April 2, 2011
MADISON, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin volleyball team finished second in its own Badger Spring Invitational, held Saturday at the Nicholas-Johnson Pavilion of the Kohl Center. The Badgers lost to Minnesota 20-25, 25-17, 15-10 in the championship match.
"It was pretty strong competition," said UW coach Pete Waite. "There was good variety, a lot of split matches. Teams from different conferences were getting wins over other (conferences). Everyone is missing their seniors from last year and they are getting new kids stepping up.
"From what I saw, I like our progress but I also saw things we need to work this week, getting ready for next week's play.
Mary Ording led the Badgers with five kills vs. the Gophers, moving to the left side for the spring season. Four other UW players - Julie Mikaelsen, Dominique Thompson, Bailey Reshel and Kristy Bourquin - added four kills apiece. Bourquin hit .800 (4-0-5) in the match and also added two block assists. Annemarie Hickey led the UW with eight digs in her new role as libero.
Wisconsin advanced to the championship match after winning its pool. The Badgers swept North Dakota State (25-17, 25-23) and Green Bay (25-22, 28-26) before splitting matches with Marquette (28-26, 17-25) and Northern Iowa (22-25, 25-16).
Freshman Crystal Graff led the UW with five kills vs. Marquette while Mikaelsen added four kills. Hickey again had eight digs to lead the Badger defense.
"I was pleased with the way we improved from last week," said Waite. "We worked really hard on our ball control and serve receive. I think that showed up. I think we had a number of people who improved their individual play so that was nice to see. It was a long day. We had five matches and as a team, even when we were down, we found a way to come back in a lot of the sets and get the win."
The Badgers rallied in the first set vs. Minnesota, the first set vs. Marquette and the second set vs. Green Bay to pull out wins.
Waite credited setter Janelle Gabrielsen, who played all 11 sets, with keeping his team in line.
"Nellie is one who never came off the floor the whole time and that's a tough task as the setter when you're chasing balls down all the time," said Waite." I thought she made some good decisions, getting the ball to the right people, keeping the team composed throughout all of our play, whether we were up or down."
For the second weekend in a row, the Badgers played without honorable mention All-Big Ten pick Alexis Mitchell due to injury.
"Hopefully, Alexis will be back next week," said Waite. "That will be another boost for us if she gets on the court."
Wisconsin continues its spring season next Saturday, competing at the Northern Iowa Spring Invitational in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
