The UW volleyball team opened the Big Ten Conference season with wins against Michigan State and Michigan Friday and Saturday night at the UW Field House.
Wisconsin beat Michigan State Friday, and lost just one game in the best-of-five series, winning 30-24, 18-30, 30-25 and 30-20.
UW junior outside hitter Erin Byrd led the Badgers to their first conference win of the season, making 20 kills and four service aces against Michigan State. All-American senior middle blocker Sherisa Livingston also helped lead the Badgers to victory over the Spartans. Livingston had 17 kills and Byrd had four service aces. UW All-American senior setter Lizzy Fitzgerald made 48 assists in Friday's match.
In the third game, the Spartans made 16 kills to the Badgers' 13. The Badgers finished off the match in the fourth game with 18 kills and six blocks. Fitzgerald made 17 set assists in the fourth game of the match.
'I think we did a great job,' Fitzgerald said. 'All the hitters were staying pretty consistent [Friday]. Everyone stayed ahead and stayed aggressive.'
Saturday's match against the Michigan Wolverines gave Wisconsin its second conference victory and put the Badgers' overall record at 8-2.
Saturday's match mirrored Friday's, with the only loss coming in the third game. UW finished the match 30-13, 30-24, 24-30 and 30-17.
Livingston led the Badgers to a win with 19 kills. Byrd and junior opposite hitter Lori Rittenhouse combined for 25 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Lisa Zukowski gave the Badgers 14 kills, and Fitzgerald made 54 assists. The Badgers had eight service aces against Michigan.
'We wanted to keep the aggressiveness [from Friday] for the game [Saturday] and keep the team talking to each other,' Fitzgerald said. 'Staying aggressive in all the aspects of the game is something that we are going to keep working on.'
The Badgers came back strong in the fourth game after Michigan made 20 kills against them in the third. In the fourth game, the Badgers made 15 kills and three service aces against the Wolverines. Fitzgerald helped the Badgers to victory with 13 assists.
'Obviously the third game [against Michigan] we struggled a little bit,' UW Head Coach Pete Waite said. 'They rotated their line up around and we had different match-ups that we didn't do so well with.'
Despite the two victories, Livingston feels the team still needs to work on some aspects of its performance.
'We have to stop playing in spurts and concentrate on becoming a better out-of-the-locker-room team,' Livingston said.
For future matches, Waite feels the team needs to work on putting away matches earlier.
'It is our goal to try to get that third game and be done in three games so we don't have to worry about the fourth,' Waite said.
