Thirteen teams that competed in the 2002 NCAA Tournament, including eight teams which were ranked or received votes in the final 2002 USA Today/AVCA Top 25 coaches poll, highlight the 2003 University of Wisconsin volleyball schedule.
Ranked teams from 2002 include No. 6 Pepperdine, No. 11 Minnesota, No. 13 Ohio State, No. 16 Penn State, No. 17 Georgia Tech and No. 22 Michigan State, while Washington and South Florida received votes. All eight teams competed in the NCAA tournament with Pepperdine reaching the regional finals. Michigan State, Minnesota and Ohio State all advanced to the regional semifinals. Other NCAA qualifying teams on the UW schedule are Duke, New Hampshire and Big Ten foes Indiana, Michigan and Northwestern.
“This should be a challenging schedule,” said UW coach Pete Waite, who begins his fifth season at UW this fall. “The Big Ten teams have a lot of their top players coming back and we may be one of the youngest teams in the conference. Our non-conference schedule is a good mix of teams that will prepare us for conference.”
The Badgers were 24-9 in 2002 and ended the season ranked 18th in the coaches poll. Wisconsin lost to Miami (Fla.) in the second round of the NCAA tournament and tied for second in the Big Ten Conference at 14-6.
Wisconsin opens its season Aug. 29-30 when it hosts the Badger Invitational in the UW Field House against Missouri-Kansas City (14-18 in 2002), New Hampshire (23-11) and Washington (20-11). New Hampshire won the America East Conference regular season and tournament titles to automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament. Washington lost to Hawai’i in the second round of the NCAA tournament and tied for fifth in the Pac-10 at 9-9.
“Washington and Duke may be the strongest teams coming in,” said Waite of the UW’s non-conference home schedule. “Washington coach Jim McGlaughlin is in his second year there after a great run at Kansas State. His teams are always tough and competitive. New Hampshire gave Minnesota a run for their money in last year’s NCAA tournament before losing in four games. They’ll also have freshman Katie Weidner on the roster, sister of UW junior Marian Weidner.”
The Badgers travel to San Marcos, Texas, on Sept. 5-6 for the Southwest Texas State Invitational where they will face Louisiana Tech (19-16), Pepperdine (26-7) and the host Bobcats (10-21). In addition to ending the season ranked sixth in the country, the Pepperdine Waves won the West Coast Conference with a 14-0 mark.
Wisconsin returns home for the InnTowner Invitational on Sept. 12-13, which will feature a classic format and four Big Ten Conference vs. Atlantic Coast Conference matchups.
“Our InnTowner Invitational will be sporting a new format this year. We’ve decided to go with a classic format which has just two matches each night,” explains Waite. “That way our fans can easily make both matches rather than try to make a noon match as with the previous format. We’re hoping we can continue with the conference challenge format with other leagues in the future.”
The invitational features Wisconsin and Iowa taking on Duke (24-10) and North Carolina State (3-32) in matches. The Blue Devils return to Madison after losing to Miami (Fla.) in the first round of the NCAA tournament here last season.
The Badgers wrap up the non-conference portion of their season on Sept. 19-20 at the Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta. Wisconsin will take on South Florida (30-7), Western Carolina (22-12) and Georgia Tech (33-6) in the round-robin tournament. USF shared the Conference USA regular-season title with Louisville at 12-1 but won the conference tournament title to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, losing to Florida in the second round. Georgia Tech, which finished second in the Atlantic Coast Conference at 13-3, lost to Minnesota, 1-3, in the second round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament.
“Our two top matches should be against Pepperdine and Georgia Tech with both returning All-American players from last year,” said Waite of the Badgers’ toughest challengers on the road. “Both of these teams made huge moves up the Top 25 polls last year and they return a lot of the same players. We’re excited to play these tough matches on the road.”
The 2003 Big Ten race should again be a battle after a record-tying eight teams advanced to the 2002 NCAA Tournament. Defending champion Minnesota returns almost its entire lineup while second-place finishers Penn State and Wisconsin both lose key starters.
“There are a few teams that return almost all of their players from last season,” Waite said. “Minnesota only lost a defensive specialist. Michigan State lost one starter but regained Sara Villwock, a transfer from Colorado, who was injured last season. We’ve seen her this spring and she is the real deal. Penn State, Ohio State, Illinois, Indiana and Northwestern should all be strong again. It’s going to be a real battle again for every conference win.”
The conference season for Wisconsin opens Sept. 26 when it hosts Illinois in the 13th Annual Steve Lowe Night. With 11 teams in the league, one member is selected to travel without a partner school each year and in 2003, it will be the Badgers. This means that UW will play all of its conference matches on the weekend without the twice-a-year mid-week match against its travel partner.
“With only three starters returning we may be one of the youngest teams in the Big Ten,” Waite said. “I’m excited about the effort and enthusiasm this group is showing during spring training. I think we’ll be a closer knit group and one that will really play hard for each other.”
? compiled from staff reports
