Senior Night for the Wisconsin volleyball team saw four players recognized for their years of hard work and dedication in front of a crowd of 4,212 before Saturday’s match against Purdue. The Badgers went on to sweep the Boilermakers and send the seniors out of the UW Field House with positive momentum heading into the NCAA tournament, where they will take on Arizona in the first round.
This group of seniors is no stranger to the NCAA tournament. This year’s tournament will be the fourth for the senior squad in as many years. They have also captured two Big Ten titles in their tenure with the team.
The four seniors have excelled on and off the court. Angie Sanger, as well as the three other seniors, have been three-time Academic All-Big Ten recipients. Jill Maier has also been a two-time Athletic Board Scholar for volleyball. Lisa Zukowski is a 2003 team co-captain and has received four all-tournament honors. Morgan Shields serves as the other co-captain and also a 2002 third-team All-American selection, as well as a 2003 honorable mention All-Big Ten pick. She is also a two-time Big Ten Player of the Week honoree.
The seniors turned in productive seasons. Zukowski was solid for the Badgers this year, as she averaged 2.91 kills per game and tallied the second most digs on the team with a total of 354, averaging 3.05 per game. As the team’s setter, Morgan Shields averaged 13.60 assists per game, and had 26 service aces on the season. Jill Maier led the team in digs with 418, averaging 3.60 per game. Angie Sanger’s entrance to Saturday’s match was Rudy-esque, as the crowd came to their feet to cheer for her as she helped the Badgers put away the Boilermakers.
Despite the emotions of Senior Night, Shields and the Badgers kept their composure.
“We’ve been conditioned for four year, five years to step on the court, and it’s game time,” she said. “It was different, but I don’t think it was too difficult.”
The seniors led the team to a 21-10 overall record, and 13-7 Big Ten record. At the UW Field House, the Badgers played tough, going 12-3 overall, and 8-2 in conference play.
Coach Waite certainly appreciates what the seniors bring to the team.
“They’ve done some awesome things here for us,” he said. “We’ll miss their personalities and the things they do on the court. We hope to keep it going here in the tournament … as long as possible, so we can keep them around here.”
“Actually, as a class, it’s the shortest class we have,” Waite continued, “so what they bring is the speed and the intensity and the real drive of our team right now. Morgan (Shields), Zuke, (Jill) Maier really put a lot of time in over the summer playing a lot of sand ball on campus, doing all of our camps. They did everything they could to have a great senior year. They’ve really been inspirational for the rest of the team.”
Nittany Lions wrap up conference crown
The Big Ten volleyball season ended this past weekend with Penn State taking first place in the conference with a record of 27-4 overall and 16-3 in the conference. Illinois (24-6, 15-5) and Minnesota (21-10, 14-5) tied for second, and Wisconsin (21-10, 13-7) took fourth. Throughout the season, these four teams were shifted throughout the top four spots on the Big Ten ladder with a new leader after each weekend of play. With the regular season over and done with and the NCAA tournament underway, each team will try to continue its season as long as possible.
The Wisconsin Badgers finished off their season in the Field House with two victories over Indiana and Purdue.
Illinois, meanwhile, played sixth-ranked Michigan on Friday night and lost in four games (30-21, 26-30, 28-30, 22-30), beating Michigan State on Saturday night in three games. The Illini’s loss to the Wolverines secured the 2003 Big Ten championship for the Nittany Lions.
The loss over the Wolverines marked the first time the Illini lost at home this season.
The big match of the weekend was between the No. 11 Nittany Lions of Penn State and the No. 19-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Nittany Lions played in front of a packed Sports Pavilion in Minnesota, and although it might have looked like the Gophers had a chance to upset the No. 1 team in the conference, it did not happen. The Gophers did manage to hold out until game four, but the Lions’ offense was too strong and came up with the victory (30-19, 30-26, 27-30, 30-24).
“I liked the way we played,” Nittany Lion head coach Russ Rose said. “It was a very tough match that was worthy of two top teams at the top of the conference.”
Overall, the match was a hard-fought defensive battle. Total, the two teams combined for 219 digs and Gopher libero Paula Gentil had a career-high and set a school record with 33 digs. The Gophers also had 112 digs, which is a school record for a rally-scoring match.
Ashley Pederson was the big hitter for the Nitanny Lions with 24. For the Gophers, it was senior Cassie Busse, who recorded 20 kills and added 17 digs.
“[Penn State] was just too good,” Gopher head coach Mike Herbert said. “We kept trying to roll that boulder up the mountain against them, and it just came right back at us.”