Volleyball Travels to Green Bay for NCAA Regional
December 09, 2004 | Volleyball
The Wisconsin volleyball team looks to make its first trip to the NCAA Championship since 2000 this weekend as it heads to the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis. for NCAA regionals.
The 14th-seeded Badgers take on third-seeded Hawaii Friday at 7 p.m. in the semifinals with the winner advancing to play either Texas or Stanford Saturday at 3 p.m. Saturday's match will be aired live by College Sports Television.
The Badgers advanced to the regional semifinals following sweeps of Loyola (Ill.) and Notre Dame in first and second round action, respectively, of the NCAA tournament last weekend in the UW Field House.
'It's one of those things where we go in (to regionals) with a young team,' Wisconsin head coach Pete Waite said at a Monday news conference. 'We've done some great things in the Big Ten and obviously here in the first and second round, and we take a shot at (Hawaii) and see what we can do.'
With a 21-9 record, the Badgers returned to the national rankings this week at No. 22 according to the USA Today/CSTV Top 25 Coaches poll. No. 2 Hawaii is the only undefeated Division I team in the country at 30-0.
'I think the Big Ten prepares us for matches like we had this last weekend and against a team like Hawaii,' Waite said. 'I think the WAC conference has got some great teams in it, but I think the Big Ten is stronger, and I hope the things that we've learned this season have prepared us for that match. '
Wisconsin last faced off against Hawaii in an early-season match in 2001 when the Badgers downed the fifth-ranked Rainbow Wahine, 3-0.
Playing only about two-and-a-half hours north of Madison, the Badgers look to benefit from a near-home court advantage with many Wisconsin-faithful making the trek northward.
'It's practically home court for us,' Waite said. 'Obviously in-state is great. We're going to have a number of people coming up.'
Wisconsin is making its eighth appearance in the NCAA regional, the last of which came in 2001. The Badgers improved to 22-12 in the NCAA tournament following their first and second round wins.
