Volleyball Wraps up Regular Season at Home
November 23, 2007 | Volleyball
Five seniors will play their final regular-season matches in the UW Field House tonight and tomorrow as the ninth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team hosts Iowa and Minnesota in its Big Ten Conference finales. The Badgers (23-4 overall, 15-3 Big Ten) take on the last-place Hawkeyes (9-20, 1-17) on Friday and the third-place Golden Gophers (17-11, 10-8) on Saturday. Both matches start at 7 p.m. in the UW Field House.
'We will really miss this class,' said UW Coach Pete Waite of his seniors. 'Several of them have started since they were freshmen and they have all contributed significantly.
'But they still have a lot that they want to accomplish and we hopefully have several weeks of volleyball left to play.'
While the Badgers play their last regular-season matches this weekend, Wisconsin will be looking for its 15th overall and 12th straight NCAA tournament appearance when the 64-team championship field is announced on Sunday. The announcement will be broadcast live on ESPNU at 7 p.m. The UW has the possibility of hosting first and second-round matches in the UW Field House on Nov. 30 ' Dec. 1 while it will host one of four NCAA regionals on Dec. 7-8.
The team will honor its five seniors tonight in a pre-match ceremony.
In preparation for Senior Night, here are a few facts about the seniors that you may not know.
Did you know'
Amanda Berkley
- The reason she came to the UW is because she was brainwashed by her father.
- Her favorite volleyball player is her sister, Susie, who played at Idaho State and is now the head coach at UW-Milwaukee.
- Her favorite memory for the Badgers' trip to Europe this past summer was playing soccer with the Italian coaching staff in the gym at San Gregorio di Nogaro, Italy (near Venice).
- Her favorite road trip is to Northwestern, because its close to her hometown of Racine.
Megan Mills
- Her favorite volleyball player is her sister Morgan.
- The talent she would like to have is to juggle.
- She can't live without her blanket.
- Before she turns 40, she wants to travel to Greece and Australia, and go whitewater rafting.
- Her career goal is to go to graduate school for counseling and become a family therapist.
Taylor Reineke
- Her fantasy job is to be a photographer for National Geographic.
- She spends a night each week counseling teenage girls at the Parental Stress Center on Madison's northeast side.
- Before she turns 40, she wants to go sky diving and travel the world.
- If she was Coach Waite for a day, she would take the team boating on Lake Mendota for a day of water skiing and tubing.
Jackie Simpson
- Her favorite food is anything barbecue.
- Her fantasy job is to become a professional surfer.
- She hopes to play volleyball professionally before becoming a college coach.
- She was cut from her junior high school volleyball team in seventh grade.
- Her favorite part of the Badgers' trip to Europe this past summer was steering a gondola in Venice.
Jocelyn Wack
- Her favorite athlete is Brett Favre
- Her fantasy job is to tour as a back-up dancer.
- Before she turns 40, she wants to learn how to sew.
- One of the most unusual things that most people don't know about her is her ability to make weird faces.
- Her career goal is to go to graduate for occupational therapy.
