back row they were using her in system earlier in the season she and hagerty now they're just kind of using her when they need her but i tell you what she's found those corners and she's able to do that super effectively huge swinging selena that's like a two-point switch potentially and it gets wisconsin to a set point and off speed once again why is florida having so much success so many tips front court backcourt are finding their way to the floor against wisconsin i tell you everyone plays defensive just a little bit differently they're trying to force them to do some things that they don't want to do normally defensively and that's that's every defense has a hole and they have their positions that are open set point number two for kelly sheffield tiara caesar four aces so far on the match that slow start for caesar a distant memory she's been fantastic ever since the opening set and this is that going for the low flat serve with a lot of movement and wisconsin the number one overall seeds and a lot of people's favorite to win the national championship are one more set went away from going to the semifinals on thursday dana redke always a very dangerous weapon to any opponent wisconsin up two sets to one over florida [Music] [Music] welcome back live once again to omaha nebraska espn's continuing coverage of the 40th ncaa volleyball championships with three-time penn state all-american selena rockwell i'm paul sunderland wisconsin holds on huge swing out of the backcourt by grace loberg to seal the deal virtually wisconsin up two sets to one it's been back and forth selima and now does florida need to adjust change anything at all or do they just need the belief quite frankly that they could pull off what would be a huge upset well i tell you i i believe that they believe they can do it i i can see it on their faces there's nothing about their body language that would suggest otherwise i think wisconsin just picked up their game started playing just a little bit cleaner handling the ball a little bit better and florida just needs to respond this is going to be a battle and i think we're in for the long haul hagerty very smart shot out of the back row gets things started here in the fourth set washington texas have already advanced the winner of this one plays on thursday night against the texas longhorns into the semifinals for the 13th time and then coming up later tonight of course right here in omaha it will be purdue out of the big ten taking on kentucky champions of the sec and the number two c hagerty off speed twice that's a really good lesson for young players well just mixing it up and that's what she does so well out of the back row hitting a roll shot out of the back row is difficult to defend and of course that tool off the edge of the block these are the moments that's exactly what kelly sheffield say she lives for these moments hagerty now with 11 kills matching rekki for team high good block out of the middle by dana recki and that ball missed out of bounds exactly the start that wisconsin wanted and on conversely that florida did not florida had opportunities to take the advantage in the opening set and i think they had opportunities as well in the second until grace lowberg had that miraculous shot out of the backcourt memorable good pass by mckissick and caesar even chavita could not come up with that one now a lot of heat that ball's coming off of her hand fast and and with that speed to the pin then she can hit that ball down the line you watch the wisconsin block can't get fully set up and they're going to take a little bit of cross court away from her on that ball caesar now with 14 kills 49 swings to get there here's the libero mckissick javita nearly perfect pass back row to haul chavita again she and barnes have been fabulous in the backcourt carlton tough swing goes off speed hilly out of the play good set to caesar going high hands and the ball falls wisconsin just better in the long rally keep bettering the ball well just staying in it chavita just everywhere right now making all these defensive plays see hagerty taking something a little bit off of it and both monterey and caesar are kind of in that same position for that ball in the middle of the court she can't turn around and make it make that point with three quick kills to start this fourth set and chavita again i love the tomahawk at the end where the shot off the top of the block almost went over her head which had been really good the transfer once again out of wichita state originally from milan italy has had three acl injuries and repairs coach sheffield was telling us earlier today and she comes from a volleyball mad country he said she wanted to play so badly when she came in so quickly and he said just give it a minute we gotta take care of your knee let's make sure you're you're ready to go and i think it all that time they spent taking care of it has paid off well i don't think i would vote for a ds to be an mvp of a match but she has been incredibly important so far to the wisconsin effort up two sets to one and now on top 4-1 in the fourth that ball served out of bounds holly carlton will give you her numbers caesar lee and leading the way with 14 forte has been really good six of 12 hitting 500 carlton hitting zero she's taking some very difficult swings five kills five errors look at that angle but missed out of bounds by hagerty trying to stay with the off speed she was three for three prior to that miss that was a monster swing but i like how they're moving around a little bit too that ball was inside kind of what they call it a 32 or a rip trying to move some things around for the offense for wisconsin right now back to hagerty block covered by chevita chance for floor to haul down the line dug by barnes and that ball is going to be outside the antenna what a good swing by thayer hall out of the back row and i tell you it was the read on the defensive play you see that ball come to hagerty on the outside