After a disappointing loss Wednesday night to a tough Northwestern team, the Wisconsin volleyball team is placed in a must win situation tomorrow night against conference leader Penn State.
If the Badgers lose another Big Ten game it is pretty safe to assume they are out of the running for their fourth consecutive Big Ten championship.
Going into the game against Northwestern (6-3 Big Ten, 13-8 overall) the two teams were tied for third place in the Big Ten. Now, as a result of the UW (5-4, 14-6) loss, Northwestern holds sole possession of third place behind Minnesota and Penn St. who are both 7-1 in the Big Ten.
This weekend is do-or-die time for the Badgers.
“With how the Big Ten is shaping up I think [the Penn St. game] is going to be a deciding factor in the Big Ten race,” senior tri-captain Lori Rittenhouse said. “We need to have them lose another match and we can’t afford to lose any more, so this will be one of the biggest matches, as it usually is going there.”
Not only do the Badgers have the difficult task of trying to knock off the top team in the Big Ten, but they also have to rely on some help from other teams in the Big Ten.
“We hope that other teams will be beating each other,” Big Ten Player of the Week Erin Byrd said. “I could see Ohio State coming alive and beating a few teams. Our focus now has to be on playing well and letting whatever happens happen.”
Beating Penn State, however, will not be an easy task for the Badgers, who have yet to play their best volleyball.
The Nittany Lions have lost only two matches this year, to Florida and Minnesota. In addition to that, they have lost only nine games; six of which were to the previously mentioned teams. At the beginning of the season the team lost one match to Akron and a few weeks ago dropped two close games to conference rival Ohio State.
Leading Penn State is senior outside hitter Mishka Levy. Levy is averaging 3.74 kills per game and 1.29 blocks per game.
Also contributing to the Nittany Lions’ attacking game are junior outside hitter Cara Smith and sophomore outside hitter Syndie Nadeau. Smith averages 3.21 kills per game and is leading the Big Ten in hitting percentage, hitting an amazing .475. Nadeau chips in with 3.34 kills and 1.95 digs per game.
Running the team’s offense is true freshman Sam Tortorello, who is averaging 11.95 assists per game.
“I know Sam Tortorello pretty well, she played for Sports Performance Volleyball Club as well and they really train their setters well,” Byrd said, who was trained in the same club. “Even though she is a freshman she is very experienced.”
Senior libero Hillary Sexton leads the team on defense with 3.33 digs per game and junior middle blocker Robyn Guokas leads the team at the net with 1.43 blocks per game, second in the Big Ten.
“If you go down the line up it is not a super veteran team, but they are playing some pretty good ball,” UW head coach Pete Waite said. “I think they are a little bigger team across the board, so that’s one thing, but on any given day it just depends on whose team shows up in what categories.”
One thing the Badgers will have to their advantage is by playing one of their games this week Wednesday; they will have three days to rest and prepare solely for the Nittany Lions.
Unlike most weekends when the team plays a match Friday night and Saturday night, UW can focus on just one team, whereas Penn State will have to prepare for Northwestern Friday and then UW Saturday.
“I think that (the days off) will really help,” Waite said. “We will have the Wednesday match and then have a few days to recoup before we go out to Pennsylvania. Hopefully that will be the thing that gets us over the hump in their gym. We are totally capable; our team is playing pretty well and I think we can do it.”
