Badgers come home to No. 1 PSU, Indiana
October 23, 2008 | Volleyball
It doesn't get much tougher than this. Friday, the 21st ranked Badger volleyball team (14-6 overall, 4-4 Big Ten Conference) finally returns to the UW Field House after a four-match road swing to host the top-dogs'No. 1 ranked Penn State. Match time is set for 7 p.m. and the Badgers return to the Field House Sunday for another tough conference match-up against Indiana at 1 p.m. Friday's match will broadcast tape-delayed on ESPN2 on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. groupCode=V&linkID=wisc&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode="> --> Tickets are still available to both matches .
The Nittany Lions come into Madison with a perfect record, one that is more perfect than initially meets the eye. Penn State is 20-0 overall, 8-0 in the conference and has not lost a single set all season. The team has won 46-consecutive matches dating back to last year, which is the second longest streak in NCAA history.
A similar scene was set two years ago though. Penn State came into Madison with an unblemished record and the Badgers prevailed during Halloween weekend to sweep the then-No. 2 Nittany Lions.
'At home here, I think we have some magical things happen sometimes,' UW head coach Pete Waite said. 'No matter what's happening during the course of the season, we meet Penn State and some battles occur that are just amazing to watch. Our kids are pumped for it. We came off that loss (to Penn State) here last year in five sets, after a controversial call in the fifth that left everybody hungry for more. And it was a great fan base, over 10,000, so we hope to see that kind of environment again. '
Penn State brings yet another strong team into the Field House with all of its starters returning from the 2007 NCAA Championship team. The team also leads six of the eight conference categories (.398 hitting percentage, 13.92 assists per set, 3.22 blocks per set, 14.92 kills per set, 0.62 opponent hitting percentage, 1.000 winning percentage). Despite this dominance, Waite knows there is a way to break through the Nittany Lions.
'You've got to be aggressive and you can't back off, ' Waite said. 'I think that's one thing that some teams do, they get intimidated by that team and they just get scared and then they make errors and they just hand it over to them. Our goal is to stay aggressive the whole time.
'And you've got to understand that if they just crush the ball, you know that's only worth one point. You don't crush it harder and get two points. So we've got to go after them like we did last year and just have fun with it.'
Wisconsin has done a good job of protecting the home court this year, going 5-0 at the UW Field House. In fact, the Badgers have not lost a Big Ten home match since Penn State came to town last year, winning their last seven straight conference matches.
Indiana is another team that will come into town swinging on Sunday. The Hoosiers (10-10, 2-6) have a number of standout players on their team. Senior Erica Short leads the conference with 5.39 points per set and 4.78 kills per set while sophomore Ashley Benson ranks third in the Big Ten with 1.52 blocks per set.
'Indiana is coming in here Sunday and they're 2-6 in the Big Ten, but they also are capable of some great things,' Waite said. 'They have one of their middle blockers, (Ashley) Benson, is Kent Benson's daughter. She 's a phenomenal athlete and nobody can overlook that group because the coach is doing a great job.'
Wisconsin is also looking to snap its two-match losing streak. Despite losses to Purdue and Illinois last week, the Badgers saw a bright spot with junior athid=6056&deptid=133"> --> Brittney Dolgner coming out of her mid-season slump. The outside hitter threw down a season-high 22 kills against Purdue and tallied her fifth double-double this season with 10 kills and 10 digs against Illinois.
If you're unable to make it to the UW Field House for these two matches, be sure to listen to 92.1 FM, The Mic (or on eid=wbg&.done=http%3a//sports.yahoo.com/top/collegebroadcast"> --> Yahoo! Radio ) and check back to UWBadgers.com throughout the weekend to see updates from the Penn State and Indiana matches. Live stats for both matches and a free live web stream from Sunday's match can be found on the sportid=133"> --> Game Day Page .
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