Volleyball Challenges Minnesota for Big Ten Title
October 30, 2003 | Volleyball
The last three matches that Wisconsin has played Minnesota in volleyball have gone the distance ' five-game matches that have pushed both teams to their limit. Unfortunately, for the Badgers, the Golden Gophers have won all three matches. But Wisconsin is looking to turn that around on Friday when the 20th-ranked Badgers play at the 23rd-ranked Gophers. Match time is 7 p.m. in the Sports Pavilion on the UM campus.
Minnesota, the defending Big Ten Conference champion, took a half-game lead over Wisconsin and Illinois with a 3-0 win over Iowa on Wednesday. The Gophers sit atop the league standings at 9-2 with the Badgers and Illini tied for second at 8-2. Penn State is a game back at 7-3 in fourth place.
Both teams put winning streaks on the line this weekend. Wisconsin has won its last four matches in a row, including a 3-2 win over then 15th-ranked Penn State last Friday. The Badgers rallied from an 11-6 deficit in the deciding fifth game to win the game 16-14 and take the match.
The match was Wisconsin sixth five-game match this season, only two off the UW season record of eight. The Badgers are 4-2 when going the distance with wins over Penn State, Northwestern, Michigan and Indiana. Losses have come to then-fifth-ranked Georgia Tech on Sept. 19 and Minnesota on Oct. 12 in Madison.
In the first conference match-up between the two teams, the Badgers won the first game but Minnesota battled back to takes Games 2 and 3. Wisconsin rallied for a 30-23 win in Game 4 but couldn't stop the Gophers who won the deciding game 15-11 to take the match.
The match marked the third straight time that Wisconsin and Minnesota have went five games in their match-ups. In 2002, the Gophers won 30-27, 32-30, 17-30, 20-30, 15-10 in Madison and 30-22, 28-30, 25-30, 30-23, 15-6 in Minneapolis.
After losing its first two Big Ten matches of the season at Purdue and Indiana, Minnesota is on a nine-match winning streak. The Gophers have also won their last 10 matches at home with their only home loss this season coming to Kansas on Sept. 5.
Minnesota leads the all-time series with Wisconsin 29-23 and has a 16-7 advantage in Minneapolis. During Coach Pete Waite's tenure at Wisconsin, the Badgers hold a slight 5-4 advantage in the series. The two teams split in action in 1999 with both winning at home. The Badgers won both meetings in 2000 and 2001, while Minnesota won both matches in 2002.
In the last three years, the winner of the series has gone on to win the Big Ten title. Wisconsin claimed the conference title in 2000 and 2001 while Minnesota won in 2002. Penn State won the conference title in 1999, when the two teams split in action.
