IOWA CITY, Iowa — In just her second match back from a foot injury, senior floor captain and outside hitter Maria Carlini is still getting the swing of things.
"I'm slowly getting back into it," Carlini said.
Whereas Carlini started Wednesday night at Minnesota, she wasn't exactly planning on playing Saturday at Iowa.
Carlini didn't re-aggravate her injury, but UW volleyball head coach Pete Waite was hoping to rest her against an Iowa team that is tied for last place in the Big Ten.
But when Waite and the Badgers found themselves down 18-24 in the second game, Carlini was inserted into the line-up for an extra boost.
"Sometimes you just need that senior leadership," Waite said. "[Carlini] came in there and gave more energy and lifted the team up."
Despite losing the game 26-30, the move worked as Wisconsin went on to win the next two games, and the match, with Carlini on the left side.
"Maria has that energy because she has had to sit out for so long," said senior assistant captain and middle blocker Amy Bladow. "As soon as she came in, everybody got fired up and everybody was excited for her to be out there."
While Carlini said she was surprised to play, once she got in she knew the team needed her presence after struggling through much of game two.
"When I went in, we realized that we were down and needed to come back," Carlini said. "We always fight harder when we are down. I guess it is easer to play with a lot higher intensity then it is from maintaining a lead."
Carlini finished the match with nine kills in three games with a hitting percentage of .300.
In-game adjustments
Wisconsin had a number of adjustments to make Saturday night, and not just putting Carlini back in the line-up or even switching between Jackie Simpson and Katie Lorenzen at setter.
Just like the NBA this year with its new basketball, the Badgers had issues getting used to a new volleyball.
At home, UW uses a Báden brand ball, but on the road, it all depends on what ball the host decides to use. In this instance, Iowa used a Nike brand ball, something Wisconsin isn't accustomed to.
"We play with different balls when we go to different places and it is strange to say but this ball doesn't come off your arms like the one does at home," Waite said. "We need to get some of these and train with them because it's not the one we always use. When you are not passing it to the net, then you can't run your offense and it was just a little difficult."
And everybody had something to say about it.
"The balls were a lot different," Carlini said. "You have to push it a lot harder because when you pass the ball, it doesn't go as far as it normally does."
"It was a lot lighter," Bladow added. "With this ball, you needed to push it a lot harder."
The ball wasn't the only thing different at Carver-Hawkeye Arena — playing on the Hawkeyes' wooden basketball court was yet another adjustment.
Although it may seem like a minute detail, a basketball floor is much harder than one made primarily for volleyball, such as the Field House's court.
With that said, Iowa's court wouldn't seem to bode well with Carlini's foot injury. However, this was not the case.
"I actually think you jump higher, but it's worse on your knees," she said of playing on the basketball court. "I love sports courts though; I wish we all played on sports courts."
