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This weekend, the Wisconsin volleyball team will host Michigan and Ohio State for a pair of Big Ten matches at the Field House.

After losing to Iowa and Minnesota to start the conference 0-2, the No. 20 Badgers (10-4, 0-2 Big Ten) will try to take advantage of the home crowd to help get them back on their feet.

“I am really excited to play in the Field House,” senior Audra Jeffers said. “The crowd really helps surge our energy, so we are excited to be back and play in front of our fans.”

Neither Michigan nor Ohio State, however, will be easy victories for the slumping Badgers.

Michigan — who UW plays on Friday — boasts one of the best setters in the Big Ten, Lexi Zimmerman.

“Michigan keeps improving,” head coach Pete Waite said. “Their setter Lexi Zimmerman is very quick and very active as a setter and an offensive threat. She helps their ball control, which looks very good on tape.”

The Wolverines (13-1, 1-1 Big Ten) average 1.66 service aces per set — good for first in the Big Ten — and could give UW’s struggling service receive some problems.

“As a team you want to improve every week,” Waite said. “We have had problems with our service receive, but we have struggled in other areas as well. We need to improve a lot of things.”

Ohio State — who the Badgers play on Sunday — has improved in many areas under its new head coach Geoff Carlston, most notably with its block. The Buckeyes (9-5, 0-2 Big Ten) average 2.78 stuff blocks per set, third in the Big Ten.

“Ohio State has a new staff in,” Waite said. “Coach Carlston has been doing a great job developing that team with the people who were there. They seem to be playing very well, and it just shows how tough the Big Ten can be. We have to be ready to go.”

UW entered the season with high expectations, and the Badgers still believe they can meet those expectations. After starting 0-2 in the Big Ten, however, UW knows these next two games are very important.

“As soon as I got here 10 years ago, I found out every weekend in Madison was a big match,” Waite said. “In the Big Ten we are always glad to be at home, which is a great advantage for us. The team is feeling good, so hopefully we can take these two matches.”

To better prepare for the matches, the Badgers have amped up the intensity in practice.

“I think everyone has focused on getting better,” Jeffers said. “Every day we are coming in trying to improve as a team, and we have been trying some different lineup changes, just trying to figure out what is going to work for us.”

Her coach agreed.

“Every practice we have been trying to create a match situation,” Waite added. “We have been working hard on ball control and serving, and we think we are prepared for the weekend.”

Although the Badgers haven’t started the season the way they wanted to, UW is still upbeat and confident it can get the job done.

“We have put it behind us,” Jeffers said. “We just need to work harder. It is a long season, we have a long ways to go, and we are just trying to get better with every practice and every game.”