Volleyball Team Ready for NCAA Action
November 30, 2006 | Volleyball
It's the most wonderful time of the year for the No. 10 Wisconsin volleyball team'NCAA championship time! This weekend, the Badgers (24-6) host first and second-round action of the post-season tournament in the UW Field House. Wisconsin takes on Notre Dame (18-13) in first-round action at 7 p.m. Friday. Iowa State (20-10) and UW-Milwaukee face (24-5) off at 5 p.m. Friday in the other first-round match. First-round winners meet in the second round on Saturday at 7 p.m. for the right to advance to NCAA regional play in Austin, Texas, on Dec. 8-9.
'The team is always really excited when this time of the season comes, ' UW head coach Pete Waite said. 'Sometimes the end of the Big Ten season can drag on a bit because it is long but once they complete that, they're able to look at a short tournament season and say `This is the time to get it done, make a big run and do the best we can.''
Wisconsin, which makes its 11th straight and 15th overall tournament, is 26-14 in NCAA play. In 2004 and 2005, the UW advanced to the Elite Eight, bowing out to eventual NCAA champions Stanford and Washington, respectively.
This is also the third-straight year Wisconsin hosts opening rounds at the Field House, where the Badgers are 19-2 in post-season action.
This year, the Badgers hope to make another run, starting with the Fighting Irish. Wisconsin and Notre Dame have met three times in the NCAA tournament with the Badgers holding a 3-0 advantage. The most recent meeting was during UW's run to the NCAA regional finals last year. Wisconsin toughed it out a five-game win at College Station, Texas, with five players in double-digit kills and Jocelyn Wack tallying 36 of the team 's 106 digs.
Despite facing one another last year, the Irish will bring several new faces into Madison, where the Badgers hold a 4-0 home record in the all-time series. The Irish lost four starters but still fought to tie for third place in the Big East Conference this season.
'Notre Dame is a much different team than we saw last year because of how many players they graduated,' Waite said. 'This is a much younger team, a very quick and athletic team that we have to get to know through watching the tapes that come in this week.'
If the Badgers knock off the Irish, their next opponent will either be a familiar foe or a friendly stranger.
'Iowa State is a team we don't know that well,' Waite said. 'We played them during the spring time so we did see some things they're doing but Milwaukee is a team we played during the season so we definitely know them better.'
During the 2006 nonconference season, the Badgers won the UW-Milwaukee Panther Invitational on Sept. 8-9, where they knocked off the host team in a three-game sweep.
But since then, the Panthers have been on a roll, finishing the year as Horizon League regular-season champions with a 13-1 record and league tournament champions, earning an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament. UWM also rides a school-record 15-match win streak into the tournament.
'They do a great job and they win their conference on a regular basis which means they're competing, they're smart and well coached,' Waite said on UW-Milwaukee.
The Badgers have faced Iowa State just three times in school history with the last match-up coming way back in 1993. Despite and unfamiliar team, the UW players and staff are familiar with a face on the bench'Cyclone Head Coach Christy Johnson. Before arriving at Iowa State two years ago, Johnson served as an assistant to Waite for six years where she worked with the setters, including junior Jackie Simpson when she was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team.
Two years later, Simpson is earning even more conference recognition. The Downers Grove, Ill., native along with junior Taylor Reineke and freshman Brittney Dolgner were named to the All-Big Ten Conference team on Tuesday.
'It's awesome. There's some years where you might just get one player on the team so to get three says that they really stood out to the conference coaches,' Waite said. 'Obviously, they're part of a great group of athletes on the court that are able to achieve a high level of play.'
And last but not least, after yet another successful year during his eight-year tenure at Wisconsin, Waite earned his third Big Ten Coach of the Year honor.
'It's a nice surprise when you hear that the conference coaches felt that you did a good job managing your team and taking them to a higher level during the course of the season,' Waite said. 'I think that just shows a lot of respect by the conference coaches. It says great things for our staff and what we 've accomplished this year.'
