Badgers Conclude Regular Season With 3-1 Win at Indiana
November 27, 2004 | Volleyball
The Wisconsin volleyball team ended its regular season on a winning note with a 30-26, 30-26, 27-30, 30-27 victory at Indiana Saturday night. The Badgers finish with a 19-9 overall record and are in fourth place in the final Big Ten Conference standings at 13-7. The Hoosiers drop to 8-23 overall and 2-18 in the league.
'I'm pleased we came off a loss on Friday night and came out and got a win here tonight,' Wisconsin head coach Pete Waite said. 'It's always frustrating to be on the road and take (a loss) the first one out, but I thought the kids stepped it up, and we had a couple people contribute off the bench and that helped us win.'
Led by junior Aubrey Meierotto's 19 kills, Wisconsin out-hit Indiana 76-70 and finished with a .276 hitting percentage compared to a .213 mark for the Hoosiers. Sheila Shaw and Jill Odenthal also recorded double-figure kills, putting down 14 and 13, respectively.
Indiana was led by its two seniors ' Katie Pollom and Christina Archibald ' who had 24 and 20 kills, respectively.
The Badgers out-dug the Hoosiers 79-70 and had four players with double figures in the category. Freshman libero Jocelyn Wack led all players with 24 digs while Meierotto and Odenthal posted double-doubles with 13 and 10 digs, respectively. Marian Weidner came off the bench to put up 12 digs and added eight kills.
'I think we were passing a little better tonight,' Waite said. 'And, (freshman setter) Jackie (Simpson) was being more aggressive attacking the ball, and that just makes it harder for their blockers to stay with us. '
Wisconsin also finished with a narrow 12.5-12 advantage in blocks. Shaw led the Badgers with seven stuffs, including one solo. Simpson added four blocks and also put up 54 assists running the UW offense. Simpson was also one of three Badgers to record a service ace in the match.
The Badgers took an early 5-1 lead in game one, but had to rally back from a 19-15 deficit after Indiana took advantage of several unforced Wisconsin hitting errors to take its biggest lead of the game. Behind the play of Taylor Reineke, who had two kills and teamed with Simpson on a block, the Badgers outscored the Hoosiers 6-1 to go up 20-18. Wisconsin led by no more than two points the rest of the game but kills from Shaw and Simpson gave Wisconsin the 1-0 advantage in the match.
The Badgers led by as much as seven points at 23-16 in game two before the Hoosiers pulled within one at 27-26. Two Indiana errors aided Wisconsin in the win and put the Badgers up two games to none. Meierotto and Shaw both had five kills for the Badgers in the period.
Wisconsin battled from behind throughout game three and pulled even at 16-16 off a Meierotto service ace. The game was tied four more times including at 20-20 before the Hoosiers converted four straight points to take a 24-20 lead. Wisconsin pulled within two at 27-25 but Indiana served for game point at 29-26. The Badgers held off two game points before a kill from Archibald sent the match to a fourth game.
The Badgers came out strong in game four, jumping out to a 15-9 lead. Marian Weidner came off the bench, putting down four kills in the period to spark the team. The Hoosiers battled back, pulling within one at 24-23 before committing three straight errors, allowing Wisconsin to go up 28-23. This time is was Indiana that held off two Badger game points before an Odenthal kill gave Wisconsin the win.
The Badgers find out Sunday what lies ahead for them in the 2004 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. The 64-team field will be announced at 5:45 p.m. on ESPNews. The public is invited to join the team and coaching staff in the McClain Center Auditorium for the announcement.
'I feel that we've done good things this year to get in the NCAA Tournament,' Waite said. 'I hope we get a god seed, and there's a chance we could host and we'd love to because we'd love to play in front of our fans again.'
