The Big Ten champion Wisconsin volleyball team will host the first round of the NCAA Tournament this weekend at the UW Field House.
The first matches of the single-elimination tournament will take place Friday night, with the championship match played Saturday. Michigan State, Notre Dame, and UW-Milwaukee will each look to come out of Madison victorious this weekend.
The first game of this first round of matches will pit No. 20 Michigan State against No. 25 Notre Dame.
The Spartans (20-7) were the surprise team of the Big Ten this season, winning every match of the second half of their conference season except for a Nov. 10 loss to Wisconsin.
Michigan State is appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth consecutive season under head coach Chuck Erbe.
The 5 p.m. match will have an added competitive edge: Notre Dame head coach Debbie Brown played under Erbe when he was a coach at USC. Brown was a member of Erbe’s 1977 team that went 38-0, which until 1998 was the only NCAA volleyball team to record a perfect season.
Although there will be added excitement in coaching against her college coach in the NCAA tournament, Brown was quick to mention that facing off against Erbe is not the focus of her emotions going into the game.
“I have a lot of respect for Chuck; [he] is the coach responsible for teaching me the game and getting me so involved in volleyball,” Brown said. “[But] it is a competitive game, and it is just like if I was a player — once the first serve goes up, you don’t even think about it . . . you just get into the heat of the battle and compete.”
Although both coaches and teams are looking forward to a competitive match, there was some talk on both sides about the unusual seeding of two nationally ranked teams going up against each other so early in the tournament, and whether this was a fair seeding.
Erbe expressed concern over the fairness of the seedings of this first round of matches, with three of the four teams vying for a chance to advance to the second round all being nationally ranked.
“It is kind of strange that the two hottest teams in the Big Ten, with identical records in the second half of the season, are going to have the potential of meeting each other,” Erbe said. ” I guess you can philosophize about what is fair and what isn’t, but we don’t have that luxury. It’s not about what is fair, it is about what is, and are you mentally prepared to deal with what is. We are mentally prepared to deal with what is, and we will do our best.”
However, before MSU looks ahead to possibly facing its conference foe, it will need to take care of Notre Dame Friday, and it will have many weapons to help them overcome the Irish.
Their biggest offensive threat comes from senior OH Erin Hartley. Twice the Big Ten Player of the Week this season, Hartley ended the regular season sixth in the Big Ten in kills (averaging 4 kills per game) and is ranked ninth in hitting percentage (.335).
Although MSU has a very strong offensive game, it is through the squad’s blocking that it has found the greatest success this season. The team led the Big Ten in blocks, averaging 3.15 per game. Junior Angela Morley finished out the regular season second in the Big Ten in individual blocks, and the combination of Hartley and Morley may cause some problems for Notre Dame.
“Our assistant coaches do a really great job scouting, and we will know who their primary hitters are and how to compete against them,” Hartley said. “[We’ll know] how to shut their side of the court down from what we learn tomorrow from our coaches. We’ve seen them before, we know they are a great program, but we’ll be prepared by tomorrow night.”
The Irish won an automatic bid to the tournament by winning the Big East tournament, and come into Madison with a nine-game winning streak.
Notre Dame has a tandem of talented front-row players that will test the blocking skill of MSU. Senior MB Malinda Goralski was named the 2001 Big East Player of the Year, and led the conference in hitting percentage (.387) and blocks (1.71 per game).
She is joined on the front line by senior OH Kristy Kreher, who is ninth in the Big East in recorded kills.
Following the MSU vs. Notre Dame match, UW will take on intrastate rival UW-Milwaukee.
The Panthers earned their fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament by winning the Horizon League Championship over Loyola last weekend.
Although Wisconsin is the favorite in every statistical category, both teams are quick to remember 1999, when the Panthers upset the No. 9 Badgers in four games in Milwaukee.
UW-Milwaukee head coach Kathy Litzau expressed the added excitement of her team playing so close to home, and how this match, although at a visiting school, will be more like a home match than most other ones.
The Panthers have sold out their allotment of tickets for the match and anticipate a loyal fan base traveling the 75 miles. Milwaukee is led by seniors Chrissy Schurla and Laura Dallenbach, players who know what it is like to upset a formidable Badger squad.
“I still remember what it felt like, even though it was two years ago,” Shurla said. “The fact that they came into our gym and we were the underdog, and we hadn’t been the underdog for a long time. Coming into this gym, we know that Wisconsin has a great crowd, and I think it’s going to feel the same way.”
“We fight harder when we are the underdog,” Dallenbach added. “We know we have nothing to lose.”
The Badgers (25-3) will go into the first match of their hosted tournament playing the best volleyball of the season. With a win over Northwestern last weekend, the team clinched their second straight Big Ten Championship, and senior setter Lizzy Fitzgerald was named the Big Ten Player of the Year.
The team is also proud to be host to the national tournament. “We are very happy to be here hosting today,” Waite said. “We play very well in front of our home crowd, and our team is playing very well and practicing very well right now, so we feel good going into the tournament.”
Waite was quick to mention that although his team will look to make a return trip to the national championship match, they are in no way looking past the teams they will face this weekend.
One of the biggest advantages Wisconsin will have over Milwaukee will be with height, but coach Waite added that, although shorter, Milwaukee is a very quick team, and the Badgers will need to be ready to adjust their playing accordingly.
The biggest threat Wisconsin poses to opponents this weekend is the unstoppable front line of setter Lizzy Fitzgerald, MB Sherisa Livingston and Amy Hultgren, and OH Erin Byrd, Lori Rittenhouse, and Jill Odenthal.
Fitzgerald gave credit to the Badgers’ tough conference season as an added advantage for her team coming into the NCAA Tournament.
“The Big Ten has prepared us very well to play great volleyball every game,” Fitzgerald said. “I think that is a huge advantage for us.”
The Badgers will face off against the Panthers Friday night at 7 p.m. in the UW Field House.
The winner of the Notre Dame/Michigan State game will take on the winner of the Milwaukee/Madison game Saturday night. The victorious team will advance to the second round of tournament play Sunday, which is also being played in Madison.