Wisconsin Badgers
Penn State
Badgers fall to No. 9 Penn State
September 30, 2011 | Volleyball
Sept. 30, 2011
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MADISON, Wis. -- Despite a close score in the third set, the Wisconsin volleyball team fell to No. 9 Penn State 25-18, 25-20, 25-22 in its first Big Ten road match of the season on Friday night.
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The four-time defending national champion Nittany Lions were the Badgers' second straight top-10 opponent this season, and because of that, head coach Pete Waite says that his team is able to bring out some positives from the match despite the loss.
"Bit by bit our team is figuring out that they can play with them (top-10 opponents)," he said. "It was a step for us as a team to compete until the end.
"But we've got to be better and stronger for longer."
Although Wisconsin kept Penn State to a .202 (39 kills - 18 errors - 104 attempts) hitting percentage as a team, the Badgers were only able to hit .105 (32-22-95) overall. Individually, freshman Crystal Graff led Wisconsin with 11 kills, while Penn State's Ariel Scott had a match-high 12. Sophomore Dominique Thompson had four kills on one error and nine attempts to hit a team-high .333.
Penn State outblocked the Badgers 11.5 to 7.5 despite three different UW players finishing with three stuffs each, including freshman Courtney Thomas, who had a solo block. Wisconsin outdug the Nittany Lions 42-34 behind sophomore Annemarie Hickey's 11 saves.
The Nittany Lions led 14-7 in the first set when the Badgers used a kill from senior Janelle Gabrielsen to launch a 5-0 run and come within two points of the lead. Penn State then responded with a 5-0 run of its own - with two of PSU's 10 total service aces - to keep the lead.
After falling behind 2-0 to start the second set, the Badgers rallied, going on an 11-5 run to take the lead from the Nittany Lions. Although Wisconsin was able to capitalize on some key Penn State errors, eight of those 11 points came from either kills or service aces, including three in a row at one point.
"We were playing ahead," said Waite, referring to when the Badgers had their biggest lead of the match at 13-9. "But we have to learn to stay ahead with consistent passing and attacking."
Despite the rally, Penn State was able to slowly pull away to eventually win the second set 25-20.
It took some time, but the Badgers dug themselves out of a 9-2 deficit in the third set. Wisconsin committed one less error than Penn State while keeping the Nittany Lions to a set-low .154 (14-8-39). The Badgers used a 7-1 run late in the final frame to tie the score at 21 before Penn State won the match.
Up next for Wisconsin is a match at No. 24 Ohio State on Sunday night at 5 p.m. Waite isn't focusing on how high or low the Buckeyes are ranked in the polls compared to Penn State when preparing his team for the match.
"We've watched them on tape," he said. "and they're phenomenal.
"We're going to have our hands full."
Fans can watch Sunday's match live on the Big Ten Network or listen to it on 92.1 the Mic.
