Badgers Sweep Hawkeyes
November 23, 2007 | Volleyball
The No. 9 Wisconsin volleyball team (24-4 overall, 16-3 Big Ten) swept Iowa (9-21, 1-18) 30-20, 30-22 and 30-23 in front of 5,046 Friday night at the UW Field House.
'I thought we did a nice job tonight,' said Coach Pete Waite. 'When we were down in Iowa, we won in four games against them and it was one of our goals to get it done in three (games) tonight. They are a tough team to play. '
Sophomore Caity DuPont led all hitters as she had a career-high 16 kills in the match while sophomore Brittney Dolgner added 10 kills of her own. The Badgers, who played 14 of 15 players on their roster, got kills from seven players as they outhit the Hawkeyes 51-36 in kills. Wisconsin also hit .293 as a team, compared to .111 for Iowa. Laura Kremer and Aimee Huffman led the Hawkeyes with nine kills a piece.
'We had some different players step up tonight like Caity DuPont so that was nice to see,' said Waite. 'Early in the season she and Al Wack were going back and forth with court time and she has really stepped it up. Each week (Caity) has been on the court, she has gotten stronger and more confident out there so she has really earned it.'
DuPont echoed Waite's thoughts on court time contributing to her level of play. 'I think being in more does build my confidence and now when I get on the court I am not second guessing myself. I know what I am supposed to do and I know that I can do it; confidence is a big thing.'
UW outdug (43-39) and narrowly outblocked Iowa (8-7). Wisconsin was strong on the service line as the Badgers recorded six service aces to Iowa's lone ace. With her two service aces, senior libero Jocelyn Wack recorded her 100th career service ace and moved into the 15th spot on UW's list of career service ace leaders. DuPont also added two aces for the Badgers.
Senior setter Jackie Simpson had 41 set assists as she ran UW's offense and Iowa's Kiley Fister had 32 in the match.
Taylor Reineke had five block assists on the night while DuPont and Katherine Dykstra added three stuffs apiece.
The Badgers broke open game one, scoring four straight to up their lead from 12-10 to 16-10. Reineke had two kills and teamed with DuPont on a block to key the run. Wisconsin had three of its four blocks in the period over a 5-2 run to give it the biggest lead of the game at 28-16. Iowa scored three straight to pull within nine (28-19) but the Badgers held on for a 30-20 win. The UW hit .349 for the period, led by DuPont with five kills and a .625 attack percentage, while Iowa hit just .095.
In game two, UW once again jumped to an early lead at 6-3 and never looked back. The Badgers went on a five-point run to pull ahead at 15-10 by capitalizing on three consecutive Iowa hitting errors and kills from Dykstra and a service ace by Morgan Salow. Dykstra led all hitters in the second match-up with her four kills and Salow contributed three of her own. UW's defense held Iowa to a team hitting percentage of .061 as the Badgers hit .212 as a team in game two.
UW had to rally to tie the score in game three at 13-13. Wisconsin then went on a four-point run again capitalizing on Hawkeye hitting errors as well as kills from Reineke and Dolgner. Freshman Allison Wack came off of the bench and sealed the sweep for UW with her match-winning kill. DuPont led UW with her seven kills and also contributed a service ace in game three.
The Badgers return to action Saturday as they host Minnesota at 7 p.m. in their last regular-season match at the UW Field House. The 64-team field for the NCAA tournament will be announced on Sunday with the UW hoping to host first and second-round matches as well as an NCAA regional.
'(Tonight's match) was emotional for us as it was our last home match other than tomorrow and then hopefully the next four matches after that,' said Jocelyn Wack. '(The fact that this is her last season) has not quite set in yet. We will just go into tomorrow pumped up and ready to play Minnesota; it is great playing them every time.'
