Riding the momentum built by back-to-back wins over Northwestern and Illinois, the Wisconsin volleyball team (8-4, 2-2) hits the road again for matches with Iowa and No. 3 Minnesota. The Badgers will face their toughest road test to date at the Minneapolis Sports Pavilion tonight, a match that will be televised live on FoxSports Net.
“It’s a huge challenge, but it’s exciting,” Wisconsin head coach Pete Waite said. “It’s a good environment for volleyball there. We’re coming off a weekend in which I think we played very well as a team and are starting to get some people in positions that make us a more solid group on the court.”
The most noticeable of those lineup changes has been the insertion of Katie Lorenzen at setter. After coming off the bench in Northwestern, Lorenzen is averaging 14.00 assists per game and has sparked the UW offense, which is hitting .320 with her at setter.
In addition to the setter switch, Waite also moved sophomore Maria Carlini into the starting lineup at left-side hitter. Starting against Illinois, Carlini recorded a career-best 13 kills.
That new-look Badger lineup will be put to the test against the Golden Gophers (14-2, 3-1), who recently dropped out of the No. 1 spot after a three-week reign atop the polls. Minnesota’s only two losses have come at the hands of USC and Ohio State.
Offensively, Dr. Mike Herbert’s team looks to a pair of senior outside hitters in Erin Martin and Trisha Bratford. Martin is the team leader in kills per game, at 5.25, while Bratford averages 3.63 kills per game. Running the show on offense is senior Lindsay Taatjes.
In the back row, Minnesota boasts perhaps the best libero in the country, 2003 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Paula Gentil. This season Gentil is once again leading the conference in digs per game with an average of 6.72.
“Minnesota’s playing some good ball,” Waite said. “They’ve been ranked first in the country, they’re currently third. They’ve got some great athletes and what makes them one of the best in the country is their defense. Their libero, Gentil, who is an All-American, vacuums up everything on the court and helps her team stay in the game.”
Under first-year head coach Cindy Fredrick, Iowa (9-6, 1-3) has shown it is a much improved team from the one that finished the 2003 season 6-24 overall and 1-19 in the Big Ten. The Michigan State Spartans became the Hawkeyes’ first upset victim Sept. 25.
“We’ve already seen them knock off a Michigan State team that nobody would have expected [them to beat],” Waite said. “I don’t think they’ve beaten that team in the last seven, eight years, if not 10 years. Already they’re more organized, they’re playing with more heart and are much more positive on the court. That becomes a dangerous team on the road.”
Senior middle Carolyn Giese’s 3.42 kills per game lead Iowa, while freshman outside hitter Stacy Vitali is averaging 3.38 kills per game.
Wisconsin will have a chance to find out just how much it has improved from two weekends ago, when UW dropped its first two matches of the Big Ten schedule to Ohio State and Penn State by the combined score of 6-1.
“I think it’s really going to be a test of our heart and how much desire we have to keep fighting and how much we want it,” Lorenzen said. “Every team has tons of athletic ability, it’s how they go together as a team, how much they fight and how much they want to win all the way to the end.”