you know she's going to chop this ball down the line and watch where she fair hall just shades over to the right side of the court and is ready set me this ball even in a three-hitter situation they've got another option with hall hitting in between those spaces between the block is that a game face or what and also that's paying attention in the film session and taking it out onto the competition court wonderful read that time by hall to hagerty once again where's she gonna go this time off the edge no caesar's got it paul out of the back row javita had the dig and here comes florida a four nothing run now for the florida gators to come right back and take the lead i tell you it's really been interesting watching florida they just are counting on different people at different times it's been forte out of the middle it was caesar out of the outside and carlton at times and now it's tall what a certain deep corner wow a serve by holly carlton that's just there's no answer for that no there isn't that's just a fantastic serve and another hilly off the net out of the back row that's blocked covered that time by barnes and haggarty hagerty has been bailing out wisconsin right now at the start of this fourth set they got off to a good start but they've gotten into a little bit of a tough patch and she's come through four kills already here in the set well that's what they need her to do when anything's off the net or when they're out of system they're digging some balls but they're not going to be perfect aggregate they're lucky to have her on the left side taking out the trash you got to have somebody who's willing and able to do it a lot of difficult swings caesar way off the net dug by barnes what a good play that time by tierra caesar tiara sees her hitting that ball from 15 feet off the net and created that opportunity for forte that's not an easy ball and it was a big swing a huge swing on the outside look at this out of system just kind of smart reaching high and deep barnes getting a hold of it just can't keep it on her side of that berdy hedrickson on the floor now for florida as well to play some defense nice play by mckissick hanging in not a good first touch by hilly mckissick and hagerty again when you teach a young outside hitter when you work with young players she's it she has tremendous versatility of shot she really does i mean it's it's the vision it's the patience she knows where the ball is what she needs to do with it not trying to do too much with with something that doesn't exist she doesn't try to hit angles that aren't there hagerty five kills in the set already with 14 on 35 swings retki leading the way as a team now wisconsin hitting 250 fully 100 points below their season average page hammonds veteran out of louisville on to serve caesar's really played good defense throughout the whole tournament hall pretty tight did she get a touch and yeah high flat nice kill by thayer hall really nice defensive play by caesar in the back row with her hands but hall i'm telling you right now she wants it they know she's going after it here and they can count on her right now to get a kill rightfully so we talked about how caesar has come back after a slow start robinson throws that ball out of bounds wisconsin is really struggling a couple of different phases but all credit going to thayer hall for she too like caesar really bouncing back after a tough opening set what's going through kelly sheffield's mind right now he hasn't had to deal with too many situations like this so far on the year no he hasn't had to deal with much but i think you know he's an experienced coach he's used to battles certainly in the big ten long battles long rallies so they they know how to stay the course and he's just going to be super methodical in his approach and what he's doing and smart with what he's saying checking out his stats hey where are we in this rotation what do we need to do right now but not not overthink not over panic that's for sure he's looking at the stats right now on holly's favorite new technical tool the swiveling ipad here's one of those too been fabulous in the library working on caesar [Music] is roofed robinson on the outside the freshman with who else the all-american and last year's big ten player of the year dana retki giving her a little shove like wow that was an amazing block pumping her up that's what i love about dana recki sometimes she gets more excited sometimes for other people than she does all the time than she does for herself perfect pass thrown straight down by monterey who continues to be smart selective and very effective as an offensive minded setter when i tell you she doesn't just go up with one hand both hands are up looking like she's going to set the ball and then at the last second throws that left hand both hands there goes the left hand and then catches you off guard that's how you train a setter to attack a ball that ball's still alive and not for long [Music] [Applause] nice hustle by florida but rocky cleaning it up at the net so good at just reading plays as the ball comes over the net and taking care of it you know we talked an awful lot rightfully so about the defense of wisconsin but how about this monterey 17 digs tr caesar with 15 and ellie mckissick with 15 as well and i tell you that's why we have the match that we do exactly right great defensive plays and it's really who's going to finish these rallies who's who's good in transition right now dug again by caesar wisconsin trying to get it back within one going to rekey no they go the other way to lowberg and that off the top of caesar's hand tell you what wisconsin being able to finish these plays huge right now you're going to see a little bit of room for lowberg to work over the top and deep into the court behind where caesar is hanging out in the middle back perfect delivery and quickly to the outside once again from sydney off speed again is able to get to the floor wow eight kills yesterday