Volleyball Taken Out By Hurricanes
December 07, 2002 | Volleyball
The 2002 Wisconsin volleyball season came to a close Saturday night when the Badgers (24-9) lost to the University of Miami Hurricanes (25-8) in four games, 25-30, 30-20, 21-30, 22-30.
By winning the Hurricanes advance to the regional match-up where they will meet Nebraska. This is the first time Wisconsin has not advanced to regionals since 1999 and the first time they have lost at home in the NCAA Tournament since the 1997 regional final against Florida.
'We are pretty much in shock right now,' said UW head coach Pete Waite. 'Miami came out and played great. For some reason, we played tight tonight to start the match and never really shook it off.'
The Badgers did indeed have a hard time against Miami. Offensively, UW had three players in double-figure kills (Jill Odenthal, 19; Erin Byrd, 18; Amy Hultgren, 13), but as a team they only hit .263 percent. The Hurricanes hit .364 percent on the night and also had three players in double-digits (Elizabeth Tyson, 19; Valeria Tipiana, 18; Marcela Gamarra, 16).
The Wisconsin hitting percentage was hindered by the sturdy Hurricane block. Miami recorded 14 team blocks, twice what the Badgers marked. Another rough spot for Wisconsin came at the serving line. The Badgers hit the net 11 times in the match, although Miami also missed seven serves.
Wisconsin came out ahead in digs 58-54 led by Byrd and Lisa Zukowski with 14 apiece.
Although the UW took command in Game 2 hitting an impressive .472 percent, the match was dictated by the Hurricanes.
This is only the second year in existence for Miami's volleyball program, but the team is determined to make a mark.
'We are all young kids and we all know we can hang with the best teams in the country,' said Tyson, a Miami sophomore. 'We are out to prove it, not many people really know about us yet. I think this is another good opportunity for us to show the country that we are here.'
'I think this is an incredible match for Miami. I think we came into this with not a lot of people believing we could even be in the match except for ourselves,' said Hurricane head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch. 'We did not let anything rattle us or shake us. We just kept going after it. I am so proud of this group to come in here, to a great environment, a huge crowd and play their best. '
