Volleyball Claims Second Consecutive Big Ten Crown
November 21, 2001 | Volleyball
The sixth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team defeated Northwestern, 30-23, 30-19, 30-27 at the UW Field House Wednesday night. With the win, the Badgers won their second-straight outright Big Ten Conference crown. It is the first time in program history that the Badgers (24-3 overall, 18-1 Big Ten) have won back-to-back league titles.
'This feels pretty good, to be able to repeat as Big Ten champions, to do it in front of our home crowd. It's a great feeling,' coach Pete Waite said of his second Big Ten title and the program's fourth overall. 'It was a strange situation to have the schedule come down to a home match where we've already won conference but then to try to clinch it at home. To focus on everything was a little distracting at times, but I think the team did a good job of keying on Northwestern and getting ready for the match.'
The Badgers used a balanced scoring attack with three players in double-figure kills. Senior Sherisa Livingston led all hitters with 16 kills while Erin Byrd and Jill Odenthal added 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Wisconsin, which won its seventh straight match and 15 straight game, finished with a 54-38 advantage in kills and also outhit Northwestern .263 percent to .120 percent.
The Badgers had a strong backcourt showing, outdigging the Wildcats 47-31. Byrd, Odenthal and setter Lizzy Fitzgerald all had a team-high nine digs. Fitzgerald also put up 46 assists in running the Wisconsin offense.
'Northwestern played well tonight, but I think our team stepped up when they needed to and showed what they're made of,' said Waite of the Wildcats. 'That's an improving team, there's no doubt. They definitely gave us some troubles in certain areas. They hung in there and played very well.'
The Badgers were outblocked 11-9 in team blocks. Fitzgerald, Livingston, Amy Hultgren and Lori Rittenhouse all had a team-high four blocks.
Taking a 3-0 lead in Game 1, Northwestern (9-17, 5-14) maintained a slim lead until the Badgers tied the game at six. Regaining its lead at 7-6, Northwestern kept a one or two point advantage until a Livingston kill gave UW the lead for good at 14-13. NU remained close until the UW closed out the game at 30-23.
In Game 2, the Badgers jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but Northwestern chiseled away at the advantage to tie the game at seven and take the lead at 8-7. Wisconsin regained its lead at 14-9, but the Wildcats wouldn't give up, tying the game again, 14-14. The Badgers refocused and ended the second game at 30-19.
The Badgers largest threat came in Game 3, when the Wildcats kept it close towards the end with the score knotted up at 27. But with 4,128 fans in attendance, the Badger faithful helped rally Bucky past Northwestern, 30-27.
'I think this is a really hard place to play,' said senior setter Lizzy Fitzgerald of the Field House crowd. 'It gets us fired up because we're used to it every single week, but when a team comes in here 'they're not used to this kind of atmosphere. It really fires us up. '
'It was just a lot of fun this year during the Big Ten season here at home and we're hoping for a great run in the NCAAs as soon as we finish up Big Tens at Purdue this Friday,' said Waite. 'The team 's playing well and we're ready to go.'
The Badgers head to West Lafayette, Ind., on Friday night to close out the Big Ten season against the Boilermakers.
The 2001 NCAA Tournament bracket will be announced on Monday at 2 p.m. The Badgers are still hoping to host first and second round matches as well as a regional.