eight kills yesterday you gotta absolutely love this is an all-american setter for did russ rose let you be that offensive minded when you were playing at penn state i was offensive i didn't do the set over you know i wasn't so sure that wasn't really what we were doing back there it was more than you're attacking but i love this i i wasn't sure about it before years past but i like it connection not quite there but rekki going off speed and holly carlton unable to keep the ball alive 12-11 wisconsin leading two sets to one 30-28 opening set that was really interesting 25-18 florida clearly the better team in the second set in wisconsin won the third 25-22 caesar ripped that ball down the line but out of bounds selima is the serving big ten tested of wisconsin starting to wear down the receivers of florida well i tell you it's it's been some a lot of pressure from the service line i i think so and i think you know maybe not completely wear down i think wisconsin is is picking it up like they they're serving tougher than they were earlier so i think that's that's different and different for florida for sure but they're still hanging in there and they're handing this ball okay i you know i'm i'm not i don't think they're shanking balls all over the place right now just a little bit off the net there's mckissick again on the slide good block touch caesar ball set a little bit tight turns it down the line again that's two in a row she's missed out of bounds what do you do with that tight set when that kind of match up against a huge block in front of you well it's exactly what she's looking and trying to do she wants to hit either off the edge or go just outside the block down the line and and mckissick has set a few balls like that i wonder if that's an intentional if she wants the ball that way or if it's just a little too tight because sometimes sometimes hitters ask for it out of system they're better at hitting that ball that way but she's trying to hit down the line it's available just missing i don't want that ball that tight with dana retki looking at me from the other side i don't want that forte aggressive delivery by monserrate out of the middle and florida retains the 14-13 advantage and you talk about firing that ball in there monterey knows that that forte is up and there's some space in the block right now until he wasn't all the way in there they're kind of waiting for that ball to go outside so there's a little bit of space in that gap for forte to work with forte having a big regional final the transfer from cal give your numbers in just a minute off speed once again caesar's there hall working out of the back court and just missed out of bounds boy that was really really close she wanted that and that and that was the right play caesar's on the ground she makes that stab he's running around trying to get to the outside and you've got fair hall there to keep you in system just miss that ball out of bounds forte is 8-14 hitting 571 here's hilly tied at 14. must-win situation for caesar and for florida off speed again boy tipping and rolling really good versatility for tiara caesar and the rest of the florida attackers will take the media timeout the gators up by one florida has found an open spot on the court for wisconsin doing a nice job with the off speed game and i tell you wisconsin's in there back on defense because this is a florida team that can hit hard and deep but right now the scout is this is where they're able to score in florida doing a nice job exposing that weakness in the wisconsin defense well and selima you saw that time and again those all all those balls are going where right in the middle of the campfire it's hot there you don't want to go in there but that's something that's been scouted that's something that's been seen by florida and they are really executing because time and again they're finding the floor coming out of the timeout florida must-win situation trailing two sets to one the winner gets texas out of the middle no tough swing for hall off the net outside of the court got to keep that ball and oh did bayer hall saying it went off the block into the antenna so we might have a challenge she was adamant about that call and she's going to get the call let's take another look watch robinson on the perimeter yeah absolutely there it is that's the right call good job by fair hull battling for the right call there tool off the edge of the block into the antenna yeah absolutely absolutely the right call the right decision and if kelly sheffield thought otherwise he would have challenged it i think initially they called it the other way and theirs are arguing it their hall and maybe she's looking at the line judges i shouldn't speculate too much but hillary coming over there to question why they changed the call and going to explain to her head coach margie ray is the first referee joe gustafson is down courtside [Applause] and no challenge it should just be play on the call has been made and thayer hall said what the heck you talking about that went off of wisconsin and out of bounds into the antenna and she was exactly right big call a really big call 16-14 the advantage for florida looking to even this match at two sets a piece a little confusion down courtside you heard the pa announcer say that that was the first time out called by wisconsin mary wise wondering what's taken so long and i agree with coach wise for a call that didn't have a challenge it's time to get this thing rolling for both for both teams but particularly if you're a florida fan caesar four aces already been superb danielle hart oh that ball missed just out of bounds boy that was that was really close to the end line we might have a challenge now they thought it was a touch either way they packaged all of those calls into one so whether it's a touch or in or out they can challenge this this call yeah in the same action if you will at the net you can take a look at a net violation a touch or whether