The No. 15 Wisconsin volleyball team put on a show this weekend during their East Coast road trip consisting of matches against Rutgers and Maryland.
For the seventh and eighth time this season, the Badgers (12-4, 4-2 Big Ten) refused to allow either opponent to win a single match in each of the 3-0 shutout victories.
Head coach Kelly Sheffield approved of his team’s performance in the successful campaign.
“We got a great weekend again from Lauryn Gillis and Romana Kriskova,” Sheffield said. “For those two, the numbers just keep getting better and better.”
As the pair’s numbers have been increasing, so have the numbers in UW’s win column.
Thanks to last weekend’s performance, UW is powering forward holding a four-game winning streak, including a victory over a strong conference rival, No. 13 Illinois. The Badgers have now clawed into a three-way tie for third place in the Big Ten standings.
As of this week, the Big Ten has eight of the top 25 teams in the entire country, which has led to an excitingly unpredictable and competitive season.
Wisconsin’s next matchup will certainly be a challenge as the Badgers look to make it five in a row.
Wisconsin will host No. 11 Minnesota (13-3, 5-1) this Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at the UW Field House.
When asked about the talent of the Minnesota team during Monday’s news conference, Sheffield described the upcoming battle as a big challenge.
“They’re probably playing as well as anyone in the country,” Sheffield said.
Similar to the Badgers, Minnesota has been playing well as of late and is also riding a four-game winning streak heading into Wednesday’s night duel.
Sheffield said the team’s confidence has grown over the last few weeks.
“Confidence is a powerful thing, and when you have it you feel like you can conquer the world,” Sheffield said. “When you watch them, this team believes in themselves.”
Wednesday night’s game will be the first meeting of a two-game series between the Badgers and the Gophers. The second game will be at Minnesota and is set to start 8 p.m. Saturday night.
