For the first time this season, the Wisconsin volleyball team finds itself on the outside looking in on the top-25 rankings. After consecutive losses to Michigan State, Northwestern and Illinois, the Badgers have fallen out of the USA Today/AVCA poll for the first time since Nov. 29, 1999, and are now tied for fourth place in the Big Ten.
This weekend, UW will look to end that skid on the road against Ohio State and Penn State. The Buckeyes, Friday night’s opponent, are led by 5-foot-11 junior hitter Stacey Gordon.
“I think we know what we’re to see,” head coach Pete Waite said. “Stacey Gordon is the absolute go-to player for Ohio State. There are times in one match this season she was averaging 10 kills per game. Forty kills in a four-game match is phenomenal, nobody in the country does that. You pretty much know where it’s going, but she still can be unstoppable.”
This season, Gordon is averaging an astounding 6.55 kills and 3.49 digs per game for the Buckeyes.
“It’s always exciting because somebody with that much talent is always fun to beat, regardless,” junior outside hitter Jill Odenthal said, “And I have a great amount of respect for her as a player.”
“The best thing you can do is serve tough so they can’t get the ball to her as much as they would like,” Waite said, “And after that you just hope the other kids don’t have a big night offensively, too. They’ve got a couple other kids that can be threats, but she’s the one they’re going to go to almost all the time.”
Sophomore Amanda Miller contributes 3.12 kills per game, while 6-foot senior middle blocker D’wan Shackleford paces the Buckeyes in blocks at 1.26 per game. UW won the first meeting between the teams this season, a 3-1 victory in Madison Oct. 25.
Wisconsin will meet the conference leading Penn State Nittany Lions Saturday. UW knocked off Penn State 3-2 at the Field House back Oct. 24, thanks to a game-five rally. Despite trailing 11-6 in the decisive game, the Badgers stormed back to win 16-14 in dramatic fashion.
“Penn State, we caught them on our home court and came from behind, it was thrilling,” Waite said, “But boy, on their home court they’re a tough team, and we’re really going to have to play well.”
Last season, the Badgers defeated the Nittany Lions on their home court for the first time in history. Winning in University Park for a second-straight year will be no easy task.
“They put up a huge block that people can’t hit over,” Odenthal said. “Penn State is a very large team, Minnesota was, too, so it’s going to be huge for us to be able to dig balls.”
Ashley Pederson leads a large and balanced Nittany Lion attack. The 6-foot-1 junior is averaging a team-best 3.96 kills per game in 2003. Seniors Cara Smith (6-foot-1) and Erin Iceman (6-foot-2) contribute 3.86 and 3.41 kills per game respectively.
Setting for them is Sam Tortorello, who puts up 13.52 assists per game, tops in the Big Ten.
Freshman middle blocker Cassy Salyer (6-foot-5) anchors the Penn State block with a 1.39 blocks-per-game average.
In addition to moving up in the Big Ten standings, the Badgers are also looking to secure home-court advantage for the NCAA tournament.
“Two weekends left of Big Tens, we can still place ourselves high in the conference, and the fact we want to host NCAAs is an incentive,” Waite said. “We don’t want to go on the road, so we need to get these two wins.”
