The Wisconsin volleyball team is perfect no more after tough conference matches over the weekend.
On Friday, they lost a nail biter to Ohio State in five sets. They tried to rebound on Sunday, but they suffered a loss to No. 2 ranked Penn State in three sets.
“In the first set we came out and I think we were a little shocked by the speed of their play and the athletes they had,” head coach Pete Waite said at his Monday press conference, referring to the Ohio State game. “We responded well in the next set, and it was a back and forth battle into the fifth, and we couldn’t quite close them out.
Overall Waite was pleased with his team’s performance despite the loss and he thought the team responded well to adversity. As for Sunday’s performance, he was a little more disappointed.
“We played well halfway through each set, but again could not quite hang with them,” he said. “Physically, [they’re] still a dominant team.”
The loss to Penn State is not unexpected given their high ranking and defending national champion status. UW’s youth didn’t make things any easier.
The Badgers have a very inexperienced lineup. They have three freshmen starting including Elise Walch, Dominique Thompson, and Julie Mikaelsen. Annemarie Hickey is also a freshman that gets playing time as a backup. Waite spoke about how it will be interesting to watch the girls mature and see how they deal with adversity. He mentioned how many of them are still transitioning from high school to a college level.
“You always have to be concerned about it [the youth of the team], but I think it’s a real positive group,” Waite said. “Every team they see, as a young group, is new for them, so they got to get their bearings on the court every time they walk onstage.”
The Badgers were 11-0 entering Friday’s match, which tied for the best start in program history. Although they lost their first two matches in conference play, they are still playing very well. Big Ten games will be tougher in general. There are four teams in the Big Ten that are currently ranked in the AVCA top 25 coaches poll.
“It’s a big step up,” Waite said referring to the competition of Big Ten play. “You have to have much more of a perfect game [to win].”
The Badgers schedule doesn’t get any easier moving forward. They have two upcoming home games against Illinois and Northwestern. Northwestern has a 2-0 conference record, and is 12-1 overall. They are tied with ninth-ranked Illinois and Michigan for the lead in the Big Ten. Wisconsin will face Illinois this Wednesday night at 6 p.m. and Northwestern on Friday at 7 p.m.
Against Penn State the Badgers drew a season high crowd of 6,036 people. This moved the team into the country’s third best average attendance, with 3,930 people per game. They only trail Hawaii and Nebraska in attendance.
Wisconsin has a lot of positives to feed off from this year. The Badgers started the season on a roll, and now the young squad is facing their first adversity of the year. They’re a talented team, and have the potential to get back on track. Coach Waite understands it won’t be easy for a team filled with young athletes, but he is confident they’ll be up to the challenge.
“We take those losses, especially the one against Ohio State, and hopefully fuel their fire to get even tougher and more mad on the court and play with even more emotion,” said Waite.
