The women’s volleyball team will wrap up Big Ten action this week when they take on Northwestern at home Wednesday and then travel to Purdue for a season finale on Friday.
The Badgers, who clinched at least a share of the conference title last weekend, need just one victory to claim the conference championship outright.
Despite the buzz of a second-straight Big Ten title, the focus has already turned to the NCAA tournament. Wisconsin, who currently ranks sixth in the nation, is in a great position to host during the post season. UW’s head coach Pete Waite expressed the possibility of tournament action taking place at the UW Field House, and how the Sept. 11 attacks could alter the distance teams travel to play.
“The first and second rounds [of the NCAA tournament] we should have,” said Waite of hosting postseason play. “After that, we really don’t know. In the coaches’ poll we’re around seventh, and some computer rankings are showing us at ninth.
They might be changing things as far as who they select and what regions they go to, just because of the Sept. 11 attacks. They might keep some people more regional. We can be hopeful that [hosting more than two rounds] could happen.”
However, before UW can look to the postseason, they need to get past the Wildcats and Boilermakers.
Northwestern, who early this season was creating upsets around the Big Ten, has fallen to 5-13 in Big Ten contests, and a dismal 9-16 overall. Purdue (4-23, 1-17 Big Ten) is dead last in the conference. Their only victory came against Iowa back in late September.
“Northwestern is in the lower half of the Big Ten this season,” Waite said. “They started strong, and were showing some signs of being one of the most improved teams in the conference, but they’re still very young. [Northwestern is] not used to our kind of crowd. They draw in about 300 people per match, and we’ve been drawing 3,400 people a match, so I think we’ve got that advantage.”
Wisconsin will once again be led by the senior duo of all-Americans Sherisa Livingston and Lizzy Fitzgerald. The middle blocker and setter have continually forced opponents to alter game attacks.
Livingston is averaging a team-leading 5.17 kills per game while hitting .415 from the court. Fitzgerald, who is in the top five in the nation in assists, is averaging 14.05 assists per game. Livingston’s presence on the court has teams trying to hit away from her, which gives Fitzgerald the perfect opportunity to set up the other outside hitters who have stepped in and wreaked havoc on teams all season long.
Junior Erin Byrd, who recorded her 1,000th dig this past weekend, is second on the team with kills (3.43 per game) and leads the team in digs with a 2.89 average, while true freshman Jill Odenthal continues to grow into her new starting role. She is currently averaging 2.44 kills per game.
All season long, the team and coaches have addressed that they hope to be playing their best ball at the end of the regular season and right before the start of the postseason. Waite commented on where the team stands and how they are just one step closer to achieving a preseason goal.
“We’re playing some great ball,” Waite said. “We’ve been focusing on peaking at the right time, and this team has just continually been progressing. Already this season we’ve just clinched a share of the Big Ten title and there was no major celebration on the court. The celebration will come when we win sole possession of the Big Ten and then advance further and go a long way in the NCAA tournament.
This team has some very high goals, and the Big Ten championship was just one of them.”
