Sept. 14, 2010
Wisconsin 3, Northern Illinois 0
Convocation Center • DeKalb, Ill.
| |
| |
 |
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Wisconsin
| 25
| 25 | 25
| -- | -- | Northern Illinois
| 18
| 19
| 18
| -- | -- | | | | Stats Leaders
| | Wisconsin |
| Northern Illinois
| Mitchell - 10
| Kills | Wicinski - 15 | | Mitchell - .500 | Hit % | Wicinski - .294
| Gabrielsen - 34
| Assists | Hoffman - 31 | Hickey/Wack - 2
| Aces | Hayes - 1 | Kuzma - 16
| Digs | Two tied with 8
| Three tied with 3
| Blocks | Angelos - 4
| | Stats Comparison
| WIS | NIU
| Kills
| 43 | 34 | Hitting Pct.
| .328 | .158
| Assists
| 40
| 32
| | Service Aces | 6
| 1
| Digs
| 37 | 33 | Total Blocks
| 7 | 6 | | |
| |
• Box Score | Box Score 
DEKALB, Ill. - It was a good homecoming for Wisconsin volleyball coach Pete Waite as he took his Badgers to his former school -- Northern Illinois -- on Tuesday night and came back with a win. Wisconsin swept the Huskies 25-18, 25-19, 25-18 to remain undefeated on the season at 10-0. The start equals the second best in program history.
The Badgers handed Northern (11-1) its first loss of the season and stifled a school-record crowd.
Fast Facts
| • Waite returns to former school and picks up a win
| • Mitchell leads team with 10 kills
| • Badgers improve to 10-0 on season
| |
"I would say the biggest test was not that they were undefeated but the environment here; it was really great," said Waite. "I heard it was a record crowd and a lot of our Wisconsin fans came down. But it's a loud gym and very small so I could hardly hear myself think out there or speak to my players."
Waite must have been talking loud enough since his Badgers dominated the match that was played in front of 954 fans in an 800-seat gym.
Wisconsin used a balanced-scoring attack to finish with a 43-34 advantage in kills as five players tallied seven-or-more kills. Alexis Mitchell led the UW with 10 kills and a .500 attack percentage while Dominique Thompson added eight kills. Julie Mikaelsen, Allison Wack and Elise Walch all added seven kills.
Freshman Lauren Wicinski led the Huskies with 15 kills while no other NIU player tallied more than six kills.
"We knew Lauren Wicinski was a great outside player but for them, it was the balance of their attack," said Waite. "As long as we held everyone else in check, I thought we were going to be all right."
Wisconsin continued its strong service, tallying six aces while getting aced only once. Wack and Annemarie Hickey both had two aces for UW.
The Badgers also edged the Huskies 7-6 in blocks, led by three apiece from Mitchell, Thompson and Janelle Gabrielsen.
"That was a good test for our young players and we weren't sure how they were going to react," said Waite. "There were some awesome volleys early in the match where it just went back-and-forth probably six or seven times and we still stood our ground and came out with the win on the rally and I thought that was really important.
"I think that sends a message that we're not laying down here, we're standing up and fighting so I was real proud of our team, especially with the youth we have on the court."
Wisconsin had 37 digs, including a match-high 16 from Kim Kuzma. Gabrielsen added nine digs. Northern Illinois had 33 digs, led by eight apiece from Maddie Hughes and Allison McGlaughlin.
The Badgers broke a 12-12 tie in the first set, scoring four straight to take the lead. Thompson had four kills and three blocks in the first period.
"I didn't know what to predict," said Waite. "I knew the environment would be really tough. That's an undefeated team and I knew they would be hyped up to play us, just being a Big Ten team."
It was Mitchell who took over in the second set, tallying four kills, including one that put the UW up 18-12, capping a 7-3 run.
Hickey served five-straight points in the third set, including one service ace, as Wisconsin went up 11-6 and never looked back.
"I think they're resilient and I think they weren't fazed by a whole lot," said Waite of his team. "And we talked about that. We talked about staying focused and not letting any distractions get to you while you're in an environment like this."
Wisconsin wraps up the non-conference portion of its season on Friday, hosting Green Bay at 7 p.m. in the UW Field House.
