Following wins over then-No. 18 Michigan State and then-No. 8 Michigan, the Badgers are not only receiving votes in the AVCA top 25 poll but they also are making noise in the Big Ten, climbing from the conference cellar to fifth place, just behind the Wolverines who stand at 4-2.
UW head coach Pete Waite, who has been preaching improvement since the season started in August, was pleased with his team’s performances against the Spartans and Wolverines. In four games prior to the weekend series, the Badgers were 1-3 in the Big Ten, losing their first two games to Iowa and Minnesota.
After losing the first set to Michigan last Saturday, Waite was happy with the way the team bounced back to beat the No. 8 Wolverines.
“They came back and got the next three, so I’m really pleased with what we’re seeing as far as the progress of the team from day to day and week to week, and that’s what our goal has been,” Waite said after the win.
The Badgers will be looking for another strong outing from outside hitter Allison Wack, who tallied a match-high 18 kills in Wisconsin’s win over Michigan. In that game, outside hitters Brittney Dolgner and Elle Ohlander had double-digit kills as well.
“Al was phenomenal,” Waite said. “And this is something she’s been working towards and looking for, and we’ve known she can do this, and she just … never got rattled and always battled the whole time and just came up with big swings for us at critical times.”
Wisconsin will now turn its attention to Purdue and Indiana for another tough Big Ten series. While Purdue is in last place in the Big Ten with a 1-5 record and has lost five straight games, the Boilermakers do boast strong talent from the hitter position.
Senior Carrie Gurnell leads the team with 3.48 kills per set. But while strong individual players have been effective against the Badgers this year, following its strong defensive performance against Michigan, the team is more than ready for another challenge. Against the Wolverines, Wisconsin had a season-high 13 blocks and Dolgner had a match-high 18 digs.
Against Indiana, the Badgers will be facing a team that has not won in October — the Hoosiers’ last victory came against Purdue on Sept. 30. Unlike the Boilermakers, though, Indiana has two hitters that it relies on in every match. Junior Ashley Benson and freshman Jordan Haverly lead the Hoosiers with 3.45 and 3.47 kills per set, respectively.
With the Badgers coming off such a strong offensive game, Wack attributed her success on the attacking end to UW’s ability to stop Michigan on defense. According to Wack, the 13 blocks — to go along with strong games from Dolgner and setter Janelle Gabrielsen — had a major impact on the Badgers’ ability to perform on offense.
“I just came in with a more defensive mindset, just getting after all the balls — I was kind of slacking for a little while,” Wack said. “And that just kind of leads into offensively, just everything flows better within the team, and I think we had a pretty well-balanced offense and that helped a ton.”
Only six games into the conference season, the Badgers are finally starting to see the improvement Waite has been waiting for. Not only is he pleased with the way the team is performing but he also knows last week’s strong play will pay dividends for the rest of the year, both for the Badgers and for their state in the Big Ten.
“It’s great, and this lets them know that what we’ve been doing and what we’ve been teaching is working,” Waite said. “They’ll believe even more to try those things and trust each other and give more effort to go after more teams.”
