Badgers fall to Purdue in season finale
November 29, 2008 | Volleyball
It was too little, too late as the Wisconsin volleyball team pushed 18th-ranked Purdue to five sets but lost to the Boilermakers 25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 19-25, 15-13 in their final regular-season match. The Badgers (17-15) finish tied for seventh in the final Big Ten Conference standings at 7-13, their worse league mark since going 7-11 in 1988 before Penn State joined the league. Wisconsin also finishes with its worst overall record since 1992.
While UW qualifies for the NCAA tournament due to finishing with an overall winning percentage of .500 or better, it's doubtful that the Badgers will make their 13th consecutive and 17th overall post-season appearance.
'We want to be hopeful, but the odds are against us I'd say,' said UW coach Pete Waite of his team's chances of making it into NCAAs. 'I think we really needed one of these two wins, especially this one tonight. This is the one we felt we could get and we were right there.'
After losing the first two sets, the Badgers battled back to even the match by winning the third and fourth sets. The match came down to the decisive fifth set where Wisconsin battled back from deficits of 10-6 and 13-10 to tie the score both times. Following a Purdue timeout at 13-13, UW served the ball into the net before an Badger overpass allowed the Boilermakers Stephanie Lynch to pound down the match-winning point.
'Unfortunately just a couple of errors at the end of the match made the difference and that was it,' said Waite. 'That's kind of been the story of the season ' get to the brink and then a couple errors.'
The Badgers battled with the 18th-ranked Boilermakers (24-8, 13-7) in the closely fought match. Only one kill, one block and one service ace separated the two teams.
Purdue's Danita Merlau led both teams with a match-high 19 kills while Lynch added 17 kills for the Boilermakers who hit .174 while putting down 60 kills. Lynch led all players with 13 blocks as Purdue stuffed 16 shots, compared to 15 for Wisconsin.
Brittney Dolgner led Wisconsin with 16 kills while Allison Wack came off the bench to hammer down 11 kills. The Badgers totaled 59 kills and hit .177 as a team. Elle Ohlander led UW with eight blocks while Audra Jeffers and Janelle Gabrielsen added six blocks apiece. Dolgner also added two of the Badgers' five service aces. Wisconsin was aced four times by Purdue.
'I thought Al Wack had a great match offensively, really came in and saved us, ' said Waite. 'She brought a great game ' serve receive was good, her hitting was great, I think it calmed everybody down and they played really well. '
Wack led the Badgers with eight kills in the third set and nine kills in the fourth set.
Kim Kuzma led Wisconsin with 20 digs as Purdue finished with a 62-54 edge in the backcourt. The Boilermakers Kelli Miller led all players with 22 digs.
'We saw a lot of good things and we pushed a top-20 team to the brink, ' said Waite. '(We) just couldn't get over the hump unfortunately.
'We just had some streaks in those first two sets. It just got much better on the court and much more fun to watch. I know the fans, they've been fantastic this season. I know they enjoyed seeing the team compete and seeing what they're capable of. And hopefully that's a bit of a spring board heading into next season. '
The 64-team field for the 2008 NCAA tournament will be announced on Sunday at 9 p.m. live on ESPNU.
