If Northern Iowa was going to make this the "gotcha" match that some observers thought it could be, it was going to happen in the middle of the third game when the Panthers went point for point with the University of Wisconsin.

But like they had in the first two games, the Badgers didn't falter, showing the offensive firepower and the defensive diligence that led to a three-game sweep of the Panthers and a trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament tonight against Iowa State at the UW Field House.

The Badgers dominated 30-23, 30-21, 30-24 before a crowd of 3,194. Northern Iowa, fresh off a championship in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, pushed the Badgers in the third game until it was 15-all.

Then the Badgers — who outscored the Panthers 13-6 down the stretch of the first game and ran out to a 17-10 lead in the second — showed up.

With Jocelyn Wack and Amanda Berkley at serve, UW outscored the Panthers 8-1 and grabbed total command with a 24-16 lead.

"When we're serve-receiving, you have to be able to pass the ball against a team as good as Wisconsin," Northern Iowa coach Bobbi Petersen said. "They have a very tough offense, and they had a lot of free passes off us when we were not in system."

That effective offense was reflected in a balance that made it hard for Northern Iowa to figure out where the next hit was coming from.

The Badgers had five hitters with eight or more kills led by outside hitter Brittney Dolgner's 20. Middle Taylor Reineke had 10 while her middle mate, Audra Jeffers, contributed eight.

Jeffers had sat out the last two regular-season matches because of a bruised heel.

"They're a team that fires on all cylinders," Panthers setter Kristin Belzung. "They have so many weapons, they are hard to defend. There is no room to make mistakes that maybe you could make against another team."

The Badgers had defeated Northern Iowa in three games earlier in the season in a tournament at BYU, but UW didn't play like there was any complacency in its step.

"You don't want someone who is really easy and you don't have to work hard (in the first round)," UW coach Pete Waite said. "We respect this program. They always battle."

That was the case in the first and third games. UW didn't take command in the first game until a Jeffers kills and an ace by Caity DuPont made it 19-16.

In the third game, Dolgner had two kills prior to a Wack ace that made it 18-15. Dolgner followed with two more kills before Reineke and setter Jackie Simpson teamed on a block for a 21-16 lead.

The Badgers were efficient on offense because of the defensive play of Wack, who came up with 25 digs, including 10 each in the last two games.

That's the third-higest dig total in a three-game match in UW history.

Wack's work got an offense rolling that saw Simpson come up with 49 assists on 56 kills.

"We were passing very well and that allowed our offense to get into a rhythm," Simpson said.