After a sluggish opening game, the Wisconsin volleyball team bounced back to defeat Michigan State three games to one Saturday by scores of 20-30, 30-28, 30-27, 30-22. The match was the final regular season match at the Field House for seniors Jill Odenthal and Marian Weidner, who were honored prior to the first serve on Senior Night.

“This is one of the types of matches that fans love and coaches hate,” UW head coach Pete Waite said. “It’s exciting; you have to come from behind. I think our team started very slowly and just was not in rhythm at all. They really had to fight hard, and we had to really search for different ways to get every point and get back on track with our play and eventually get the win.”

The Spartans (12-14, 7-11) dominated the match’s first game, hitting .316 as a team, while holding the Badgers (18-8, 12-6) to just a .053 percentage.

“We weren’t passing at all in the first game,” Waite said. “For some reason, they were a little tight out there. Michigan State was serving really well, and we couldn’t even get the ball to the setter, much less run the offense.”

Wisconsin nearly found itself trailing two games to none in the match, as MSU grabbed an early advantage in game two and led as late as 28-26 after a kill from Kim Schram. However, a ball handling error by Brooke Langston and a service ace from Odenthal tied the score, and Sheila Shaw put down back-to-back kills to give UW the win, evening the match to 1-1.

“That was huge,” Waite said. “Had we lost that, it would have really been hard to get ourselves out of the hole we dug. Give the players a lot of credit for stepping up and staying tough during that time.”

The Badgers found themselves in another hotly-contested contest in game three, a game that featured 16 tied scores and four lead changes. With the count even at 27-27, Michigan State finally buckled under the Wisconsin pressure. Two hitting errors by Schram and a solo block by Maria Carlini on MSU’s Meghan Schoen gave the win to UW.

With the score tied at 13-13 in game four, the Badgers went on a 12-3 run to open up a commanding lead they would not relinquish. Carlini, who recorded a career-high 19 kills, put away the match point. The sophomore left-side hitter also added 11 defensive digs.

“I think that (setter) Jackie (Simpson) just did a really good job of giving me one-on-ones,” Carlini said. “Sheila (Shaw) and Taylor (Reineke) were holding the middle blockers, so I had a lot of one-on-ones.”

Joining Carlini in double-figure kills were Shaw (13) and Aubrey Meierotto (12). Defensively, the Badgers received a stellar performance from freshman libero Jocelyn Wack, who recorded 25 digs to anchor the UW back row.

“Someone who really kept us in the game and brought us back to our high level of play was Jocelyn Wack,” Waite said. “She made some great digs, especially in the second game, just to light a fire under everybody and get them excited to play better.”

In their final Big Ten match at the Field House, Odenthal and Weidner finished with four and two kills, respectively. Each senior also recorded one service ace.

Four Spartans finished with double-digit kills, led by Schoen’s 18.

Friday night the Badgers snapped a three-match losing streak by sweeping the Michigan Wolverines 30-24, 31-29, 30-25 in front of a season-high 5,778 fans. Carlini, Odenthal and Meierotto all finished with 13 kills to lead the UW hitters.

“I’m really happy with the way we played,” Waite said. “Michigan is a very good team. We knew they had just taken Minnesota to five games a week ago, so coming off a three-match losing streak, this is very good for our program.”

Jackie Simpson enjoyed a standout night running the UW offense. The freshman from Downers Grove, Ill., tallied 46 assists and seven kills in the match. Odenthal and Carlini both finished with double-doubles. Odenthal added 13 defensive digs, while Carlini totaled 11 digs. Facing the Wolverines is extra-special for Carlini, who grew up in nearby LaSalle, Ontario.

“I love playing Michigan,” Carlini said. “I love beating Michigan. Back home Michigan is just huge, so any time I have to play them, I just get fired up.”

With just two matches remaining, Wisconsin is in sole possession of fourth place in the Big Ten. This weekend, UW concludes the regular season on the road against Purdue and Indiana.

“We accomplished what we wanted to do here,” Waite said. “We got our two wins at home. Now we know we have two tough road games.”