After finishing the Badger Challenge 1-1, the Wisconsin volleyball team will hit the road for the first time this season when it heads to Lawrence, Kan., for the Jayhawk Invitational this weekend.

Starting a pair of freshman in setter Jackie Simpson and libero Joceyln Wack, UW fell to Missouri, only to rebound and knock off Georgia Tech Saturday night. This weekend, however, the Badgers will not have the advantage of playing in front of a hometown crowd.

“It’s going to be new,” junior outside hitter and co-captain Aubrey Meierotto said. “A lot of players are used to playing in other gyms from club and high school ball, but it’s definitely something new in college — bigger places. It’s going to be important to keep focused. Everyone needs to focus as a team and have consistent play.”

The four-team round-robin invite will pit Wisconsin against Denver, Kansas and Rhode Island. Preparation will be difficult.

“All three teams are teams we haven’t seen in recent years, so we have to do everything off tape and statistics,” Waite said. “We are able to watch Kansas when they play at noon on the first day, and also Rhode Island, so that will help us get ready for them.”

First up for UW are the Denver Pioneers (1-3), who defeated Wright State to earn their first victory of the season last weekend. Coached by Beth Kuwata, the Pioneers hail from the Sun Belt Conference. Thus far, their offensive leader has been sophomore Lisa Hunter. The St. Louis native is averaging 3.8 kills per game, while also pitching in 0.57 service aces per game.

Running the show offensively is Shannon Parker, who played at Downers Grove South High School in Illinois, the same school that produced UW setter Simpson.

“We know Denver has a good setter in Shannon Parker,” Waite said. “She’s a nice player.”

Friday night the Badgers face the host Kansas Jayhawks, who have gotten off to a strong start in 2004. Boasting a 4-0 record, the Jayhawks own victories over Arkansas, Loyola, North Texas and Oral Roberts.

“I’d say of the three, Kansas is the strongest — they’re from the biggest conference and have the biggest players,” Waite said. “They have three Brazilians (middle blocker Josi Lima and outside hitters Jana Correa and Paula Caten) in the starting lineup.”

Coach Ray Bechard’s team is led by the 6-foot Lima’s 3.36 kills and 0.79 service aces per game, while Correa contributes 2.69 kills per game to the Jayhawk cause. The setter is junior Andi Rozum (10.00 assists per game).

Kansas looks to senior libero Jill Dorsey for defense and ball handling. The 5-foot-10 Dorsey paces the squad with 4.14 digs per game.

The final test this weekend will be Rhode Island (2-2). The Rams are fresh off a near-flawless showing at the Army Invitational, where they took care of Fairleigh Dickinson and Army by the identical scores of 3-0.

If Wisconsin is to best Rhode Island, it will have to find a way to slow down senior outside hitter Kaleena Miller. Miller comes into this weekend’s matches averaging an impressive 5.07 kills per game. Defensively, she adds 3.6 digs per game. The Rams also have solid offensive options in sophomore outside hitter Rachel Bello (3.87 kills per game) and senior opposite hitter (3.47 kills per game).

Setting for those hitters will be a pair of Rams: sophomore Lindsay St. John and freshman Chelsea Wisz. In addition to averaging 13.0 assists per game, Wisz also leads Rhode Island’s block, averaging 1.2 blocks per game.

“Rhode Island’s always had strong teams,” Waite said. “It’s the kind of tournament where we have to be ready to play on our side of the net because we’re not as familiar with the other teams. We just have to get after it.”

Again, much of the attention will be on the newcomers in Cardinal and White. In the Badger challenge, Simpson averaged 12.2 assists per game, including a 62-assist effort against Georgia Tech. Wack also enjoyed a solid weekend, averaging 2.67 digs per game. Middle blocker Taylor Reineke did not start, but contributed off the bench.

“They did a nice job,” Waite said of the freshmen effort. “Jackie and Jocelyn did real well. Taylor came off the bench and did a nice job helping us out. For them, it’s just getting a taste of the atmosphere here in the home gym. Now it’s time to go on the road and do the same thing.”

Thanks to a much taller roster, the 2004 Badgers have already made huge strides in the blocking department. Through the first weekend of play, Wisconsin is averaging 3.1 blocks per game. By comparison, the 2003 edition of the Badgers averaged just 2.03 blocks per game. Individually, sophomore Amy Bladow leads the squad with 1.4 blocks per game.

“I thought our blocking showed an amazing improvement from last year,” said Meierotto, who recorded a career-best 23 digs in the win over Georgia Tech. “It has a lot to do with all the size we have now. They were getting touches on so many balls, so defense was a lot easier to play because they were slowing balls down.”

A three-match sweep would mark a monumental weekend for Waite, who is just three wins shy of 400 for his career.

“We just have to come out and play volleyball the way we play volleyball,” Meierotto said.