SPORTS
Badgers aim to reach new heights in 2006
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Also by Aaron Brenner:
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- Wisconsin loses shot to defend title (March 19, 2007)
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- Top 16 teams prove to be the Sweetest (December 2, 2001)
- Badgers seek 1st ever WCHA championship (March 3, 2005)
- UW awaits rematch with Notre Dame (December 6, 2005)
by Aaron Brenner
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Dec. 11, 2004: Fresh off upsetting No. 2-seeded Hawai'i, the Badgers are swept in the Elite Eight by Pac-10 powerhouse Stanford, who goes on to win the national championship.
Dec. 10, 2005: Following the toppling of No. 5-seeded Notre Dame, the Badgers are swept in the round of eight by another Pac-10 heavyweight Washington, who goes on to win the title.
Two years in a row, the University of Wisconsin volleyball team has ended a tremendous season by folding just two matches away from the NCAA final. And just to make things more frustrating, at the hands of the eventual winner both times.
No more, says Amy Bladow, one of the three Badgers who will assume leadership as team seniors in the fall of 2006.
"Getting beat two years in a row consecutively by NCAA champs [in the tournament], that's not a bad way to go out, but we want to make it to the Final Four this year," said Bladow, an outside hitter. "That would be a big goal for us as well as really fighting for [being the] Big Ten Champs this year."
But before UW sets out on its quest to dethrone the Penn State Nittany Lions as conference top dog, the spring season will get Bladow and the others more comfortable as a unit in the wake of losing outside hitter Aubrey Meierotto and middle blocker Sheila Shaw to graduation.
"I think that we could always depend on them [Meierotto and Shaw] to get us through tough matches," said outside hitter Maria Carlini, another upcoming senior. "Especially against Washington, I think they really just showed what they're all about and led the team. Even though we lost, they just showed that this is what we need to do to step up."
The last of the seniors-to-be, setter Katie Lorenzen, concurred.
"We lose a couple of amazing hitters and blockers," Lorenzen said. "Sheila wasn't a tall middle, but she was so athletic that she was just everywhere [on the court]; and Aubrey, everyone knows she can slam the ball. They were both just awesome players."
UW head coach Pete Waite said that the team will need to retool, both in replacing his two star players and in enhancing certain aspects of the team, if the Badgers plan on getting further than the Elite Eight this December.
"We are right there; it's another big step up we have to make, and we really have to start fighting in the spring season to become better and improve in a few different areas," Waite said.
There will be some new faces in the spring season that will last long into the regular season and NCAA tournament throughout the year. Bladow is expected to jump from the 2005 bench to a potential starting spot. When Wisconsin traveled to the Aloha State over Spring Break, she shined with 16 kills and two blocks in a five-game set against the University of Hawai'i.
"We'd only had four practices [before Hawai'i], so it was still a little shaky," Bladow said. "We're still trying to figure out where everybody's going to fit into the rotation, but for just four days of practice, I think that we actually did pretty well."
Freshmen Katherine Dykstra and Morgan Salow will also look to find a spot on the starting roster by performing will this spring. Salow appeared in just eight 2005 matches, whereas Dykstra will be removing the redshirt from this past year.
Dykstra will be competing with Bladow for a spot in the middle, and it looks that Salow may be in the driver's seat for the left side slot.
"[Salow] is getting some work on the right, as well as some work on the left, so she's going to have to battle for it and see if she can keep that spot, I'm sure she'd love it."
While they won't get into the swing of things until August, three incoming freshmen will also be pressuring the current Badgers for their spots in the lineup. Brittney Dolgner of Waupun, Wis., Caity DuPont of Muskego, Wis., and Nikki Klingsporn of Oakdale, Minn., according to Bladow, will be the team's "three new little sisters."
"It's always interesting to see what they'll bring, if they can step right in," Lorenzen said. "Every freshman that comes in obviously is great, they are really athletic, and [they have] a ton of potential, so it's really exciting to see who can step in right away."
Lorenzen, who shared court time with sophomore Jackie Simpson last season, ran the offense during the trip and produced 56 assists against Hawai'i, along with seven digs and four blocks.
According to Waite, seeing as Simpson will miss the next six to eight weeks of action with a broken hand, Lorenzen will have the opportunity to step up her game during the course of the spring season.
"Jackie will be out pretty much the whole spring season, so Katie has a shot here to run the offense and improve as a player," Waite said.
Mimicking the styles of Meierotto and Shaw, the three oldest Badgers were explicit about their goals for their final seasons at UW.
"Big Ten Championship. We want it really bad," Carlini said. "I think every senior says that, but I just think with the team that we had and the experience that we had going into the Elite Eights, taking all of our experiences from our collegiate careers, we just [want to] go out with a bang."
