The Indiana University volleyball team silenced a crowd of 4,762 inside the University of Wisconsin Field House, downing the #21 Wisconsin Badgers in four sets (22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-20). Indiana rallied off three straight sets to capture their second road, conference win of the weekend after defeating Northwestern on Friday night.

"We really stayed aggressive, playing with a lot of confidence," said Head Coach Sherry Dunbar. "We got the points when we needed them."

It was a balanced attack on offense for IU as five different Hoosiers posted kill totals of seven or more. Erica Short and Ashley Benson did the most damage for the Cream and Crimson with 19 and 14 put-aways, respectively. Lexie Woodson did the most with her attack attempts, converting on seven of 14 swings with just one error for a team-high .429 hitting efficiency.

Defensively, Indiana limited the Badger offense to a .146 hitting percentage. Eighteen digs by Caitlin Cox and eight blocks by Benson played a large role in the smothering of the Wisconsin offensive attack. Setters Mary Chaudoin and Hayley Koetter not only ran a smooth offense, but excelled defensively as well. Chaudoin recorded five blocks while Koetter was second on the team with eight digs in the contest.

The game plan coming in for Indiana was to serve aggressive and they did just that with six service aces against the Badgers. Cox paced the Hoosiers with three, her second consecutive match with a trio of aces.

Sunday's triumph marks Indiana's first win in Madison since 1995 and the first victory of any kind versus Wisconsin since 2002. With the win, Indiana improves to 12-10 overall and 4-6 in the conference. The Hoosiers weekend sweep elevated them into seventh place in the Big Ten standings, just one game back from the top-five.

"I'm so proud of those girls," said Dunbar. "They were so happy after this one. They weren't intimidated at all today, played with confidence and got the job done."

Indiana led for much of the opening set before the Badgers made a strong push in the mid-teens to snag a lead they would not relinquish in a 25-22 UW win. Benson was sure to make her presence known though, sending back four Wisconsin attacks with superb blocking.

The second set was all Indiana, earning the first point and leading the entire set. A kill by Mary Chaudoin was good for point number one and Chaudoin's perfect set to Short resulted in the 30th point of the set for the Hoosiers. As a team, IU hit .295 in the set with a combined 12 kills coming from Benson and Short. Indiana's backcourt defense was also key as they dug up 16 balls in the set. Cox, Kelsey Hall and Juli Pierce each recorded four or more digs.

Wisconsin was able to make a run in the mid-teens of the third set, much like they did in the opener. Indiana's response was different this time, however, standing up to the UW surge and retaliated with a flurry of points down the stretch. Hall triggered the IU assault with some clutch swings, including a kill to even the score at 23-23 and force a Wisconsin timeout. A Hoosier block and Wisconsin attack error following the timeout handed IU the set, 25-23, and a 2-1 lead on the match scoreboard.

"The girls kept saying in the huddle at the end, `they aren't going to give this to us. We need to stay aggressive. We need to take control.' It shows that they really `get it,' you have to be aggressive to win road matches in the Big Ten," said Dunbar.

The Badger offense began to click with a .323 hitting percentage in the fourth set, but Indiana's offense was performing at an even higher level. The Hoosiers connected on 17 kills at a .353 pace. Short recorded the most kills with six while Hall and Lexie Woodson each put away three of five swings for a .600 hitting efficiency. An 11-11 deadlock was broken when Indiana quieted the crowd by winning six of eight points and jump ahead 17-13. From there, the UW Fieldhouse remained tame as Indiana maintained their advantage and clinched the match victory. Wittmer sealed the deal with her ninth kill of the day, giving Indiana the 25-20 winner.

"Ashley (Benson) had a really big weekend for us," said Dunbar. "Taylor (Wittmer) made a huge play at the end of this set to win the match; just crushed the ball."

The Cream and Crimson return home next weekend for two more Big Ten contests. First up is a Friday night match against the Hawkeyes of Iowa. On Saturday, Indiana will welcome Minnesota to University Gym. Both matches are schedule for 7 p.m. starts.