or not the ball was in and out it doesn't matter which element of those three that you particularly go to the second referee and question the call about this is huge the ball was called out florida if the call stands will be on top 17-14 trying to send this match to five sets that ball is definitely out you see it that way selima yeah it's clearly out but am i right in saying and you mentioned it they can still look to see in the same combination they can look to see if there was a touch because the ball was clearly out correct yeah and that's where you know the refs when they when they change that they want to make sure they're getting this right so on that last action of the play any of those challenges can be kind of clumped into one so they're going to look and see if they see a touch on this as well [Music] not seeing anything monsieur is really demonstrative that she did not touch it but as always been the case volleyball players are notorious liars not me no way no no i was speaking of everybody but you selema everybody did you well coming up later on you got the number two seed kentucky wildcats only one loss against them this year and that was to florida kentucky played superbly yesterday against western kentucky and it's going to be florida's ball so the call is confirmed the ball was out there was no touch and it's 17-14 wisconsin remember selima we showed you that graphic they have not played a five-set match all season long they've had a lot of issues like everybody has with kovid they've only played five matches now including in the tournament since february 21st [Music] hagerty restoring some order and firing things up man she got on that ball a little bit of a stare down at the end of it tell you what hagrid wants to win this match 15 kills now and taking some very difficult swings easy serve to mckissick [Applause] low berg down the line beautiful dig tight pass but dealing with a danielle hart that was really a good play by number 18. a lot of players would have been trapped by that set salima absolutely nice job getting off the net and still keeping her vision and being able to see the block but hilly going up there with one hand hart handling it really well high flat what a good response once again thayer hall [Applause] can i tell you what that high flat shot i mean i'd like to see it more especially against these big blocks that's what you want to do skip high hands and you train that you train that every day coaches are looking at hey how can we hit high off the hands and out of bounds so no one can chase it down 17 kills now for hall off the top of the tape and missed out of bounds by the serving specialist hammonds they'll head back to the sideline hall 17 out of 40 caesar she's going to need a couple of days rest all these teams have two days off before the semifinals washington and texas have already advanced the winner of this one gets the texas longhorns the number four seed wisconsin the number one seed florida the number eight seed perfect pass barnes that's going to be a net violation so net violation called against wisconsin and the lead is there once again florida maintaining that very small separation thayer hall now with 18 kills good save by hagerty that could have been a real problem soft block here hall not a good set in transition way off the net but thayer hall looking like molly hagerty doing a great job finding some open space tell you step it up big time here and it's not just taking these wild swings knowing where the open spot on the court is there you see the frustration and hagerty but a nice job when that ball is inside and you've got rekey right in front of you chop it down the line beautiful shot by by fair hall really smart 2017 is the advantage timeout wisconsin and let's go down court side to holly rowe will fayer hall's reality have exceeded her dreams she thought in her career she would grow up and play basketball and volleyball at wofford near her hometown of spartanburg south carolina but she said she really owes her mom her mom forced her to go to a volleyball practice literally shoved her in the door she said i had both arms on the side of the door and i was not going in and my mom pushed me in after one volleyball practice i knew it was love i i fell in love with this sport and even though she had still wanted to play basketball moving forward and maybe being the wnba she said those plans have changed here i am at florida and boy you can see the multi-sport athlete she's all over the floor and she has got a calm presence about her a killer attitude here tonight for the florida gators good thing her mom pushed her into that practice well it's good for everybody holly to have fair hall in the game of volleyball she has done so much for the sport so much of course for florida and right now stepping up in a major way they've counted on other people earlier on in this in this match but i'm telling you what right now i'm setting fair haul well thayer hall and her teammate and position mate if you will tiara caesar have really shown their mental toughness in their competitive spirit because both of them really struggled at the start i know i'm repeating this but a lot of players a lot of players at high level programs a lot of players with a lot of talent get off to a start that they did they would struggle the rest of the match they have been fantastic their body language is good their energy is good and they're trying to force a fifth set tiebreaker here florida now leading 20 to 17. just to finish the thought from holly thayer hall has also had to deal with numerous injuries throughout the course of her early career she's overcome all of that having a really really good year lowberg is stuffed on the outside the blocking lauren dooley number 99 along with holly carlton just getting the job done florida serving a tough ball to molly haggerty and forcing sydney hilly to bump set out there to lowberg they're going to get set they're going to be in a