Volleyball Hosts Minnesota in Border Battle
November 14, 2006 | Volleyball
Just how big is the 10th-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team's match vs. 12th-ranked Minnesota on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the UW Field House' All you have to do is ask Coach Pete Waite.
'This is huge, a border rivalry,' said Waite. 'We always go back and forth with Minnesota and now the Big Ten race is still in play here. We 're excited about it. It's going to be a great match.'
The Badgers and Golden Gophers are currently tied for second place in the Big Ten Conference standings at 13-3, only one match behind league leader Penn State (14-2).
'The fact that we're tied with Minnesota right now is huge,' explains Waite. 'Penn State started the first half of the Big Ten season running away from everybody and nobody thought they could catch them and it was a second-place race after that. But since we beat Penn State and Ohio State beat Penn State, it's all tight now.'
Whenever Wisconsin plays Minnesota there is always much at stake but Wednesday 's contest is crucial for a number of reasons. First, bragging rights for the TDS Border Battle are on the line. In its third year, Wisconsin currently leads Minnesota, 175-25 in the all-sports competition.
The Gophers swept the Badgers, 3-0, in the teams' first meeting on Oct. 18 in Minneapolis. It wasn't Wisconsin's best match of the season at the UW hit just .113 in the match, including a negative .022 in the first game. The Badgers struggled with the Gophers 14 blocks and numerous unforced hitting errors on their own part.
'Obviously, we weren't too happy with the results up in Minnesota and since then I think we've responded with some high-level play,' said Waite. 'We've changed as a team and we're happy to have them here on our home court now.
'I think our ball control and our serving definitely has gotten better ' Between that and just the balance of our attack, we've been deep and we 've been four, five players strong and double-digit kills, and that's great. I compare this to the Penn State matches. It's that big and the opponent is that big that you don't have to do much to get the team up for a match like this. '
The UW heads into Wednesday's match riding a seven-match win streak and a 12-match home win streak. The Badgers are 8-0 in the Big Ten at home this season, including 3-0 wins over then-No. 2 Penn State and then-No. 24 Ohio State on Oct. 27 and Oct. 29.
Despite some impressive wins in the Field House, Wisconsin struggled at home last weekend, edging Northwestern, 3-2, and downing Illinois, 3-1.
'If anything, I almost look at it in which they were challenged more in those matches and they had to come through and they had to fight hard when things weren 't always clicking,' said Waite. 'That's important for a team to show that they can stand up and put down an opponent's best play when they're off their game. If they can still get the wins, then I'm pretty happy about that.'
Minnesota heads into the Field House with 3-0 wins over the Wildcats and Illini at home last weekend. But the Gophers lost at Michigan, 3-1, on Nov. 4, a team which the Badgers swept 3-0 on Nov. 3. The loss dropped Minnesota into a tie with Wisconsin for second place in the Big Ten, making Wednesday night's match even more important.
'We have to take care of the rest of our matches here and somebody's got to help us by beating Penn State, but we're right there,' said Waite.
Penn State faces a tough weekend road trip, traveling to Michigan State and Michigan.
After Wednesday's match, Wisconsin closes out the Big Ten season with at home for Senior Day with a match-up against Iowa on Friday at 7 p.m. The Badgers and Gophers both wrap up the conference season by traveling to Purdue and Indiana on Thanksgiving weekend.
