The Wisconsin volleyball team is off to a fast start this season. Wisconsin is coming off a 3-0 weekend in which they won the annual InnTowner Invitational in Madison, and the Badgers are 8-1 as they prepare to travel south for the Georgia Southern Invitational this upcoming weekend.
Badgers coach Pete Waite said he is very pleased with what he has seen thus far.
“I think we’ve seen progress in every position,” Waite said. “As the team progresses individually, they become better as an entire unit.
“Over the last weekend we saw some real opportunities where they were pressed and maybe fell behind, came back or had leads and were able to hold the other team off. Those were things I was happy to see.”
Wisconsin is currently ranked second in the Big Ten in opponent hitting percentage, and UW is also ranked first in the conference in blocks. Leading the Badgers in blocks, senior outside hitter Mary Ording also ranks fourth in the Big Ten in that category this season.
For her efforts in the InnTowner Invitational last weekend, Ording was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. Needless to say, defense has been the key for the Badgers so far this season.
“We have just been keeping the ball off the floor, whether it’s with blocking or digging; we’re doing a good job working,” senior middle blocker Alexis Mitchell said. “We’re playing really good overall team defense.”
Wisconsin will look to continue that success in the Georgia Southern Invitational. The team plays Savannah State and Georgia Southern Friday, followed by contests against Jacksonville and South Alabama Saturday.
While the defense is rolling, one area the Badgers are looking to improve on is their play at the beginning of matches.
Over the weekend, Wisconsin trailed in all three of the first sets of the match, including a 16-6 deficit against North Dakota State. However, the Badgers were eventually able to come back and win all of those sets.
“We’re looking on improving on what we can do better from the [past] weekend,” junior libero Annemarie Hickey said. “We always work on defense, just to keep that better. Blocking, too. Also, hitting different shots that are tough. Serving and passing are going to win the game, so that’s what we always focus on.”
Looking ahead to the tournament this weekend, the Badgers have only three fewer wins than all the other teams they will play this weekend combined. Wisconsin’s opponents have a combined record of 12-29, with Georgia Southern leading the way at 6-4. Savannah State comes in last at 0-12 and has yet to win a set so far this season. Still, Mitchell said the Badgers aren’t focused on their opponent’s lack of success.
“We play our game,” Mitchell said. “Regardless of who’s on the other side of the net, what their skill level is or how good they are, we have to keep the tempo and play to the best of our abilities. When we do play teams that maybe aren’t as strong, we need to use those games to get better and really work on what we set out to work on.”
“You really have to focus on your side of the net and playing the pace you’re used to playing,” Waite said of the competition this weekend. “You don’t want to get sloppy or get any bad habits, so they’re still going in with the mentality of playing the best game they can because Big Ten play starts a week later.”
If Wisconsin can go out and win the Georgia Southern Invitational, Badgers’ coach Pete Waite will have won his 300th match as the Wisconsin head coach. Waite is 296-132 in 14 seasons since coming to Wisconsin. In his 25-year career as a coach, Waite has won 562 matches, which ranks him 21st among active coaches. He said he expects the team to win in Georgia.
“Our plan is to go and win the tournament,” Waite said. “You take it one match at a time, but you never know until you see these teams what exactly it’s going to be.”