good position a nice job by florida all the way around a serve no barnes tracks it down free ball to florida could decide the set barnes again and look at that wow what a play lauren barnes not once but twice unbelievable save and then holly carlton called into the net barns just keep things alive she doesn't ever stop you think it's going to be an a she chases it down you think a ball is going to hit the floor she's flying in there lauren barnes really saving the badgers on multiple occasions saved a two-point switch could easily be and should be probably 22-17 and maybe the set is gone you can't win without a classy talented tough libro here's javita bayer hall comes right back off the edge great response by florida can i tell you what to get by monserrate flying in there that was a fast pass she's coming in out of the back row he handles it nicely and thayer hall going off the edge we've watched marley monserrate throughout her career she has really really worked at her craft and improved first straight setter offensively and defensively caesar from off the net going off speed lowberg is there [Music] chance again carlton redkey again on the slide [Applause] barnes again on her back trying to keep the ball alive and the ball bouncing off the tape and florida just looks destined right now to force a fifth set tie breaker i'll tell ya dooley handling that ball that was just an awkward balance barnes trying to keep it keep it alive but just can't can't finish that play dana retki is having an efficient match as she always does except for the other day we'll give you that number again against byu wisconsin calls a timeout retki is 13 of 29 hitting a very high percentage but selima you follow the big ten very very closely it doesn't seem to me that that connection that we featured before the start of this match between hilly and retki is that the level it has been previously am i overstating that well maybe a little bit i mean i think that what we've seen before is how many balls at daniel wrecking she's getting a lot of swings don't get me wrong 29 swings on the on the match is a lot but i tell you there have been times where she's led the team in in whether it's kills or even attempts and right now they're moving the ball around just a little bit more and trying to give her opportunities but let me tell you you look at what florida is doing some of that off speed so they get the ball on grace lover they know that ball's going behind a dana recce so then they're moving their block in that transition play even though lowberg plays the ball and and i like how they're they're playing the game right now so got some hands in front of her defense can play around it so so there's a lot involved with what they're doing they're not completely obviously she's playing well slowing her down completely but enough to kind of neutralize it a little bit and have her not hit the astronomical numbers that she's used to and florida doing a great job blocking the ball want to remind everybody nba's friday doubleheader features some of the hottest teams in the nba coverage begins with nba countdown at seven then it goes it's go time at 7 30 10 p.m eastern on espn and the espn app with selima rockwell i'm paul sunderland you look at the blocking numbers would you have expected florida to be out blocking wisconsin 10-6 no i would not have but but again after watching florida play and just how how resilient and tough they've been i again i'm not surprised it's just it's been fun fun to watch them and watch this confidence that they have in themselves and one another on the overpass caesar once again throwing that ball into the wide open area six set points for the florida gators ricky down the line mckissick hanging in digging a scud fair haul again the combination what solid team play right around the dial mckissick hall hail caesar along with lauren forte and for the first time this year the number one seeded wisconsin badgers are going to go to a five-set tiebreaker the gators tie it at two sets apiece is this a stunner possibly coming your way the number eight seed florida gators have taken the top seeded wisconsin badgers right to the edge we're going to play a fifth set tiebreaker florida has been superb fayer hall coming back leading the way with 21 kills and the stage is set two sets apiece wisconsin has not played a five-set match so far in the year florida two and one including a five-set win over the number two seated kentucky wildcats paul sunderland with you in southern california selima rockwell out in texas if we can see it we can feel the tension of this match from our respective home bases wisconsin how do they bounce back what does wisconsin wisconsin fans have to look for in this floor to really have the belief to close this out now in a tiebreaker i tell you this has been such a fun match to watch both teams just battling on either side and stepping up in different ways at different times and i think that's what you expect in this environment in a championship environment when they're battling to get to the semifinals but right now it's molly haggerty on the wisconsin side that's really having a big match and and showing that she wants the ball we'll see maybe does she start in the left front i'm not sure but dana recky as well and of course for florida it's been fair hall so it's going to be interested see where they start this is a fast set game the 15 and fair hall coming up big time so far tonight as holly road told us it wasn't always a time when thayer hall wanted to be a college volleyball player a big time volleyball player she's come up big time for the eight seated gators as we mentioned 21 kills on 45 swings and it bears repeating neither sheen or tiara caesar got off to a good start but how tough are they mentally and emotionally to come all the way back and take florida and push the number one seed right to the brink 15-point tiebreaker each team will get an additional challenge lauren barnes who's been