Badger Volleyball Survives Wolverine Attack
November 09, 2001 | Volleyball
For the first time all season the sixth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team had to come from two games down for the win. The Badgers maintained their Big Ten Conference lead with a 28-30, 30-32, 30-21, 30-26, 16-14 win at sixth-place Michigan.
After losing the first two games, UW coach Pete Waite made some substitutions, playing freshman Marian Weidner at opposite hitter for Lori Rittenhouse. Weidner responded with a career-high five kills on 10 attempts, hitting .500 percent.
'Lori's arm was actually very tired and she was really out of sync today,' Waite said. 'So we got Marian Weidner in who did an awesome job. We can't say enough about how well she did, and having two freshman on the court, to pull out this win on the road says a lot for the character of this team.'
Wisconsin (20-3, 14-1) was outhit for only the second time this season as Michigan (11-11, 7-8) had 82 kills compared to 76 for the Badgers. Sherisa Livingston led all hitters with a season-high 28 kills. Erin Byrd and freshman Jill Odenthal each put down 15 kills for Wisconsin.
The Badgers were also outdug for only the third time this season as the Wolverines had a 66-64 advantage. Wisconsin had four players in double-figure digs led by 14 from Byrd. Lizzy Fitzgerald had 11 digs while Sara Urbanek and Korie Gardner each had 10 saves.
Wisconsin had a strong blocking game with 12 team blocks, compared to seven for Michigan. Livingston led all blockers with seven stuffs. The Badgers also outserved the Wolverines 8-7 in aces.
'I think the team took care of business among themselves. I think they really got after each other to be more aggressive,' Waite said. 'I think this turned out to be one the most stressful matches of the season just because Michigan was playing very, very well.'
The Badgers came out flat in Game 1 and struggled to establish their play. Michigan dominated offensively early, taking a 5-3 lead. Wisconsin improved its blocking and came back to tie it at 28 off a service ace by Erin Moore. Moore had another ace to make it 29-28 while a Michigan block gave them the win.
Wisconsin blew an 18-8 lead in Game 2 as Michigan scored seven straight, including three off Badger errors. Two more Wisconsin errors tied the game at 19. The Wolverines took a 26-22 lead off a kill by Katrina Lehman but the Badgers came back to tie it at 26 behind a kill and a block by Livingston. The game was tied at 27 and 28 with Wisconsin serving for game point at 29-28 and again at 30-29. Three straight Wolverine kills put the home team up two games to none.
The Badgers came out of the locker room fired up and took a 12-6 lead in Game 3. The Wolverines would get no closer as Wisconsin hit .484 percent for the game. Byrd and Odenthal were error-free for the period, connecting on five and four kills respectively.
The Badgers evened the match by taking a close Game 4. Wisconsin trailed 13-9 before rallying to tie it at 14 off a kill by Livingston. The Badgers upped their lead to 22-18 as Livingston connected on two straight kills. The Wolverines cut the lead to 24-23 off a kill by Lehman. Wisconsin jumped back up 28-23 and served for game point at 29-25 but Michigan held off two game points before a kill by Livingston tied the match.
Game 5 featured 12 ties with the Badgers serving for match point at 14-13. An Odenthal hitting error tied it at 14, but an Odenthal kill when the Michigan block was called for touching the net set up the second match point. An attack attempt by Jennifer Gandolf went long to give Wisconsin the match.
'To come out of this at 16-14 in the fifth [game] on the road - we're just thrilled to get out of here with a `w' knowing it 's another tough one tomorrow night,' Waite said.
The Badgers travel to Michigan State on Saturday for an 8 p.m. EST match. Listen to the match live on the Spartans web site at www.msuspartans.com.
