Wisconsin volleyball seeks to be "tougher mentally" after fading against No. 1 Texas

The sea of red was primed to blow the roof off Fiserv Forum on Sunday afternoon.

The third-ranked University of Wisconsin volleyball team had just grabbed a 21-18 lead in the first set after back-to-back attack errors by No. 1 Texas. The UW fans who packed the venue for the first day of the State Farm Women's College Volleyball Showcase wanted to will their team to avenge a loss to the Longhorns in last year's Final Four.

The waves of sound rivaled what can be heard at any other game in the venue built for basketball.

But the Badgers couldn't ride that electricity.

After two epic sets between the teams, the Longhorns found their stride and ran away to a 30-28, 23-25, 25-15, 25-11 victory.

"I think that was kind of a story of two different matches," UW head coach Kelly Sheffield said. "First half, incredible volleyball back-and-forth, both teams. Great rallies. Battling. A lot of high-level stuff.

"And then I thought their defense and how clean of a game they were playing just wore us down, quite honestly. For their opening match to have only five hitting errors in the third and fourth set ... and defensively we were having a really tough time getting balls to the floor."

Here are four takeaways from the big-time event that features four ranked teams and continues Monday :

Devyn Robinson wants UW to be "tougher mentally"

The Badgers knew there would be ups and downs with a difficult non-conference schedule, though seeing an 0-2 record might be disconcerting. The last time UW dropped its first two matches was 1993.

UW also started strong in a season-opening loss at No. 6 Louisville before fading. Fifth-year middle blocker Devyn Robinson knows the Badgers have to get sharper.

"Just learning that we got to be tougher mentally and we got to show up ready," Robinson said. "Those last two sets, Kelly talked to us in the locker room that we lost that between our ears.

"In our minds and mentally, we got to get tougher. There's do words we can say to get us there, we just got to do."

The Badgers have been held under a .200 hitting percentage in their first two matches. UW had ten service errors against Texas after 17 against Louisville.

How Texas' Reagan Rutherford and Madisen Skinner disrupted UW's rhythm

The Longhorns jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the third set, then closed it out with a 9-2 run. They cruised in the fourth set.

How did such an abrupt shift in momentum occur?

"I think we got our middles involved a lot more at the end of the match, " said Texas outside hitter Madisen Skinner, who had 15 kills and a team-high three aces. "That just allowed us to be a lot more balanced. I feel like it took some pressure off our pins.

"And it caused Wisconsin to have to be a little more disciplined and not just commit to our pins. So kudos to the middles and putting up some really good swings and also really good blocks."

Freshman Reagan Rutherford, who had 14 kills in her Texas debut, liked how in sych her team was in its season debut.

"I think we got more disciplined as the match went on also," Rutherford said. "With our setting, places, defense and our block setups.

"Everything was very smooth and clean as we continued our match. Maybe the first and second set were jitters. We were really excited to get in here and we just wanted to show everyone how good we are and how clean we can play."

Badgers face No. 5 Stanford at Fiserv Forum on Monday

UW doesn't have a lot of time to dwell on its 0-2 start.

The Badgers finish the State Farm Women's College Volleyball Showcase against No. 5 Stanford at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.

After that, UW plays Texas Christian and No. 23 Baylor in Waco, Texas.

"It's exciting," Robinson said. "I'm glad we have got another game to get back into it after a loss.

"A lot of people are just like 'I want to play again! I want to play again!' And we get that opportunity and like I said before, there's not much talk to do. Just action."

A crowd of over 14,000 fans shows up for Wisconsin-Texas match

Fiserv Forum hosted its first volleyball match last season , when over 17,000 people showed up to watch state rivals Marquette and UW

The crowd on Sunday was a few thousand short of that with a crowd of 14,035 fans, but it was a good turnout for a beautiful afternoon on a holiday weekend. A large chunk of the crowd stuck around to watch Stanford take on No. 18 Minnesota.

"It's pretty darn close to being full," Sheffield said. "Which is awesome. It's great to be in Fiserv and to play in matches like this.

"The crowd was trying to give us a little bit of a boost, and then when we probably weren't responding, it got a little bit quieter down where we were. The first half of the match I thought, the environment was just really, really cool."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin volleyball seeks to be "tougher mentally" after fading against No. 1 Texas