Badgers Grab 3-1 Win on Senior Night
November 20, 2004 | Volleyball
The Wisconsin volleyball team closed out its regular-season home schedule on a high note Saturday night, downing Michigan State 20-30, 30-28, 30-27, 30-22. The Badgers remain in fourth place in the Big Ten Conference at 12-6 and 18-8 overall. The Spartans fall to 7-11 in the league and 12-14 overall.
'This is one of the types of matches that fans love and coaches hate, where it's exciting and you have to come from behind,' Wisconsin head coach Pete Waite said. 'I think our team started very slowly and just were not in rhythm at all, so they really had to fight hard, and we really had to search for different ways to get every point and get back on track with our play and eventually get the win.'
Sophomore outside hitter Maria Carlini led all hitters, posting a career-high 19 kills for Wisconsin. Juniors Shelia Shaw and Aubrey Meierotto also posted double-digit slams for the Badgers with 13 and 12, respectively.
'I think that (setter) Jackie (Simpson) did a really good job giving me one-on-ones,' Carlini said. 'And, Sheila and Taylor (Reineke) were holding the middle blockers so I had a lot of one-on-ones.'
Michigan State held a 68-62 kill advantage over Wisconsin, but the Badgers posted a .231 hitting percentage while holding the Spartans to just a .182 mark.
Wisconsin and Michigan State were even in blocks with 12 apiece. UW 's freshman middle blocker Reineke recorded six block assists and one block solo to share match-high honors with MSU's Megan Schoen.
The Badgers struggled at the serving line, notching just two service aces to seven service errors. The Spartans also committed seven errors, but scored on seven aces.
Wisconsin saw a strong defensive performance from freshman libero Jocelyn Wack, who tallied 25 digs in the game. State's libero, Marley Bellwood also recorded 25 saves.
'Someone who really kept us in the game and brought us back to our high level of play was Jocelyn Wack,' Waite said. 'She made some great digs, especially in the second game, just to light a fire under everybody and get them excited to play better.'
The Badgers struggled in game one, hitting only .053 compared to the Spartans' .316 mark. Michigan State also put down three service aces in the period to go up 1-0 in the match.
'We weren't passing at all in the first game, ' Watie said. 'For some reason, they were a little tight out there. Michigan State was serving really well and we couldn't get the ball to the setter much less run an offense.'
Despite trailing for most of the game, Wisconsin never allowed Michigan State to pull away in game two, eventually tying the score at 28-28 on a Jill Odenthal service ace. Back-to-back kills from Shaw gave the Badgers their first lead of the match at 29-28 and the game at 30-28.
'(Winning the second game) was huge,' Watie said. 'Had we lost that, it really would have been hard to get ourselves out of that hole we dug, so I give the players a lot of credit for stepping up and staying tough during that time.'
The Badgers and Spartans battled through game three, which featured 16 tie scores and four lead changes. Wisconsin looked to take a commanding lead in the early points with an 6-1 to take the score from 6-6 to 12-7. Michigan State rallied back, tying the score as late as 26-26, but three Spartan errors allowed the Badgers to go up 2-1 in the match.
The two teams remained close for most of game four until an 11-2 stretch put the Badgers up 27-17. Led by Carlini, who put down seven kills in the period, Wisconsin out-hit Michigan State .265-.062 en route to the victory.
Saturday's match marked the final regular-season appearance in the UW Field House for Wisconsin's two seniors, Odenthal and Marian Weidner. Odenthal put down four kills, one ace and six digs in the match, while Weidner recorded two kills, one ace and two digs coming off the bench.
The Badgers wrap up their regular season on the road next weekend with matches at Purdue and Indiana.
'We accomplished what we wanted to do here,' Waite said. 'We got our two wins at home and now we know we've got two tough road games. Purdue's been playing some great ball and we hit them right away so we 've got to prepare well this week, and we also have Thanksgiving thrown in the middle of that, so it's a great challenge for us.'
Wisconsin is also awaiting the announcement of the 2004 NCAA Championship bracket Sunday, Nov. 28, on ESPNews. Fans are welcome to join the Badgers at 6 p.m. in the McClain Center Auditorium as Wisconsin looks to make its ninth consecutive and 13th overall appearance in the tournament.