fabulous give you her numbers 24 kill digs so far on the match caesar is down that ball was set tight she violated the center line and so wisconsin on the board first again wisconsin has not played a five-set match so far on the year wisconsin starting with barnes serving dana wrecking left front makes sense a couple of poor passes to start things out going off speed barnes there is again 25 digs for barnes but missed out of bounds by lowberg lowberg has struggled throughout the course of this match usually very very reliable she's got eight kills eight errors on 39 swings that's a lot of attempts for a player who's having a tough match hitting zero she's she's definitely struggling a little bit here trying to find find the court and just not make make errors keep the ball in play but they need her to pass they need her to handle the ball back to back unforced errors if you will the first was some pressure on her but that one just missed into the net do you think we might see jade demps if wisconsin gets off to a slow start you know there's a there's a chance but again grace loeberg they've counted on her passing wise molly haggerty hasn't been in there a lot lately passing she was in there earlier so they're going to need that ball control well poor ball control right now for wisconsin that mall bite of it out of bounds barnes again good cover by carlton [Applause] carlton big swing big block nice touch by wisconsin long momentum rally three meter line violation thayer hall just over the line back role player you have to take off completely behind the three meter line and that one was really close it was close but i like the dig to transition she's screaming for it look at that that left foot just hits the the ten foot line wasn't as close as i thought good work by the officials tied at two and chavita misses that into the net when you were coaching how different was your approach to a tiebreaker particularly when you were in it in a match that was where the margin for error is so small well really it starts with the match-ups and what we want to do and executing the game plan right when you press too much you have to execute quickly and and fast try to get a couple of points in a row that's the goal stretch it just a little bit two or three points when you're in control what a dig by mckissick you know they say in the big ten we're going to make you touch it five times to score a point mckissick ellie mckissick hanging in that was an absolute bomb by retki and she just stood in and said what else you got she has done a fantastic job and wreck he knows that line is open around caesar blocked by caesar along with forte on the outside so now florida doing it defensively both in the front court and in the backcourt it's a phase it's a block and defense phase of the game forte with her seventh block eight kills on 15 swings can florida pull off a huge upset we'll find out when we come back fifth set omaha nebraska the 40th ncaa volleyball championship i wouldn't say prohibitive but a big favorite to make it to the national championship match for the second year in a row the wisconsin badgers are up against it now the florida gators are giving them everything they want caesar again tough swing from well off the net we'll just keep that ball in play good read by hall loberg over the top kept alive what defense by both of these teams ricky again too hot to handle in the cross court fantastic defense defensive effort by hall on the other side but i tell you what recce finishes play she knows when it's tight sydney hilly has that trust with her and the confidence that she's going to finish redkey if i look closely i think she's in the right front so wisconsin has one more rotation with retki in the front court forte smartly off the edge [Music] tell you what that's a nice swing but that that huge block was in front of her they didn't move had recki and and hilly hanging out there but a nice long arm swing off the top of the block it's not often that a number one seed doesn't make it to the national semifinals the last was the southern california trojans they were the number one seed in 2015 got knocked out in the regional finals by kansas kept alive by forte and just out of bounds that makes it 6-4 again each team with an additional challenge florida still has two timeouts remaining wisconsin has already used one paul off the top and out of bounds both teams have a handful of challenges left not three challenges left that could be a big factor thayer hall again 22 kills on 47 swings just being smart with the ball smart swings on the outside the block knew where the ball was going based on the serve and the pass nice job by hall javito with a really good clutch pass ball on top of the net joust coming dooley wins her part of that going deep tracked down by lowberg caesar is roofed out of the back row hart along with molly hagerty a huge rejection by wisconsin that is a big play at the right time for wisconsin knowing that she's available out of the back row being in the right position at cesar no she wants that ball again keep an eye on that the two hitter rotations there's no slide available so there's also back row attack that they can utilize dug by who else barnes transition robinson off the edge quick back-to-back points for wisconsin they trail by only one it's nice getting robinson the ball she's been pretty quiet here in the last couple of sets excellent transition play there and a nice tool off the edge of the block they're hall diving into that cross court barnes now with 27 digs hall what a hammer off the edge of the block that time using the edge of devin robinson feel that energy in that fire as people are coming in the game she's trying to take this team on her back and carry them over the finish line and speaking of carrying her heavy shoulders nine kills in the fourth set to get she and monterey and the rest of her teammates over the line already two here in the fifth two point advantage once again