Badger Volleyball Sweeps Spartans
November 10, 2001 | Volleyball
What a difference a day makes. After going five games before beating Michigan Friday night, the sixth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team put together a solid all-around effort to defeat Michigan State 30-25, 30-25, 30-20. The Badgers (21-3, 15-1 Big Ten) snapped the Spartans (16-7, 9-7) five match win streak.
'We came out and played better than we did against Michigan, ' Wisconsin Head Coach Pete Waite said. 'I thought Lizzy [Fitzgerald] was much more aggressive setting the ball. It was great to see the team back in their groove and getting the win in three.'
Wisconsin dominated the match offensively hitting .364 percent and putting down 62 kills. Sherisa Livingston led all hitters with 18 kills and a .571 hitting percentage. Jill Odenthal added a career-high 17 kills and .484 hitting percentage. Erin Byrd also had double-figure kills with 11. Fitzgerald ran the Badger offense very well putting up 51 assists.
'Odenthal was unbelievable,' Waite said. 'She's just stepped in from the first day we asked her to, and asking a freshman to do that is a lot, but she's been up to the task.'
Michigan State hit only .179 percent for the match and had only 43 kills. The Spartans were led by Jenny Rood and Kim Schram with 11 kills apiece.
The Spartans proved why they are one of the best blocking teams in the nation as they outblocked the Badgers 10-4. Livingston led the UW with three stuffs.
Wisconsin also had a strong back-row effort from a number of players finishing with a 51-41 advantage in digs. Odenthal tied her career high with nine digs and Rittenhouse also had nine. Korie Gardner and Sara Urbanek each added eight digs.
'I think we really scrapped for some balls,' Waite said. 'We had Korie Gardner and Sara Urbanek making some great plays on balls which motivated everybody else to play well.'
The Badgers trailed by three for much of Game 1, including at 20-17, as the Spartans had four early team blocks. Wisconsin rallied to tie the score at 21 off four Michigan State errors. Odenthal keyed the Badgers as she had three kills to put the UW up 25-23. The freshman outside hitter had eight kills and Byrd added six kills in the game, including two late to key the win.
Wisconsin controlled Game 2, jumping out to a 7-2 lead behind the serve of Byrd. Livingston had four early kills and Byrd added an ace for the early lead. The Badgers increased their lead to 24-14 as they hit .409 for the period. The Spartans cut it to five at 28-23 and held off two game points before Wisconsin went up two games to none.
The Badgers broke a 13-13 tie in Game 3, outscoring the Spartans 5-1 to take an 18-14 lead. Livingston keyed the rally with three kills as she finished with six in the game. Wisconsin led 26-17 off a block solo by Byrd and served for match point at 29-19. State held off one more serve but a kill by Byrd sealed the win.
'It's great to be going back home,' Waite said. 'We knew this was a tough road swing with Michigan and Michigan State and going back home to our crowd with a shot to nearly clinch the Big Ten Championship is going to be great for us.'
Wisconsin returns home next weekend taking on Iowa on Friday and Minnesota Sunday at the UW Field House.
