Volleyball Looks to Continue Winning on the Road
November 02, 2006 | Volleyball
After a dominating weekend sweep of previously undefeated No. 3 Penn State and national powerhouse No. 25 Ohio State, the No. 10 Wisconsin volleyball team (17-5, overall, 9-3 Big Ten Conference) takes to the road again to face Michigan (17-8, 4-8) and Michigan State (15-7, 6-6). The Badgers travel first to Ann Arbor, Mich., for a 7 p.m. ET match against the Wolverines on Friday and then to East Lansing, Mich., to face the Spartans at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday.
'It's a good feeling (in practice), but it's also a feeling that we have to keep getting better,' UW head coach Pete Waite said. 'I think the team knows just because you won a couple of good matches, doesn't mean it's going to be that magical all the time. You have to come out and keep working hard.'
UW heads into this weekend still in search of a Big Ten title. The Badgers upset the Nittany Lions, who were on a 41-match Big Ten winning streak, 30-22, 30-28, 30-25, in front of the second-largest crowd (5,487) at the UW Field House this season. With their second sweep of the weekend over the Buckeyes on Sunday, the Badgers remain in a tie with Purdue for third place in the conference.
'I think the tough one to catch is going to be Penn State,' Waite said. 'If they had gone to Minnesota (last Saturday night) and lost, it would have brought the pack closer to the top. But they separated themselves a little bit more (with the win) and I'm not sure if I see people on their schedule coming up that are going to be knocking them off.'
With her complete performance last weekend, junior setter Jackie Simpson was recognized as Big Ten Player of the Week and became the first Badger to earn Sports Imports/American Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Week honors since Lizzie Fitzgerald 's recognition in 2001.
Simpson assisted 48 times for the UW, who hit .330 as a team against PSU. She also contributed three kills, three digs and four blocks. Against OSU, Simpson again paced a .312 hitting percentage with her 43 assists. On her own, she hit an impressive .571 and contributed six block assists, four kills and eight digs.
'It was a great team weekend as far as their play as a group,' Waite said. 'A lot of it stemmed from the serving and passing being so great and with that good passing, Jackie was able to do a lot of things at the net and really manipulate the block and put our hitters in good positions. So, we're real happy for her and we know she's been working hard all season to get to a point where she can feel comfortable out there in any situation. As a group, the team is proud of her but I know Jackie's the first one to say, it was a real team effort.'
This will be UW's final matches against the Wolverines and Spartans for the 2006 season. During the Badgers' opening Big Ten home stand in the UW Field House in late September, the team swept both teams.
Since then, Michigan has struggled in Big Ten play and went 1-1 last weekend on the road with a sweep at Illinois but then lost 3-2 at Northwestern. The Wolverines are no longer ranked and are currently tied with Illinois for eighth place in the conference. Junior outside hitter Katie Bruzdzinski, who led all players with 14 kills against UW, averages a team-best 4.36 kills per game while junior middle blocker Lyndsay Miller contributes 3.75 kills per game.
'Michigan's changed the lineup around a little bit since we saw them last so it's going to be a lot of the same people, just in different spots on the court. We're going to have to adjust to that,' Waite said.
Michigan State on the other hand heads into this weekend, having won four of its last six matches, most recently with two sweeps against Illinois and Northwestern on the road. The Spartans sit right below the Badgers, in sole possession of fifth place in the Big Ten. Against Wisconsin earlier in the season, Michigan State got a 10-kill performance out of junior Jessica Hohl, who currently leads MSU with a .336 hitting percentage and 0.99 blocks per game, and junior Ashley Schatzle, who chips in 4.38 kills per game. Junior outside hitter Katie Johnson leads the Spartans with 4.79 kills per game.
'Michigan State has got pretty much the same people in the same spots but they kind of moved up in the conference standings, quietly,' Waite said. 'It 's a team that I thought would be right up there after the first pack and that 's right where they sit so that makes for a dangerous team, especially when we 're on the road.'
For those wanting to catch the Badgers in action but not the drive to Michigan, ComCast Sports Net will air Friday's match against Michigan at 7 p.m. Sunday.
