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For the University of Wisconsin volleyball team, it is never too late to turn the season around.
Despite losing a heartbreaking match in five sets to Minnesota Friday, the Badgers (17-11, 7-9 Big Ten) returned strong and swept Iowa Sunday for UW’s seventh Big Ten victory of the season.
“I am happy that we came off an emotional match Friday night and played some solid volleyball,” head coach Pete Waite said. “It was nice to get the win over Iowa after we went to their place and played poorly in the first match of Big Ten play. I think we showed we are very much improved as a team and heading in the right direction.”
Waite’s team was dealt a blow before the match even started when junior outside hitter Brittney Dolgner sprained her ankle before the match. Dolgner leads the Badgers in kills and ranks second on the team in digs.
“I thought it was great that everybody else stepped up,” Waite said. “When Brittney puts up 27 kills on Friday night, you are missing a big offensive weapon. I think Allison [Wack] and Caity DuPont stepped up well. … I think that is what being a team is about. You never know if someone is going to be hurt or sick on a day, and anyone has to be ready to play on any given notice.”
Despite missing Dolgner, the Badgers showed no ill effects from the previous loss to the Gophers and won the first set against the Hawkeyes 25-16.
“I think we just look at the positives from Friday night,” captain Audra Jeffers said of the convincing first set. “We would have loved to have gotten that win, but we thought overall we fought hard as a team, played some pretty good volleyball, and we thought we just need to keep playing hard and we will get this team.”
UW went on to win the second set 25-23 and took the final set 25-16.
Two seniors paced a well-rounded Badger attack, with Jeffers recording 10 kills and Morgan Salow chipping in nine.
“We have become much better as a team,” Waite said. “We have shored up some of the weak areas; we are working hard and fighting harder than we were earlier in the season.”
Friday, the Badgers lost a five-set thriller to the border-rival Gophers, despite out-hitting and out-digging Minnesota.
“Well, it was certainly an exciting match,” Waite said. “I thought our kids played hard and played with a lot of heart. Some great intensity and some great plays. Obviously, I wish that we could have come out on top, and the girls would be rewarded for their effort and gotten a win tonight.”
After splitting the first two sets of the match, the Badgers won the third set 27-25 and the Gophers took the fourth set 31-29.
“When it goes to extra points, you know it is a battle out there,” Waite said.
The final set wound up in extra points as well, with the Gophers pulling it out 19-17.
“Fifth games come down to being conditioned,” Jeffers said. “You are tired at that point, so in practice we work on different drills to get us ready for those situations.”
“You have to be mentally tough, too,” Dolgner added. “You have to try and be perfect. You have to make that game a low error, and play really strong.”
Dolgner led UW with 27 kills, hitting .340 for the match. Three other Badgers reached double-digit kills and UW posted 75 kills to Minnesota’s 56. Despite this discrepancy, 16 service errors for Waite’s team prevented the Badgers from stringing together long rallies.
“We work on it all the time,” Waite said of the service errors. “It’s a matter of them staying composed and staying with the correct technique that we teach them. Sometimes they are going with too much adrenaline. We will continue to give them the drills to work on it, and we will go from there.”
Though UW was unable to complete the weekend sweep, both the players and coaches were happy with the effort the players put out.
“It feels really good to come out and be a completely different team out there,” Jeffers said. “To see the strides that we have made, and it is just great going into the end of the Big Ten.”
“The way they battled tonight shows they are playing with more fire then they have all season,” Waite said. “And that is great. We want to be building to this point. Again, one play here or there and that is our match. … We are not done by far.”