Entering only the seventh game of the regular season, the Wisconsin volleyball team (12-4) has already been through a roller-coaster ride in 2015 and finds itself in the midst of a six-team race for the Big Ten title.
That race will heat up after this week’s pair of matches against No. 11 Minnesota (13-3) Wednesday and Saturday. The first will be hosted by the Badgers at the UW Field House at 7 p.m. and the latter by Minnesota in Minneapolis at 8 p.m.
Volleyball: Four straight wins propel Wisconsin toward series with Minnesota
The matchup features two dominant front-lines who are amongst the top five in the Big Ten in hitting percentage (tied at .264 percent), opponent’s hitting percentage (Wisconsin: .168 percent, Minnesota: .158 percent) and blocks (Wisconsin: 2.74 per set, Minnesota: 2.89 per set).
Minnesota currently only has two seniors on their roster, but their underclassmen have gained significant experience since last year’s 19-12 season in which the Badgers swept the Golden Gophers in two straight matches during a week-long period.
“[Minnesota] has gotten better in every aspect,” UW head coach Kelly Sheffield said. “They don’t have holes in their ball control like they did a year ago. They’re very, very solid passing wise and their lineup is a lot more stable.”
Minnesota senior outside-hitter Daly Santana is atop the Big Ten stats leaders and 17th in the nation in kills per set, averaging 4.41 in 2015, a significant increase from her 2014 average of 3.90 kills per set. The Badgers front-line will have to commit a lot of attention to stopping her.
But this won’t spread Wisconsin’s defense too thin as the next-best hitter for Minnesota, Paige Tapp, hits at a clip of only 2.62 kills per set with only one more teammate hitting above 1.86 kills per set.
The Badgers have also averaged 11 blocks per match over the past four games, which will be pivotal in stopping a single-pronged Minnesota attack.
With the added diversity of the Badgers’ attacking options since the rise of outside hitter Romana Kriskova, the match should prove to be very evenly contested and make for great entertainment.
“They’re probably playing as well as anybody in the country,” Sheffield said. “Got a lot of experience on that team, a lot of returning experience. Santana is probably on the left side playing as well as any outside in the country. We’ve got a big challenge.”
