It’s not always easy to take positives from a three-game losing streak, but for the Wisconsin volleyball team, if there was ever a losing streak worth being proud of, this is it.
Wisconsin (11-3, 0-3) dropped their third straight match, all within conference play, losing 3-1 (25-19, 20-25, 23-25, 21-25), last night to No. 7 Illinois (11-2, 3-0).
Frustration seemed to surface in a quiet fourth set for the team and additionally into the press conference, but Wisconsin fought hard and with a couple of breaks could have beaten the current No. 1 team in the Big Ten.
“We had a top-10 team on the ropes, especially into the third, we couldn’t quite hold them off and I think that was a critical set in the match,” head coach Pete Waite said. “But looking at things we’re doing, there’s a lot of good signs out there and we’re getting very close to breaking through, breaking out, and having a great match together as a team. Again, we’ve been hitting top-10 teams the past two matches, top-25 the past three and [again] Friday.”
Wisconsin took the opening set, and dropped the second, which set up an electrifying third set.
The Badgers led throughout the third set, but Illinois was not quite ready to succumb to their first conference loss of the season.
Behind strong hitting from Laura DeBruler, who led all players with 26 kills, the Illini came all the way back from a five-point deficit to tie the score at 21.
Then came one of the most pivotal plays in the match.
With Wisconsin leading 22-21, the ball appeared to hit the floor on the Illini side, which would have given the Badgers a strong two-point advantage, but Illinois kept playing, and was rewarded with a pancake pass and a dump over the net for a point. Badger players, unaware the play was still live, were caught sleeping as the ball dropped for a colossal point for Illinois.
“They had a great up; we thought the ball was down, so I think some of our players kinda stopped, thought the ball would be called [but] the whistle wasn’t blown,” senior outside hitter Allison Wack said. “The ball came over and we were out of position, not expecting it, and that’s been something that’s been plaguing us all year, especially [in] that spot.”
A similar play occurred last week in set five against Ohio State, a match the Badgers eventually lost.
The officials had some questionable calls throughout the match, and that pivotal call looked like it may have graced the floor prior to being saved by Illinois.
“It was one of those tough plays,” Waite said. “From my view, it looked like it was maybe part of the hand, but most of the floor.”
Following an emotional third set, the team was never quite able to establish a presence in the fourth set.
Despite the losses, the team proved to themselves and the rest of the conference that they can compete with some highly ranked teams.
Illinois was fresh off defeating both Ohio State and three-time national defending champion Penn State this past weekend, yet was still tested by the youthful Badgers.
The Badgers were also able to quiet Illini leading attackers Colleen Ward and Michelle Bartsch, who finished with only seven and 13 kills respectively.
Especially crisp serving helped the Badgers stay in the game, and will certainly be something the team looks to in the future.
“I think we did a really good job serving, the second game we didn’t serve as well, but the first, third, and the fourth [sets] I think we kept them out of their offense,” senior libero Kim Kumza said. “We’ve been working really hard on pushing people deep and getting them off the nets so the setter can’t run the quick attack and I think we’ve been capitalizing on that and doing a pretty good job.”
