Hoosiers halt the Badgers at UW Field House
October 26, 2008 | Volleyball
The No. 21 Badger volleyball team hosted Indiana Sunday afternoon at the UW Field House and was unable to come out with a win in front of 4,762 fans. Wisconsin fell to the Hoosiers, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-20 to close out the first half of the Big Ten Conference season. The Badgers drop to 14-8 overall and 4-6 in the conference while Indiana improves to 12-10, 4-6.
'I think it starts with ball control and attitude and I don't think we had either tonight,' UW head coach Pete Waite said. 'It was just unacceptable as far as the way they approached the match, they way they approached every point and they have to find some fire in them as a group. Occasionally we will have individuals here and there who will have it, but it is so spotty that it is hard to get momentum and they really have to pick that side up.'
Wisconsin had two players finish with double-digit kills. Junior Brittney Dolgner led the Badgers with 16 kills while senior Audra Jeffers finished with 10 kills. The Badgers struggled offensively today and hit just .146 but where led by junior Katherine Dykstra who hit .412 and had nine kills. Freshman Elle Ohlander also contributed eight kills.
For Indiana, Erica Short led all players with 19 kills while Ashley Benson chipped in 14 kills. Indiana hit .213 for the match.
Freshman Janelle Gabrielsen led all players with 32 assists. Sophomore Nikki Klingsporn also added 13 of the UW's 48 assists. IU finished with 54 assists and Mary Chaudoin had 29 assists. Hayley Koetter also contributed 21 assists for the Hoosiers.
Both teams finished with 54 digs on the afternoon. Sophomore Kim Kuzma recorded a new career high with 26 saves while Dolgner had a season high 12 saves for her sixth double-double this season. Caitlin Cox finished with 18 digs for Indiana.
The Badgers out-blocked the Hoosiers, 12-11. Jeffers led Wisconsin with seven stuffs while Dolgner and Gabrielsen each added three blocks. Benson had eight blocks and Chaudoin added five stuffs.
Wisconsin had a decent night at the service line but it wasn't enough for the win. The Badgers finished with just three errors compared to seven for Indiana but had just one ace. Indiana finished with six aces, three of which came from Cox.
Both teams played each other close in the first set and neither team was able to get out to a commanding lead. Wisconsin maintained a one or two-point lead down the stretch until it was able to knock off Indiana, 25-22. Both teams had four blocks in the first period and Jeffers hit a team best .444 with four kills. Wisconsin hit just .043 in the first frame.
IU led by as many as seven in the second set and the Badgers were never able to get back into the period. They held off Indiana set point once but the Hoosiers evened the score by taking the second frame, 25-21.
Indiana stormed out to a 4-1 lead in the third set but the Badgers rattled off four straight points to take the 5-4 lead early. The score stayed tight throughout the set but Wisconsin managed to take a two point lead down the stretch at 23-21. Despite the lead, IU rallied and scored four straight points to win the third set, 25-23.
The Hoosiers kept the momentum alive in the fourth set and gave the Badgers little hope of climbing back into the match. The score was tied at 11 but Indiana rattled off three straight points and kept going until it captured the third set and the match, 25-20.
'I just am kind of disappointed on the way things went and am extra motivated to get in there and try to find some way to fire the team up,' Jeffers said. 'Like coach said, it is about attitude and we are trying to bring that out but it has to be everyone, it cannot just be a few people. This next week of practice we will just try really hard to bring everyone in and motivate everyone to get that fire back. '
Wisconsin has a new opportunity this Wednesday when Northwestern comes to town to kick off the second half of the Big Ten season. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside the UW Field House and the match will air live on the Big Ten Network.
