First Place in Big Ten Race on the Line
October 23, 2003 | Volleyball
The first half of the Big Ten Conference volleyball race has been battle. Every team has lost at least two matches to league opponents and with 12 matches to go in the season, no one team has stepped forward.
Penn State (7-2) is half a game ahead of Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota following a 3-0 win over Ohio State on Wednesday. The Badgers (6-2) are tied for second with the Illini and Golden Gophers.
A first-place clash comes to the Madison on Friday as Wisconsin takes on Penn State at 7 p.m. in the UW Field House. The Badgers also take on Ohio State on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Field House. Tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for students and senior citizens.
'All the Big Ten teams are beating up on each other right now,' said UW coach Pete Waite of the Big Ten race at a news conference Monday. 'I think it is just a strange year where it is a lot of very even teams. You always know it is going to be a battle, but you never know who is going to be at the top. '
Last weekend, the Badgers went 2-0 on the road, taking down Purdue in four games and finishing Indiana in five games.
'I think we had a good weekend on the road against Purdue and Indiana,' Waite said of the road trip. 'Purdue had been beating a lot of teams. They've got a new coach, a young team, and they've just been playing great so it was a good win on the road there. The next night we were a little more flat against Indiana, but still hung in there and had a good match.'
Helping to lead the Badgers to victory last weekend, sophomore Aubrey Meierotto posted a career-best 25 kills vs. Indiana on Saturday, while senior Jill Maier recorded back-to-back 20-plus dig performances with a career-high 22 digs at Purdue on Friday and 21 digs against Indiana on Saturday.
Hoping to use the momentum from the two road victories, the UW sets its sights on the Penn State on Friday and Ohio State on Saturday.
The Badgers and Nittany Lions share a fierce rivalry in the Big Ten. Penn State leads the series 23-4 but over the last three years, the series is tied at 3-3. In 2002, both teams won on the road against each other.
'This is a huge weekend for us with Penn State and Ohio State,' said Waite. 'Penn State obviously has a great winning tradition. We have a great rivalry with them.
'Ohio State is a little down this year . . . but the same time they took Minnesota to five games. Anytime you have Stacey Gordon on the court 'she was national freshman of the year two years ago'they're an awesome team. So it is going to be a great weekend for us and a big one for us in conference play.'
Both matches in the Field House this weekend will be broadcast on a tape-delayed basis. Friday's match vs. Penn State will air Sunday at 11:30 a.m. on ESPN2, with commentary and play-by-play with Chris Marlow and three-time Olympic gold medalist Karch Kiraly. Saturday's match against OSU will air on Sunday at 3 p.m. on FoxSports Net. Dave Loane and Audrey DiPronio Flaugh will provide the commentary.
