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Salow matures, sees role expand for Wisconsin
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Also by Ben Solochek:
- Home 'Field' advantage (November 30, 2007)
- Salow matures, sees role expand for Wisconsin (November 15, 2007)
- Wisconsin survives, wins another 5 game match (November 12, 2007)
- UW to host IU, UM (November 7, 2007)
- Wisconsin splits weekend set (November 5, 2007)
Related Stories:
- Seniors wrap up careers (November 26, 2007)
- Badgers draw comparisons to 2000 finalist squad (November 27, 2007)
- UW finishes second in Molten Classic to begin road trip (September 5, 2007)
- Defeat drops UW to No.11 (November 6, 2007)
- New roles for volleyball team (April 13, 2006)
by Ben Solochek
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Junior outside hitter Morgan Salow has moved on from her
quiet days in Manchester, Iowa — a town of about 5,000 — to making big noise
for the ninth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team.
"She came from a small town in Iowa. Getting here, she was a
little shocked with the speed of the game and everything she had to do," UW
head coach Pete Waite said. "But she's hung in there and she has stepped up the
challenge we have given her, and she keeps getting better."
Salow, a three-time all-state selection at West Delaware
High School, has provided the spark off the bench the Badgers have needed.
Against Iowa last month, she had seven kills, helping the Badgers to a 4-1 win
in Iowa City.
"As a player, Morgan came in pretty quiet as a freshman,"
Waite said. "[She's a] tall player at 6’4”.
We knew it would take a while to get used to the level of play, but she has
really been picking it up lately and done a nice job of contributing."
Since that game, Salow has been on a roll. She has averaged
1.88 kills per game over the last three matches. During the same stretch, she
has averaged .50 aces and .62 blocks per game. Salow also earned a starting
spot last week against Illinois and Iowa.
"Morgan is a great player," senior setter Jackie Simpson
said. "She has really stepped it up for us this year coming into matches where
we really needed a little bit of a spark, and she definitely brought that for
us."
It took a few years for Salow to perform at her current
level. Before this year, she had only played in 40 games, averaging .70 kills
per game and .20 blocks per game. Her previous career high in kills had been
eight against Michigan State in 2005.
According to Waite, adjusting to the speed of the game at
the collegiate level took some time.
"I think it is hard for everybody at different levels. At
first, of course it was pretty hard for me," Salow said.
For some players who have potential, but are not ready to
play at the collegiate level just yet, their freshman year they are redshirted,
like Salow's teammate Katherine Dykstra. However, Salow did not redshirt and
played limited time her freshman year, putting up 18 kills in only 15 games.
"I think the situation was we felt she was ready to go,"
Waite said. "But, you know, you can always look back and say another year would
have been better. But, I think she feels good where she is right now and she's
helping us out."
At the beginning of the year, Salow said her goals were to
improve on quickness and strength. Other than meeting her goals on the court,
Waite said that her personality is beginning to show as well.
"I think we have seen her personality come out a little bit.
I think she has left more on the court and more relaxed off the court," Waite
said.
So far this year, Salow's work ethic and patience have paid
off. She has already appeared in 38 games (two starts) and her statistics have
almost doubled: averaging 1.71 kills per game and .50 blocks per game.
Salow is part of a platoon of outside hitters and middle
blockers seeing their first consistent action. Last year, Dykstra and Caity
DuPont, along with Salow, got limited playing time because of their age and
inexperience in the college game. This year, all three players, along with
freshman Allison Wack, are seeing significant playing time off the bench and
even starting.
The difference between Salow and the other outside hitters
is her versatility. She has the ability to play both outside spots and the
middle blocker. Plus, her height gives her a definite advantage on the block
over some smaller offensive players.
"With Morgan on the right, she can run the quicks just like
Kat [Dykstra]," Simpson said. "So, it's very similar in that aspect. It's a
little lower and quicker versus this high and hitting over people. On the outside
it kind of reverses it, and she's very powerful, and she can take a big, long
approach and take some big swings."
With her confidence growing, Salow is finally becoming the
player she and her coaches thought she could be. Already a junior, she hopes to
be fighting for a starting job in the front row next year. For now, though, she
is content with the way she is playing and the role she has on the team.
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