“I think we responded really well,” said senior Courtney Thomas, who was named MVP of the tournament. “This morning we were a little lackadaisical. There was definitely a different mindset. We were here to show them what we’re made of.”

Sheffield said the big difference was the team’s determined play on defense.

“Defensively I thought we did a lot of good things,” Sheffield said. “We weren’t real happy with the way we started this morning and I thought we responded favorably. I thought we were ready to go and had a defensive mentality.

“We played a team tonight that gave us as much trouble serving as anybody we’ve played this season. Our passers were kind of fighting for their lives. But otherwise defensively I thought we were pretty good.”

Sheffield singled out libero Taylor Morey for her defensive play (15 digs).

Morey played for Shondell at Muncie Burris.

And when the Badgers (8-0) needed an offensive spark, more often than not it was provided by Thomas, who had nine kills and hit .533 for the match.