Badgers take two at InnTowner
by Joe Ziemer, Associate Sports Editor
The Wisconsin volleyball team did not play the good host this weekend as they picked up a pair of victories at the expense of their ACC guests. The No. 25 Badgers improved to 6-2 on the season with victories over North Carolina State and Duke.
UW started the tournament off with a three-game sweep of NC State Friday night. In game one, the Wolfpack led in the early goings, but a (sophomore) Sheila Shaw kill tied the game at 6-6, and Wisconsin never relinquished the lead, winning 30-17. Junior Jill Odenthal led the way, hammering five kills for a .444 hitting percentage. Morgan Shields added 13 assists.
Head coach Pete Waite featured a new lineup to start the match, moving senior Lisa Zukowski from outside hitter to libero, where she spent parts of last season. Junior Marian Weidner got the starting nod at left outside hitter, with freshman Amy Bladow replacing fellow freshman Maria Carlini at middle blocker.
NC State put up a fight in game two, keeping the game close throughout. The game was tied at 22, but the Badgers went on a three-point run and never looked back, winning by a final tally of 30-25 despite hitting just .206 as a team. UW got a lift from Shaw, who recorded four kills with a .571 percentage.
Waite went back to a familiar alignment for game three, inserting senior Jill Maier at libero and moving Zukowski to outside hitter. Carlini also returned to her middle-blocker position. After trailing 7-9, Wisconsin went on a run to tie the game at 10 and then pushed the lead to 24-14 after Zukowski served five-straight UW points. A Carlini service ace gave the Badgers the game and the match, as they won 30-19.
“We went with a little different lineup tonight, just to look at some things as possibilities for the Big Ten season,” head coach Pete Waite said. “I think it went pretty well for the first time. We can definitely improve upon it.”
For the match, UW was led by sophomore Aubrey Meierotto and Shaw, with 11 and 10 kills respectively. Zukowski popped up seven digs in her return to libero.
“My ball control is so much better (than last season), and I’m more confident,” Zukowski said. “But they kind of avoid you when you’re wearing that jersey.”
Duke presented a greater challenge for Wisconsin. UW trailed by as many as five points in game one but came back to win 30-23 on the strength of three Bladow service aces and an impressive performance by Odenthal (seven kills, .636 hitting percentage).
Game two was another neck-and-neck affair, as the Blue Devils fought back to grab a 17-16 lead and later tied the game at 22. Back-to-back kills from Weidner put Wisconsin back in the lead and on its way to a 30-25 win.
Weidner finished with seven kills and Bladow tallied five of her 11 match kills in the game, a career high for the freshman.
“That was great that Bladow did that. She’s learning quickly, she’s working hard to be better,” Waite said. “We know she’s got it in her and we need another person stepping up offensively for us to be a better-balanced team.”
Wisconsin had a chance to finish the match in game three, leading 18-13, but were doomed by errors and lost 25-30. Thirteen attack errors led to a mere .022 team hitting percentage. The Badgers were also plagued by four service errors in the game.
The fourth and final game was also a struggle for UW, but thanks to another strong effort from Odenthal (six kills), the Badgers were able to pull out a 30-24 win and take the match three games to one.
Odenthal and Weidner each finished the match with 20 kills — a career high for Weidner — with Shields handing out 60 assists. Three Badgers recorded double-digit digs: Odenthal (11), Shields (10) and Zukowski (18), who played all four games at libero.
“We learned a lot about some different people on the court; Marian (Weidner) came through and had a nice night on the left side. And that’s again coming off shoulder surgery in the early summer,” Waite said. “Again we moved ‘Zuke’ to the libero and she handled it well. I think we made it a little harder than we should have, going four [games]. I think we should have taken care of it in three. But a little extra work on the court always helps you out in the long run.”
Shaw added 12 kills and three service aces on the way to being named tournament MVP, while Odenthal and Shields were named to the All-Tournament Team. Iowa also defeated both Duke and NC State, giving the Big Ten a perfect 4-0 record in the tournament.
