Volleyball has goal of Big Ten championship in site
November 23, 2014 | Volleyball
Nov. 23, 2014
MADISON, Wis. -- It’s been 13 years since the Wisconsin volleyball team won a Big Ten Conference title. That streak could end this week as the Badgers need to win just one more match to claim a share of this year’s championship.
“It’s important,” head coach Kelly Sheffield said of winning the conference title. “This is a great conference. There’s not a lot of people who can say they’ve won it recently. It’s important because we respect what this league is about and how difficult that it is (to win the championship).
“We can smell it, our players can too and they’re highly motivated about it. As a group, we don’t talk about it much but it’s there and it should be.”
Wisconsin travels to last-place Rutgers on Wednesday for its chance at a share of the title with Penn State. A win against the Scarlet Knights and a win over No. 16 Purdue on Friday gives UW the championship outright.
The Badgers have won a school-record 17 straight conference matches to lead the league at 17-1. Penn State ranks second at 16-2. With only two matches remaining, no other team has a chance to claim the championship. The Nittany Lions have to travel to Northwestern and host No. 11 Nebraska for their final two matches.
UW has won four Big Ten titles. It’s first came in 1990 with the Badgers also winning in 1997. Wisconsin won back-to-back championships in 2000 and 2001.
Wisconsin’s match vs. Purdue on Friday is already sold out. It will be streamed live on BTN Plus and fans can also listen to the match in the Madison area on The Mic 92.1 with Jon Arias or online using the iHeartRadio app.
