After taking care of Northwestern 3-0 Wednesday night, the Wisconsin volleyball team (16-5, 10-3) hits the road to meet No. 25 Illinois (15-6, 7-5) tonight. Thanks to an eight-match unbeaten stretch, the Badgers are in sole possession of fourth place in the Big Ten. The Illini reside in fifth place, two and a half in back of UW.
"That's a big match for us," Wisconsin head coach Pete Waite said. "They're right next to us in the conference race. They're a team who has had some very good home wins, and then they struggle on the road sometimes."
Illinois made a huge splash on the national scene Sept. 11 when it handed then-No. 1 USC its first loss in 52 matches. UI also owns a 3-0 victory over No. 7 Ohio State. The Illini have also struggled at times, including a 3-1 loss to the Michigan State Spartans. Four of Illinois' six losses have come on the road.
"They've had some injuries," said Badger outside hitter Jill Odenthal, an Illinois native who was recruited by the Illini coming out of Geneva High School. "I know they've been battling that, so that hurts them. They're very, very talented and they're well coached. I think it's going to be interesting match Friday because their place is always fun to play in."
Head coach Don Hardin's team has been forced to adjust to a new setter this season after losing All-American Erin Virtue for the year due to an injured ACL. Redshirt freshman Stephanie Obermeier has taken Virtue's place and is averaging 13.55 assists per game.
Illinois' top hitters have been junior outside Rachel VanMeter (4.32 kills per game), senior opposite Jessica Belter (3.44 kills per game) and junior outside hitter Rasa Virsilaite (3.43 kills per game).
An Illini victory would mark career win No. 350 for Hardin, who is in his ninth season in Champaign.
"They had their setter injured earlier in the year, and this new setter is coming in and getting more comfortable on the court," Waite said. "So, that's a match that we would love to get down at their place. They're a very good team, but I know we're a different team than the last time we saw them also."
The two teams last met Oct. 3 in Madison, when the Badgers defeated the then-No. 19 Illini 3-1. At that time, sophomore Katie Lorenzen was UW's starting setter. The Badgers have yet to lose since freshman Jackie Simpson was re-inserted into the starting lineup. Wisconsin has also become a much deeper team since the previous meeting. Senior Marian Weidner and sophomore Maria Carlini have split time at left-side hitter and sophomore middle Amy Bladow has provided a spark off the bench in recent matches.
"They will have to prepare for a lot of different people because we have tons of people coming off the bench," Odenthal said. "We're going to throw a lot of different stuff at them."
Illinois owns a 36-24-1 lead in the all-time series with Wisconsin. The Badgers are eyeing their first win in Champaign since 2001.
