Wisconsin Wins over Northwestern
November 03, 2007 | Volleyball
The seventh-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team (20-3 overall, 12-2 Big Ten) got back on the winning track with five-game win over Northwestern Saturday night in the UW Field House. The Badgers downed the Wildcats 30-23, 27-30, 35-37, 30-26 and 17-15 in front of 5,299 fans. The win gave the UW its 12th straight 20-plus win season.
'I'm really happy (about tonight's win) as we came out with the win after going to five (games) and going to extra points,' said Coach Pete Waite. 'It seemed like it was a bit of a struggle tonight; just getting our team to play at our best. We seemed to shoot ourselves in the foot there and give points with net errors and service errors. We've got to clean that up and get things back on track, but bottom line is we got the win.'
Brittney Dolgner led all hitters with 23 kills in the match and also had two service aces. Behind Dolgner, the Badgers had four other players in double digits. Taylor Reineke chipped in 15 kills while Audra Jeffers pounded down 11. Caity DuPont and Allison Wack both contributed 10 kills apiece.
For Northwestern (15-10, 6-8), Brittney Aldridge and Lindsay Anderson both had 19 kills while Chelsy Hyser and Aldridge each added five block assists. As a team, UW outhit the Wildcats .244 to .217 and finished with an 87-80 advantage in kills.
Reineke had six block assists and Jeffers five block assists in the five-game match for Wisconsin. As a team, the Badgers narrowly outblocked Northwestern 12-11.
Senior libero Jocelyn Wack recorded her first 30-plus dig match of the season as she led all players with 30 saves. Amanda Berkley (14), Jackie Simposn (13) and Dolgner (11) all chipped in with double-digit digs as the UW outdug the Wildcats 88-82. Simpson put up 65 set assists and Nikki Klingsporn recorded six of her own.
Wisconsin broke a 5-5 tie in game one, scoring four straight to take a 9-5 lead. The Badgers continued to perform well offensively, connecting on more than 38 percent of their attacks. Reineke led the UW with five kills on nine attempts while Caity DuPont added four kills on six attempts for a .667 hitting percentage.
Northwestern broke open game two, scoring seven straight to take a 20-13 lead, as the Badgers gave up six points in the period due to service errors. The Wildcats outhit Wisconsin .211 to .170 in the second game.
The UW served for game point five times in the third period but could not overcome the tenacious Wildcats. Wisconsin held the advantage at 29-28, 30-29 and 31-30 but it was Northwestern the served for game point at 32-31. The two teams traded game-winning attempts three more times before one of the Wildcat's five blocks in the period and kill from Brittani Gray put Northwestern up two games to one.
Game four featured 11 early ties before Northwestern scored three straight to take a 21-18 lead. The Wildcats upped their lead to 24-20 off a kill from Naomi Johnson but behind the serve of Dolgner, the Badgers rallied to tie the score at 25. Dolgner served five straight points to put Wisconsin up 27-25. The UW had two keys blocks down the stretch to put the game away.
Northwestern served for match point late in the fifth game at 15-14, but with a kill from Allison Wack, UW tied the score. Morgan Salow recorded one of her five kills to set up the UW for its first match point. Wisconsin sealed the victory with a block from Dolgner and Audra Jeffers.
'(I brought Salow in) because we needed a boost,' explained Waite. 'I thought Morgan could put up a little different type of block and Jackie had no problem going to Morgan which is great that she had confidence in her.
'Morgan came up with a big tip at the end for a kill that was crucial and Al (Wack) had a big swing. (Northwestern) had match point one time which was one too many. '
Wisconsin continues its four-match homestand on Wednesday against Illinois. First serve is at 7 p.m. in the UW Field House.
