Wisconsin Sweeps Illinois
November 07, 2007 | Volleyball
The 11th-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team (21-3 overall, 13-2 Big Ten) swept Illinois (15-10, 7-8) 30-14, 30-23 and 30-28 in front of 3,875 at the UW Field House Wednesday night. The Badgers can finish no worse than second place in the Big Ten Conference with the win.
'I'm happy with the win,' said Coach Pete Waite. 'I felt like we got back on track; we were playing better ball. We took two very good hitters who had been doing well all season with (Laura) DeBruler and (Vicki) Brown and really kept their hitting percentages and their kill totals down. I think that was the big difference in the match.'
Senior co-captain Taylor Reineke led all hitters with her 13 kills and Caity DuPont added 11 of her own. As a team, the Badgers compiled their second-highest hitting percentage of the season as they hit .362. DuPont also recorded a career-high hitting percentage with .556 on the night. Jackie Simpson had 42 set assists as she ran the UW offense.
'We also had some people come in and do a nice job,' commented Waite. 'Caity DuPont, obviously (with her) 11 kills and one error, Taylor Reineke had 13 kills and one error and Morgan Salow (had) five kills and no errors.'
DeBruler, the Big Ten's kill leader, was held to 13 kills, below her five kills per game average. Brown chipped in 12 kills for the match.
Wisconsin's strong block held the Illini to a .157 hitting percentage. The Badgers finished with 11 team blocks, led by five from Audra Jeffers and four apiece from Reineke and Simpson. The Badgers also narrowly outdug Illinois (35-34), with senior Jocelyn Wack recording a match-high 13 digs.
Salow, Simpson and DuPont were strong on the service line as all three players had two service aces as the UW finished with eight service aces and was only aced once.
'I think Morgan and Caity brought a different serve,' said Waite. 'We've been looking at having a tougher serve and they both brought something that we needed.'
The Badgers were near perfect offensively in game one, hitting.600 while holding the Illini to .029. Wisconsin scored four straight, including two from Dolgner, who had a game-high five kills and hit .833. UW upped its lead to seven (11-4) off one of four service aces in the game and steadily increased its advantage until the 30-14 final score.
In game two, Wisconsin scored seven straight to come back from a 4-1 deficit to go up 8-4. The Badgers upped their lead to eight (17-9) off a kill from Salow but the Illini pulled within four (18-14) behind two kills from Stephanie Alde. The UW got its lead back to seven (21-14) on a service ace by Salow. The Badgers served for game point three times until an Illini attack error put Wisconsin two games to none.
Game three had 14 ties, including one at 28-28. Wisconsin came back from a 28-26 deficit, outscoring Illinois 4-0 to win the match. Despite the fact that Illinois narrowly outhit UW .250 to .243, the Badgers sealed the sweep with a kill from Reineke followed by a block from Reineke and Simpson.
'I don't like to be (behind) in the third (game) but we talk about character and about coming back and staying strong and not folding, but we just weren 't able to break loose of them in that game,' said Waite. 'It 's still great to finish it in three, rather than go to a fourth (game) and that was a big goal down in the locker room. We hadn't (swept an opponent) in a while and gotten out of there in three (games) and we met our goal tonight.'
Wisconsin concludes its four-match homestand on Friday night against the Michigan Wolverines at 7 p.m. in the Field House.
