Byrd flies high in weekend sweep
By Roger Anderson, sports writer
Behind the milestone performance of Erin Byrd, the Badger volleyball team emerged from the weekend with its first Big Ten sweep of the season.
“We’re really happy to have back-to-back wins here in Big Ten play,” head coach Pete Waite said. “I didn’t think we played awesome, but still we hung in there.”
The Badgers began their matchup against 23rd-ranked Michigan State with a radical lineup change that included the insertion of outside hitter Lisa Zukowski into the libero position. The switch worked out well for the Badgers, as Zukowski led the team with 14 kills.
The Badgers (5-3 Big Ten, 13-5 overall) were able to win the match against the Spartans (4-4, 12-6) in four games 30-25, 33-35, 30-23, 30-25.
After committing two service errors on game-point opportunities in game two, the Badgers were able to overcome the disappointment and win the match behind excellent passing and great kill placement.
“I think it was great that we stayed up the whole game. It said a lot about the team and where they’re going and how they’ve improved that part of their game,” Waite said, regarding his team’s play after the game-two loss. “That’s where in past times they’ve let that thing go and just fallen apart.”
The biggest moment of the night undoubtedly occurred in the final game, when senior outside hitter Erin Byrd smashed the 1,000th kill of her career. Byrd became the 12th Badger ever with 1,000 kills and only the fourth player in school history with at least 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
“I’m at a loss for words right now,” Byrd said when asked about her accomplishment.
Byrd had a career-high 29 kills in the match and was helped offensively by outside hitter Jill Odenthal’s 17 kills and Morgan Shields’ four aces.
Saturday night, the Badgers completed their first weekend sweep of the season, as they defeated the Michigan Wolverines in four games (30-26, 30-25, 25-30, 30-22).
The team’s play was a little flat at the end of game three, allowing Michigan to score five-straight points after being tied at 24. The Badgers rebounded in game four and ended the match behind the inspired bench play of freshman outside hitter Lauren Ford. Hoping to regain her starting role, Ford completed the weekend sweep with three-straight kills and a block.
With three Badgers recording double-digit kill totals, the offense showed how well-rounded it could be in distributing the ball to different players.
Erin Byrd led the team with 19 kills, while Lori Rittenhouse contributed 18, and renewed starter Jill Odenthal added 11.
“I think we got into this week of practice knowing that it was kind of now or never,” Byrd said regarding the team’s play. “If we were going to end up mediocre, so be it, but we needed to step it up this weekend.”
The Badgers did step it up this weekend, improving their Big Ten record to 5-3 and maintaining the possibility of a repeat conference title.
The Badgers will travel to Northwestern Wednesday to take on the Wildcats and then travel to Penn State Saturday to take on the eighth-ranked Nittany Lions, who are sharing the top spot in the conference with the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