hagerty inside dug by mckissick right side robinson and the freshman sprays it out of bounds [Music] that's a tough miss and you look at barnes kind of pumping her up a little bit she's like you got a good swing trying to keep that freshman in a good place right now they know they need her down the stretch here three hitter rotation robinson on the right back to hagerty i kind of expected that hagerty again taking all the big swings and coming through for the badgers a huge swing and she is just so business she takes care of her job gets it done gets a big kill at a clutch moment runs back ready to serve hagerty now with 17 kills on 45 swings florida try to make some hay with retki for rotation on the on the sideline lowberg smartly off the edge change of pace [Applause] i love that shot by by lowberg right now she knows that she needs to keep the ball in play be smart with her swings hasn't been super effective right now for wisconsin but she can make big plays when it counts haggarty to the back row now along with robinson say i like that robinson takes this line she's been getting tooled down the line and off the edge of the block you see her get outside wow nice reach reading that knowing where thayer hall is going reaching outside of her body pressing back into the court timeout called by florida back and forth we go the number one seed wisconsin badgers only played 15 matches so far on the year they played a spring season some of it shortened by several cancellations did not play penn state did not play nebraska only played minnesota once and have gone through a period since february 21st where they played a grand total including the tournament of five matches you think that's been a factor at all no i i definitely think that's a factor i mean when it's february 21st and you've got three matches before you come in i mean that's forever in the month of march and april that is a lifetime and so it takes you a while to kind of get back in that rhythm find it together as a team and and come back from so much time out off but this this badger team can absolutely do that they have the ability they have the leadership in hagerty and recce to get it done see hagerty with the final word still one more match still to come number two seed we've been watching the number one seed for about two and a half hours here they're the purdue boilermakers a really improved team from last year they've got weapons they've got the libero of the year in the big ten jenna otech outstanding setting and the kentucky wildcats are as solid as any team right now in the country as evidenced by their number two seed they have just got talent right around the dial stumler the skinner sisters and they've got an absolutely magnificent setter as well in madison lily tied at nine overpass robinson look at mckissick hanging in and thayer hall missed that out of bounds let's go down to holly rowe well paul you talk about leadership it was molly haggerty in that last huddle that said right now we do this they have such belief in her she has such belief in herself and it's just fitting that it's her back there right now serving in this moment she is their trusted leader nobody they'd rather have hagerty thank you holland haggerty has been tremendous really clutch taking a lot of tough swings off speed deflected lowberg is rejected [Applause] mia sotolowski who hadn't played at all throughout the tournament comes in nine and number 99 they are rolling three nines to stuff that wow a huge response to end a four-nothing run right side again to heart and missed it out of bounds now there's a touch right in front of the referee everybody knew it falls out of bounds and daniel hart will breathe a sigh of relief and head back to the service line that means that dana recki is coming back on there's number 16. everybody now that was really good that was really good response by wisconsin to make a move with rekki on the sideline well that's what you want to do you want to score as many points as you can when she's over there and i tell you wisconsin did a really nice job hanging in there tough chance for monserrate out of the middle to dana rekki on the sideline [Applause] a couple of big plays here for wisconsin barnes scooping this ball up and of course you know where this ball is going frackie coming through again barnes will go back to serve wisconsin now with a 12-10 advantage what a match and the ball falls again caesar going off speed 12-11 [Applause] and a top off speed shot that ball just kind of dribbled down the back of the blockers that's one of the hardest balls of play defensively you don't know if you want to turn around and play it or who's behind you on defense boy the pressure has gotten to both of these teams neither of them wisconsin's hit no 33 and uh florida is hitting negative in this fifth set twelve eleven hagerty good pass and threw the block and down for dana rekki saying this is a tough matchup right now dana recce hitting that slide around caesar a heavy diet heavy dose of dana recki in crunch time javita back to serve wisconsin two points away javito with the dig but really tough chance almost impossible chance and forte again what a match 10 kills on 17 swings no errors hitting almost 600 for number 24 florida back within one roburg has struggled but coming through in the clutch selena nice swing by grace loberg i tell you what she is a fantastic player and sometimes matches just aren't going exactly as you want them certainly offensively and doing everything else well and like you said coming through right now in the end two match points for the top seeds the wisconsin badgers still to come purdue and kentucky washington came back from two sets down to outlast pittsburgh they're in their fifth national semifinals in texas over nebraska tremendous performances by logan eggleston brianne butler and schuyler fields and texas will be going back to the national semifinals for the 13th time wisconsin looking to survive and advance