Badgers Sweep Spartans, Earn Share of Second in Big Ten
November 30, 2002 | Volleyball
The 15th-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team clinched a share of second place in the Big Ten Conference with a 30-24, 30-19, 30-27 win over Michigan State Saturday night. The Badgers (23-8 overall, 14-6 Big Ten) share the runner-up position with Penn State. The Spartans (19-11, 11-9) finish the season in fifth place.
'Coming into this weekend, I didn't know how it 'd go, so I'm thrilled we won both [matches],' coach Pete Waite said. 'We hadn't done that on the road all season ' win back-to-back games in Big Ten play ' so I think that just shows the growth of this team and the depth that we have.'
The Spartans hit a negative .047 percent for Game 1 as the Badgers had five blocks, including two early to key a 17-9 lead. Wisconsin hit just .085 in the first stanza as State rallied to tie the score at 19. Three more blocks aided the Badgers to a 27-21 lead. The Spartans would cut it to four (28-24), but a kill from Amy Hultgren, followed by a State hitting error gave UW the win.
'We were blocking solid,' Waite said. 'We 've just become much more disciplined at the net with our block.'
Wisconsin led all of Game 2 as it upped its hitting to .366 percent for the period. The Badgers broke a 13-all tie behind kills from Sheila Shaw and Erin Byrd to go up 15-13. Byrd had six kills and Jill Odenthal had five kills to key the stretch run.
'I think we were fine, the kids handled it well, they were really pretty relaxed through the whole match,' said Waite of the various adjustments the Badgers made. 'It was Michigan State in the third game that had to really change their lineup around to try to find something that would work for them against us.'
Game 3 was a tight battle featuring 12 ties, including a late tie at 24-24. Byrd and Hultgren broke the knotted score with kills to put UW up 26-24. MSU pulled to within one (28-27), but two more Hultgren kills put the match away.
Wisconsin held MSU to a .081 hitting percentage, outblocking the Spartans nine to seven. Shaw led all blockers with five stuffs, including three solos. Hultgren added four block assists.
The Badgers didn't fare much better in hitting percentage, connecting on just .221 percent of their attacks. Byrd led all hitters with 16 kills while Hultgren and Odenthal added 11 apiece. Kim Schram was the only Spartan in double-figure kills with 13. Setter Morgan Shields had four kills and led the team with a .667 hitting percentage as she put up 41 assists.
Wisconsin finished with a slight 47-45 edge in digs, led by Lisa Zukowski with 14. Byrd recorded a double-double adding 10 digs to her 16 kills.
The Badgers will find out Sunday at 8 p.m. where they will compete in the NCAA tournament. The 64-team bracket for the 2002 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship will be announced on ESPNEWS. Fans and media are invited to join the Badgers for the announcement in the McClain Center Auditorium.
'We are excited we are playing good ball going into NCAA play,' Waite said. 'We're looking forward to the pairings coming out and our fans hopefully being able to watch us at home.'
