Volleyball Knocks off Indiana on Road
November 24, 2006 | Volleyball
The 11th-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team continued its winning ways with a 30-21, 30-26, 30-16 win at Indiana University. The Badgers improved to 23-6 overall and 15-4 in the Big Ten Conference with one match remaining.
'I thought it was a good night for us defensively,' UW head coach Pete Waite said. 'A lot of people were playing well including (Jocelyn) Wack and (Maria) Carlini. Offensively we weren't exactly clicking on all cylinders, hopefully against Purdue it will all come together. Overall it was a good team effort ' it's a good win on the road for us.'
While Wisconsin struggled offensively, hitting just .157 in the match, it keyed off its defense. The Badgers had 14 blocks and 58 digs in the match compared to 12.5 blocks and 44 digs for the Hoosiers. Senior Amy Bladow led all blockers with eight stuffs, including two solos. Junior Taylor Reineke added six blocks while sophomore Audra Jeffers finished with four stuffs.
In the backcourt, sophomore Jocelyn Wack and senior Maria Carlini led the UW with 13 digs apiece. Junior Amanda Berkley and freshman Brittney Dolgner both had nine digs for the Badgers.
Wisconsin's tough defense held Indiana to a negative .054 hitting percentage in the match, the first time all season a team has hit negative against the Badgers. Four Hoosiers hit negative including kill leader Erica Short, who led IU with 11 kills.
'It's great to hold a team that low in hitting percentage especially with the combination of our block and defense,' Waite said. 'For their big hitter, Erica Short to be hitting negative, our team did a good job on her. '
The UW was led by Jeffers with 11 kills while Reineke and Dolgner both put down nine kills. Reineke led all hitters at .300.
Junior Jackie Simpson had 25 assists in the first two games while senior Katie Lorenzen set the third game, putting up 10 assists.
Wisconsin also had a strong night on the service line, recording six aces, including two from Carlini, and only four errors.
After a seven-day layoff, the Badgers struggled early in game one as the period was tied six times. Wisconsin broke an 11-11 knot, scoring four straight to take a 15-11 lead off a block by Bladow and Jeffers. The UW extended its lead to six (18-12) behind two kills from Jeffers. The Hoosiers would cut the Badger lead to four points twice, including at 22-18. Behind the serve of Wack, who started off a 4-0 rally with a service aces, and the front-row play of Dolgner and Bladow, Wisconsin upped its lead to 28-18. Dolgner had two kills while Bladow had a kill and a block to key the run. Indiana held off two UW game points before an IU service ace gave the Badgers the game.
Wisconsin had five blocks in game two to key a 30-26 win. The Badgers led by five points early (12-7) before the Hoosiers rallied to tie the game at 13, taking advantage of two UW errors. The Badgers got their lead back up to four at 19-15 behind two service aces from Carlini. Wisconsin maintained control of the match, leading by eight (29-21) but Indiana held off five UW match points before a kill from Jeffers put the Badgers up 2-0 in games.
The Badgers controlled game three from the start as the period featured only one tie at 1-1. Wisconsin went up 9-4 as it took advantage of Indiana hitting a negative .178 in the period. The UW also had five blocks in the game to stop the Hoosiers offense.
Wisconsin wraps up Big Ten play on Saturday at 22nd-ranked Purdue. The match is the regular-season finale as the UW will find out on Sunday where it is seeded in the NCAA tournament.
