Seniors Lead Badger Volleyball Team to Win
November 16, 2001 | Volleyball
The sixth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team dominated the Iowa Hawkeyes Friday night 30-9, 30-14, 30-20 at the UW Field House on Senior Night. The Badgers (22-3 overall, 16-1 Big Ten) hit a season-high .462 percent while holding the Hawkeyes (6-20, 3-14) to .000 percent. Wisconsin can clinch a share of its second consecutive Big Ten Conference title on Sunday when it hosts Minnesota at 1 p.m. in the UW Field House.
The senior duo of Lizzy Fitzgerald and Sherisa Livingston gave the 4,054 fans plenty to cheer about. Livingston had one of the best hitting nights of her career, connecting on a match-high 18 kills in 22 attempts with only one error for a .773 hitting percentage. Livingston also led all players with seven blocks, while Fitzgerald dished out 37 assists running the Badger attack and added six kills, seven digs and a career-high four service aces.
'I thought this was a great match for us to play on senior night,' coach Pete Waite said. 'I think our seniors did a great job and it was fun to watch them play out there. Overall as a team, I thought our intensity was very good, our focus was good and that was our intent going into this last stretch of four matches ' that we are playing some great ball going for the Big Ten Championship. '
Senior Marie Meyer, playing in place of Amy Hultgren added four kills and three blocks while senior Sara Urbanek had three digs.
Lori Rittenhouse and Erin Byrd each had a match-high eight digs. Freshman Jill Odenthal chipped in with 12 kills and six digs.
'Our passing was there,' Waite said. 'All our hitters were very comfortable. Lizzy was dispersing the ball very well, so they were just in a nice comfortable rhythm.'
The Badgers dominated the Hawkeyes from the outset, holding an opponent to a season-low nine points in Game 1. Byrd helped serve the Badgers out to a quick 10-3 lead as the Wisconsin block dominated Iowa's front line. The Hawkeyes could not slow down Livingston, as the middle blocker put down five kills in six attempts to help the Badgers to a .696 percentage for the game while holding Iowa to negative .094 percent.
Behind two more kills from Livingston, the Badgers opened up an early six-point lead in Game 2. Three kills by Laura Simpson cut the lead to two at 10-8, but Wisconsin responded with a 6-0 run to put the game out of reach. Livingston finished the game with six kills.
The Wisconsin offense continued to click in Game 3 as the Badgers cruised to the sweep. Wisconsin led by as many as 13 aided by a strong defensive effort in the game, outdigging the Hawkeyes 21-14 and outblocking the visitors 4-2.
Wisconsin can clinch the outright conference championship at home with wins Sunday and Wednesday against Minnesota and Northwestern. The Badgers take on the Gophers at 1 p.m. Sunday and face Northwestern in a mid-week battle on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the UW Field House.
'We've got a huge match on Sunday here,' Waite said. 'Minnesota is a very strong team. We don't want to take them lightly. We want our fans to come out and help us. We really want to play great on Sunday. '
The Badgers host the Gophers on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the UW Field House. The match will also be shown live on FoxSports North.
