This is it: the last stop before the No. 16 Badgers open their 2002 Big Ten season. The team will have one final chance this weekend at its own Badger Invitational to tie up all loose ends and tweak its new starting line up.
After last weekend’s opening round loss in the Duke Classic to No. 18 UC Santa Barbara, the Badgers decided to shake some things up, line-up wise.
Head coach Pete Waite moved senior Lori Rittenhouse back over the right outside hitter position and inserted true freshman Lauren Ford in at the middle blocker position. In addition to those changes, Waite used only Beth Haberli, the libero, in the back to play backrow for Ford and Amy Hultgren, who is the other middle blocker, instead of a defensive specialist.
“Well, Santa Barbara knocked us around pretty well, and they are such a great ball control team that it makes you think about how you can be better,” Waite said.
“We hadn’t been blocking very well and our defense behind a bad block is very difficult. By putting Lauren in the middle and Lori on the right we really solidified our front row, which makes it much easier for the back.”
Rittenhouse, one of the team’s tri-captains, agreed that the line-up change was a good move for the team.
“We just needed some changes,” Rittenhouse said. “We hadn’t been playing well consistently together, and sometimes it takes just a change. We were fortunate that the line-up change really clicked, and we played some of our best ball.”
The team looks to continue its use of this new line-up in the tournament this weekend and hopes to be able to fine tune and make final adjustments.
UW will open the tournament Friday night against Bowling Green (3,5) and then on Saturday take on Tulane (7,5) and finally Illinois-Chicago (9-2).
Bowling Green, the only team to come to town with a losing record, is an unfamiliar team to UW. BG plays in the Mid-American Classic, a conference that UW does not get a chance to see very often.
So far this year the Falcons have played against two teams that the Badgers have experience with. The team played Duke Sept. 7 and lost in three games, 25-30, 25-30 and 27-30. The Badgers, having just returned from the Duke Classic, were victorious against the Blue Devils, beating them 30-19, 30-15, and 30-15.
Junior outside hitter Susie Norris leads the team in kills with 4.11 per game and in defensive digs with 3.61 per game. Junior setter Sara Sikorski guides the team on offense with 8.65 assists per game.
Next up for the Badgers is competitive Conference USA team Tulane. The Green Wave, with 12 games under its belt, has also played a similar opponent to the Badgers in UC Santa Barbara. Tulane lost the match 3-0 with scores of 30-21, 30-28, and 30-21, which is very similar to when the Badgers played UCSB and lost 23-30, 20-30, and 27-30.
Tulane, however, is without its starting setter, who went down with an injury early in the year. Sophomore Katie Case has taken her place and is averaging 10.53 assists per game. Senior outside hitter Britney Hurst will be the biggest threat to the Badgers; she is averaging 4.90 kills per game and also leading the team with 3.29 defensive digs per game.
The final match-up of the tournament is against Illinois-Chicago, a team to which Waite refers to as “tough, scrappy team.”
Junior outside hitter Lindsey Filkins leads the team in kills with 3.49 per game, and senior outside hitter Lara Clarkson leads the team in defensive digs with 3.32. Junior setter Meghan Keck sets the offense averaging 11.95 assists per game.
“We are really unfamiliar with all three teams,” Rittenhouse said. “Sometimes that is difficult because you don’t get as much preparation. I think we are going to have three pretty good matches that we will have to play some of our best ball to win.”
The Badgers knows that this is an important weekend in terms of Big Ten preparation and hopes of continuing with their home-match winning streak of 14 games.
“We want to solidify our passing and be a better, tougher serving team,” Waite said. “This is our last weekend before Big Tens to get everything together.”
