Devyn Robinson's all-around plays leads our takeaways from Wisconsin's volleyball scrimmage sweep

MADISON – The Wisconsin volleyball team needed the competition.

With just nine players on the roster this semester the team hasn’t been able to scrimmage in practice. The lack of numbers has put skill work at a premium and also made opportunities like what the Badgers had Friday night especially important.

UW hosted Illinois-Chicago in the Badgers' first scrimmage of the spring. Led by a double-double from Devyn Robinson and 27 assists from Carly Anderson, Wisconsin swept the Flames in front of announced crowd of 6,622 at the UW Field House.

“I feel like it kind of just helped ease our conscious because we haven’t really played 6-on-6 at all,” Robinson said. “Our main goal was to go out there and have fun and figure it out and I feel like we accomplished that.”’

Here are three takeaways from the 25-18, 25-17, 25-13 victory.

Devyn Robinson makes most of rare opportunity

With middle blocker Caroline Crawford and defensive specialist Saige Damrow recovering from offseason surgeries and unavailable, Wisconsin had seven players at its disposal.

The short bench allowed Robinson to play all-around, something she usually doesn’t do unless the team runs out of substitutions. She finished with 10 kills, 11 digs and a team-high seven blocks. She also hit .438 and recorded an ace.

“It was so fun,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve played all the way around since high school so I was 16, 17 years old. It was really fun to go out there and stay in the whole game and just get to connect with everybody.”

Carly Anderson runs offense to tune of .410 hitting percentage

Anderson, a graduate transfer from Montana, posted 27 assists and four digs and kept the defense off balance with four kills in her UW debut.

“It was one of the best experiences of my volleyball career,” she said. “I’m filled with a lot of pride for this place and for where I’ve been and for these people and for myself.”

Anderson ran a balanced offense. Outside hitter Sarah Franklin (10 kills) led the team with 26 attacks, but Robinson, Anna Smrek, Julia Orzol and Carter Booth all had double-digits attempts and averaged 13 swings between the four of them.

“She’s got a lot of confidence in herself. No fear,” Coach Kelly Sheffield said. “She’s not afraid to make mistakes and she leans into learning. She doesn’t ride this emotional roller coaster ride. When you’re coming in as a setter, especially when it’s somebody that’s new and you’ve got some confidence and stability about yourself, it builds everybody else up.”

Service game filled with ups and downs

Every Badger who played had an ace. Anderson led the team with three. Booth had two.

Wisconsin served aggressively throughout the match, a major reason for its 10 aces. However, that aggressiveness also resulted in 20 service errors.

“You’ve got to do a really good job of putting pressure on people,” Sheffield said. “We’ve been working hard at trying to make our serves tougher and we erred quite a bit … We’re out there saying let it rip. Let’s see how aggressive we can be and serve with confidence and serve with freedom.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Three takeaways from Wisconsin volleyball's scrimmage sweep of UIC