Badgers Clinch Second Place in Big Ten
November 26, 2005 | Volleyball
The 14th-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team wrapped up second place in the Big Ten Conference with a 30-22, 30-16, 28-30, 30-15 win at Indiana on Saturday night. The Badgers complete the regular season at 23-6 and the Big Ten season at 15-5. The UW awaits its fate in the 2005 NCAA Tournament as the 64 teams selected for post-season play will be announced on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. on ESPNews.
'It was our goal to get a win our last Big Ten match and we did. This was a good one to get on the road,' said head coach Pete Waite. 'We secured second place in the Big Ten and have a good ranking in the region so we should have a good seed in the NCAA pairings.'
Led by Maria Carlini, who hit a career-best .762, Wisconsin hit .359 as a team compared to .123 for Indiana (9-23, 2-18). The 6-2 outside hitter had a match-high 16 kills on 21 attempts with no errors to lead the Badgers. In addition to Carlini, the UW had three other players in double-figure kills to outhit the Hoosiers 69-52. Aubrey Meierotto added 15 kills, Sheila Shaw put down 14 kills and a .520 hitting percentage while Audra Jeffers chipped in 12 kills.
Sophomore Jackie Simpson put up a season-high 56 assists running the Badger offense. She also added four kills, eight digs and three blocks.
Wisconsin outblocked Indiana 14-12, including a match-high seven from Shaw and Taylor Reineke. Reineke fell one block short of the UW Big Ten-season record for blocks with 121 on the year.
Sophomore Jocelyn Wack had a match-high 25 digs, setting the conference-season record for digs with 388, breaking her own mark of 374 set as a freshman. The 5-11 libero also upped her streak of double-digit matches to 60.
The Badgers also had a good night at the service line as Carlini, Shaw and Megan Mills all recorded two aces. Wisconsin had six aces and seven errors compared to three aces and five errors for Indiana.
The Badgers came out flat in game one, falling behind 15-12. Behind three team blocks, Wisconsin went on a 6-0 run to go up 18-15. The UW hit .325 in the period compared to .125 for IU, pulling away for the first-game win. Carlini hammered down seven kills on nine attempts with no errors in the period for a .778 attack percentage.
Wisconsin got its offense on track in game two, hitting at a .593 clip as a team. Jeffers pounded down six kills in the period as the Badgers jumped out to a 13-6 lead. Indiana would cut the lead to four (18-14) but two consecutive kills from Shaw would put Wisconsin back up by six. In the game, the Hoosiers hit just .050 as a team as the Badgers continued to dominate the net, recording four team blocks.
The Hoosiers had six blocks, holding the Badgers to a .170 hitting percentage in the third game to pull out the win. After falling behind early (5-0), Wisconsin came back to tie the score at 11. The game was tied 13 more times, including at 28-28 before an Indiana service ace and kill from Gerling sent the match into a fourth game.
'We played a good first two games then in the third our serve location was not as accurate,' said Waite. 'If we won the third, their season was over so they fought really hard.'
Taking a 5-0 lead to start game four, the Badgers never let the Hoosiers into the game to take the match. Wisconsin had five blocks in the period, holding the Indiana offense to a .023 hitting percentage. The Badgers had only one hitting error in the game to hit .500 while the Hoosiers had 13 errors.
'I believe we've earned the right to host, ' said Waite. 'We finished second in the Big Ten, who cares about the reason why. Hopefully, Wisconsin is in the bracket and hosting then we'll go from there.'
The 64-teams for the tournament will be announced Sunday on ESPNews at 1:30 p.m.
'Last year, we won three of our last four matches and came up with a great run in the NCAA Tournament,' said Waite. 'I certainly think we can do it again with the right focus.'
