The UW volleyball team will host Big Ten rival Iowa tonight and the Gophers of Minnesota Sunday. The two matchups will mark conference games Nos. 5 and 6 for Wisconsin. With the Big Ten proving to be one of the toughest conferences in the nation, every match for UW has become a needed win.
The Badgers are ranked No. 2 in the Big Ten (3-1, 11-4 overall) and face a Hawkeye team (0-4 conference, 5-9 overall) ranked No. 11. Minnesota comes to Madison sitting in the No. 8 spot in the conference and possessing a 2-2 conference and 9-7 overall record.
The Badgers were handed their first Big Ten loss by Michigan State last Friday but bounced back by defeating Michigan in five games Saturday. This weekend, with home-court advantage, the Badgers look to come out with two more victories against a pair of teams that have struggled early on.
“We know Iowa is a very scrappy team, and we have seem them compete,” senior setter Morgan Shields said. “It is not going to be too hard to get excited to play Minnesota; they are the defenders of the Big Ten.”
The Hawkeyes are off to a slow start in the Big Ten conference and are currently trying to dig themselves out of a five-game losing streak. They were defeated by the Gophers Wednesday and are hoping the trip to Madison will bring them better luck.
The Badgers will have to watch out for Hawkeye junior Laura Simpson, who recorded 22 kills and seven digs against Minnesota.
Sunday, the Badgers will be out to avenge a huge loss to the Gophers in conference play last season.
“Minnesota was top 10 in the country to start the season, but they have had a really tough start in Big Ten play,” UW head coach Pete Waite said. “We are surprised that Minnesota is ranked as low as they are in the Big Ten conference, but in the preseason they were picked to win the Big Ten. We know they are a great team, and beating Minnesota is a huge match for us in conference play.”
Minnesota’s strengths lie in their talented outside hitters. Six-foot-2 senior Cassie Busse is the Gophers’ go-to gal; against Iowa she had 15 kills and five blocks, leading Minnesota to a three-game sweep of the Hawkeyes. Overall, she leads the Gophers with a .309 hitting percentage. Sophomore Paula Gentil, a third-team All-American in 2002, has played the libero position for the Gophers this season and is a tough defender. She had a match-high 22 digs against the Hawkeyes.
The Badgers’ game plan is to defend the outside hitters and make them earn every kill.
“This weekend I need to work on blocking the opponents’ strong outside hitters and getting to the ball fast,” UW middle hitter Sheila Shaw said. “Good blocking will help out our defense and make digging the ball easier.”
This weekend, Waite will plan on sticking to the lineup that gave the Badgers their first two victories in conference play. This lineup will put Lisa Zukowski at the outside hitter position. The Zukowski position switch has proven to be the added spark to provide the Badgers with victories. The Badgers are also playing with a strong bench and are prepared to switch up the lineup at any time to throw off an opponent.
“The team is prepared to make switches mid-stream, and it will depend on our matchups and who is playing well at any given moment,” Waite said. “I think it is a benefit for us that we can change things up. It is a different look for the opponents that have prepared for us one way, and we can come out with a different group if we need to.”