and get there for the fourth time tell you what what a championship this has been already some unbelievable matches and this is exactly what the fans hope for are looking for both on the florida side and wisconsin it's just a battle that you would hope that you would see to get to the national semifinal match well but selima facing two match points what's going on in the florida huddle well right now mary is giving them confidence that's what she's doing right now she's instilling in them that they can do this they have the ability to side out right away she knows they can do it she's seen this team be resilient and now they're just trying to fire one another up and get it done they can handle this ball pass the ball get the ball to forte i mean run the middle side it out there's no question in my mind selena that florida has played their best match of the year and maybe their toughest mentally and emotionally we're going to find out in a couple of minutes whether or not it's enough against the number one seeds match point number one for dana recky in wisconsin keep an eye on fair haul and that right side of the court as well hitting that d ball and molly hagerty is back in the front court ready to take a tough swing caesar is roofed [Applause] unbelievable finish so fitting that dana recce there for the stuffed block to win the set and the match what a performance by both of these teams florida withstood losing the opening set 30-28 came back tied the match at two sets apiece thayer hall tiara caesar lauren forte monterey was superb but the number one seeds the champions of the big ten wisconsin badgers they got dana retki back in the front row right on time and speaking of toughness how tough was molly haggerty and kelly sheffield told us this afternoon that this is the kind of match where she really shows up and she was the one as holly roll told us in that huddle just a tremendous contest and i think a sigh of relief right around the board and the coaching staff with kelly sheffield i mean i tell you it was an unbelievable performance and like you said molly haggerty really rallying her team doing everything she's in there all six rotations serving tough passing getting it done on the court for her team but she's keeping her composure that's what i love the most about molly haggerty doesn't get rattled just keeps going molly haggerty led the way with 17 kills after that it was dana recce with a huge stuff at the end and she's standing by with our holly rowe well dana it has just been an insane match there you guys haven't been in a five-step match all year what was it like in those final moments pulling together to get this win i i'm a little speechless right now i mean this team just came together when we needed it most and i mean i think we were down four points there in that set and we just came back and just pushed and pushed and pushed and um we got the job done and i know there's a lot of doubt with us right now but i think we really showed up in those big moments and we put the ball down so i like i'm like shaking i'm just so happy for my team and how much heart and passion they put into this game it was just unbelievable you had that great block at the end caesar had been unbelievable all match what did you see when you went up and eliminated that moment yeah um she's an absolutely great player really really respect her um just doing what middles do get your hands over the net and press really hard so i knew she was kind of coming across all games so i wanted to get my hands into that space and it turned out in our favor i don't think people appreciate how bizarre this season has been you this is just the sixth match you guys have played in since february 21st how are you finding your rhythm and your timing at the biggest stage in the biggest moment it's just trusting each other and our teammates i mean we trust our coaching staff to come out here and give us you know the best report and uh we just got to trust our teammates people next to us and that's just really been the key to all this we've had a lot of breaks a lot of ups and downs and um just coming together in those key moments just gotta trust each other that's exactly what we did tonight well you fought through we'll see you in the national semifinals dana thank you so much thank you dana thank you holly dana recki 16 kills five blocks and none bigger than this one suleima it was the biggest move and look at dana recki getting over the net pressing into that area of the court like she said taking away that space and the joy this celebration and the the almost disbelief so happy on that finish well the bracket is starting to fill out there's only one spot remaining and we'll have that match for you coming up next number seven purdue in number two kentucky wisconsin will take on the number four seed texas longhorns a winner earlier today over nebraska what a match and congratulations to florida talking about heart they came back they forced a fifth set tie breaker but it was not enough against the country's number one seeded wisconsin badgers who will move on coverage of the ncaa volleyball regional finals continues in about 45 minutes on espnu between purdue and kentucky thanks for joining us for now and we'll see you later coming back with a studio with sam and katie to talk about this incredible contest

Channel: NCAA Championships

Views: 28,652

Rating: 4.954802 out of 5

Keywords: NCAA, ncaa sports, college sports, ncaa volleyball, college volleyball, women's volleyball, ncaa volleyball 2021, ncaa volleyball tournament 2021, ncaa volleyball tournament 2021 full game, ncaa volleyball full game, ncaa women's volleyball 2021 full game, volleyball full game, wisconsin volleyball, wisconsin volleyball 2021, florida volleyball, florida volleyball 2021, wisconsin vs florida, wisconsin vs florida volleyball, wisconsin vs florida volleyball 2021, full replay

Id: yCH5hpooZkk

Length: 149min 4sec (8944 seconds)

Published: Mon May 03 2021