Spikers wrap up Big Ten road season
November 18, 2009 | Volleyball
Nov. 18, 2009
MADISON, Wis. - The Badger volleyball team (11-14 overall, 6-9 Big Ten) wraps up the road portion of the Big Ten Conference season this weekend. Wisconsin travels to Northwestern (14-14, 5-11) on Friday for a 6 p.m. match in Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill. UW travels to No. 5 Illinois (21-4, 13-3) on Saturday for a 7 p.m. match in Huff Hall in Champaign, Ill.
Wisconsin remains in sixth place in the Big Ten despite losing its last five matches. UW must win its last four matches in order to qualify to play in the NCAA tournament. The Badgers wrap up the regular season at home on Nov. 27-28 against Indiana and Purdue.
Both matches this weekend will air live on the Madison area on The Mic 92.1 (WXXM) with Jon Arias and Diane Nordstrom. You can also listen to the matches live for free here. Friday night’s match at Northwestern will be Web cast live on BigTenNetwork.com for $2.99. Illinois will offer a live Web cast on www.fightingillini.com. You can also follow both matches through live stats on Gametracker.
Here is a look at both opponents this weekend.
Northwestern
- Northwestern (14-14, 5-11) has lost three consecutive matches, most recently to No. 1 Penn State. The Wildcats’ last victory came on Nov. 6 against Michigan State. Wisconsin won the previous meeting this season on Oct. 24, 3-1.
- Junior Sabel Moffett headlines Northwestern’s offense, averaging 3.35 kills per set. Moffett also maintains a team-high .349 hitting percentage.
- The Wildcats own a collective hitting percentage of .212.
- Junior setter Elyse Glab directs the Northwestern offense, putting up an average of 10.07 assists per set.
- The Wildcats have out-dug their opponents this season by an average of 13.93-13.73 digs per set and are led by Kate Nobilio. Nobilio, a senior libero, saves 4.42 shots/set. Senior Ariel Baxterbeck chips in 2.45 digs/set.
- Northwestern has also out-blocked its opponents 2.60-2.00 blocks per set. Moffett, a 6-0 middle blocker, stuffs a team-high 1.41 shots per set. Three additional Wildcat players also average at least 0.80 blocks per set.
Illinois
- No. 5 Illinois (21-4, 13-3) bounced back to defeat Ohio State, 3-1, on Nov. 15 after being swept by No. 1 Penn State on Nov. 13. The Fighting Illini beat Wisconsin in Madison, 3-1, on Oct. 23. I
- llinois’ attack is led by junior outside hitter Laura DeBruler. She averages 4.51 kills per set while connecting on .308 percent of her shots. Sophomore outside hitter Michelle Bartsch also makes a solid offensive contribution with 3.02 kills per set while senior Kylie McCulley chips in 2.98 kills per set.
- The Fighting Illini have a team hitting percentage of .248. Three of Illinois’ starters hit at least .300.
- Junior setter Hillary Haen dishes out 11.30 assists per set to guide the Fighting Illini offense.
- The Illini lost senior libero Ashley Edinger to a season-ending knee injury two weeks ago. Edinger had been averaging a team-leading 4.09 digs per set. DeBruler (2.65 digs per set), McCulley (2.48) and Bartsch (2.31) have picked up the slack while sophomore Rachel Feldman now starts at libero. Feldman averages 1.38 digs per set.
- Junior middle blocker Johannah Bangert stuffs a team-high 1.64 shots per set, while Erin Johnson, a freshman middle blocker, tallies 0.85 blocks per set.
