Volleyball Advances to Elite Eight
December 10, 2004 | Volleyball
It took five games but the 22nd-ranked and 14th-seeded Wisconsin volleyball team upset second-ranked and third-seeded Hawai'i in the NCAA Regional semifinals at the Resch Center. The Badgers edged the Rainbow Wahine, 31-29, 30-23, 22-30, 28-30, 21-19 to advance to their first regional final since 2000. Wisconsin improves to 22-9 on the season while Hawai'i ends its previously unbeaten season at 30-1.
The UW used a balanced offensive attack and strong defense to upset UH. The Badgers had four players in double-figure kills led by a career-high 25 from senior Jill Odenthal. Juniors Aubrey Meierotto and Sheila Shaw put down 16 kills apiece while sophomore Maria Carlini added 13 kills. Wisconsin finished with an 84-81 advantage in kills and also hit Hawai'i .271 to .220 as a team.
The Rainbow Wahine also had four players in double-figure kills led by Susie Boogard with 20 and Alicia Arnott with 19.
Led by a career-high 35 digs from freshman Jocelyn Wack, the Badgers totaled an impressive 90 digs as a team. The libero's total ranks her third on the UW's five-game match record list. Carlini and Odenthal both tallied double-doubles adding 18 and 13 digs, respectively.
Wisconsin finished with a slight 18-17 advantage in blocks against one of the top blocking teams in the nation. Shaw and freshman Taylor Reineke shared match-high honors with seven blocks apiece. Odenthal and Carlini both added five blocks including two solos for Odenthal.
The Badgers again struggled at the service line recording only one ace and 13 errors. The Rainbow Wahine had five aces and 11 errors.
The Badgers rallied from an 8-5 deficit early in game one and tied the score the 10. Wisconsin broke a 12-12 tie with four straight points to take its biggest lead of the game at 16-12. The UW still led by four at 18-14 off one of Odenthal's game-high six kills in the game before Hawaii started its own comeback. The Rainbow Wahine pulled within one point of the Badgers several times until tying the score at 27 off a service ace from Prince. The game was tied again at 28-28 and 29-29 before a kills from Shaw and Marian Weidner gave the UW the win. The key to the win for the Badgers was in the backcourt where Wisconsin had 19 digs, including a game-high nine from Wack, compared to only 13 for Hawaii.
Game two was a battle featuring 15 ties including at 17-17. A long rally, culminating in an Odenthal kill keyed a 4-0 run for the Badgers, putting them up for good. Wisconsin led by as many as eight points (27-19) with Hawaii getting as close as six (29-23). A ball-handling error by the Rainbow Wahine's backup setter put the Badgers up 2-0. Wisconsin continued its impressive offensive show, hitting over .300 (.304) for the second consecutive game while Hawaii hit just .082 for the period.
The Rainbow Wahine broke a 9-9 in game three with four straight points to take a 13-9 lead. The Badgers struggled with their passing as Hawaii made some lineup changes and improved its serving and offense. The Rainbow Wahine had two service aces and hit .311 for the game compared to .243 for Wisconsin. Hawaii upped it lead to seven points (24-17) and Wisconsin would get no closer than five (25-20) as the Rainbow Wahine won to send it to game four.
In game four, the Badgers again battled from behind, trailing by as many as five points several times including at 24-19. Two UW blocks keyed a 5-1 run to pull Wisconsin within one at 25-24. An Odenthal kill tied the game at 26 but Hawaii went up 27-26. Another Odenthal kill evened the score one more time but the Rainbow Wahine scored three of the last four points, including two off blocks, to even the match.
Wisconsin broke a 5-5 tie in game five with three straight points, including one off its only service ace of the match from Carlini, to take an 8-5 lead. Hawaii came back on a 4-1 run to tie the game at nine. The game was also tied at 10 before the Rainbow Wahine took a 12-10 lead off a UW hitting error. Hawaii also led at 13-11 before a service error and another Odenthal kill tied the game again. Wisconsin held off Hawaii's first match point at 14-13 with an Odenthal kill and a kill from Carlini gave the Badgers their first match point at 15-14. The UW served for match point three more times before the Rainbow Wahine served for their second match point at 19-19. Blocks from Carlini and Reineke followed by a block solo from Odenthal sent Wisconsin to the next round.
The Badgers will play sixth-ranked and 11th-seeded Stanford (27-6) in the regional final at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The Cardinal defeated Texas 30-28, 30-26, 30-27 in the other semifinal match.
