Badgers Clinch Share of Big Ten Title
November 18, 2001 | Volleyball
The sixth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team clinched a share of the Big Ten Conference Championship with a 30-28, 30-27, 30-18 sweep of Minnesota Sunday afternoon at the UW Field House. The Badgers (23-3, 17-1 Big Ten) used a strong offensive attack to down the Gophers (18-10, 10-8), holding a 63-37 advantage in kills. Wisconsin can clinch the outright title with a win in either of its last two conference matches.
'I thought Minnesota came out really strong,' Wisconsin coach Pete Waite said. 'I think our team did a nice job staying steady, making some big plays especially in the second game, and then really wearing them down into the third. The team really earned the win today.'
Sherisa Livingston led the UW in kills for the 15th straight match with 24 and tallied a team-high four blocks. Freshman Jill Odenthal added 13 kills and seven digs. Setter Lizzy Fitzgerald dished out 51 assists directing the Badger attack.
'Lizzy set a great match,' Waite said. '(Odenthal) and Sherisa played very, very well. It was a great team effort. Our defense started transitioning the ball and getting some block touches later in the match and I think that was a big difference.'
Erin Byrd and Korie Gardner each had eight digs to help set up the offense. Wisconsin hit .243 percent for the match and limited Minnesota to .174 percent to key the win despite being outblocked 9-5.
'We were having trouble setting up and sealing our block, so they were scoring a little more at will,' Waite said. 'We were maybe not getting as many stuff blocks but we were touching more balls and that's something our team does very well, and when we do that we're very tough to stop offensively. '
Three Minnesota errors to start Game 1 helped the Badgers grab a four-point lead. The Gophers cut the Badger lead to one eight times, but Wisconsin had all the answers early. Livingston had three kills down the stretch, but it was Odenthal who put the Gophers away with a pair of kills, including the game winner.
Game 2 featured 13 ties, including a deadlock at 27 late in the game. Minnesota was the aggressor for most of the game, leading by as many as four at 12-8, but the Badgers used a 6-2 run to get back to even. Neither team could pull away until late, as a kill by Marian Weidner put the Badgers up 28-27 and a pair of kills by Amy Hultgren sealed the second game.
It was all Wisconsin in Game 3, as the Badgers wore down the visitors, connecting on .326 percent of their attacks while holding Minnesota to .050 percent. Livingston put away eight kills in the game and including the match point off a set from Fitzgerald.
'I thought it was very fitting that we finished it with Lizzy going to Sherisa for a great kill to win the match, which is a very important match obviously in the Big Ten race and against a real rival of ours,' Waite said. 'I think this team wants sole possession of a Big Ten Championship and Wednesday will be the time that we go after Northwestern.'
Wisconsin can clinch its second-consecutive Big Ten title with a win at home against Northwestern Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at the UW Field House.
