After a tough loss to Minnesota, the Wisconsin volleyball team (17-6, 9-3) dropped into a second place tie with Penn State for the Big Ten lead, one game behind the Golden Gophers (17-7, 10-2), with four weekends of play remaining. The Badgers have four home and four road matches left on the docket, including rematches with Michigan State, Illinois and Penn State.
“Anytime I look at our schedule, I look at the Big Ten teams,” head coach Pete Waite said. “Only Iowa has been struggling this year. The rest are all teams that can beat anybody. The fact that Minnesota did lose to Indiana and Purdue really threw things off, so it does mean they have a little tougher schedule than we do to finish out, but match in and match out, there are going to be tough teams here. We have to take care of our business [as best as] we can and hope somebody else helps us out.”
Minnesota will face Purdue and Indiana, two teams who defeated the Gophers, to open the Big Ten season at home in two weeks.
Badgers hoping for home tournament games
With a strong finish on the court and in the stands, Wisconsin is looking to host home matches for the NCAA Tournament.
“I think we will, and our crowd is a big part of that,” Waite said. “The coaches’ poll doesn’t mean that much when they start making selections. I think a lot of it comes down to where you are in your conference and then what your attendance figures are.”
The Badgers are on a UW record pace for attendance, averaging 4,164 fans per home match, third best in the nation. The previous school record was set in 2001, with an average of 3,745.
“I think they really want people to be coming out to the matches,” Waite said. “So, if we can finish high in the Big Ten — in the first two or three — then we’ve got a shot at hosting the first and second rounds.”
The NCAA Tournament begins December 4. Any home playoff matches would be held in the Kohl Center.
Waite turns to Carlini
In Saturday’s 3-0 win over Iowa, the Wisconsin coaching staff once again looked to Maria Carlini for a boost off the bench. Carlini replaced Jill Odenthal on the right side, recording six kills while hitting .385. The freshman from LaSalle, Ontario also had nine digs and five blocks, three of them of the solo variety.
“[Odenthal] started the match for us. It wasn’t necessarily her fault that the team wasn’t doing well, but Maria just comes in, does some nice things and steadies us out,” Waite said. “So once she’s in there doing well, I don’t see a need to change.”
On the season, the versatile Carlini is averaging 0.98 kills, 1.20 digs, and 0.63 blocks per game.
“Carlini’s been coming in on a regular basis and giving us a bigger block and real steady defense and passing, so she’s really been a nice surprise for us, and we’ve put her in the middle sometimes and sometimes on the right for Odenthal, so she’s done well.”
Badgers fall in polls
UW fell to No. 22 in the most recent USA Today/AVCA poll, while Minnesota replaced Wisconsin at No. 20. Penn State is the only other Big Ten team in the top 25, coming in at No. 16. USC remained No. 1 for the 11th week in a row, taking all 65 first place votes. The defending National Champions are 22-0 this season.