The gridiron is not the only venue where the Purdue Boilermakers take on the Wisconsin Badgers this weekend. The No. 23 Badgers (4-2 Big Ten, 12-5 overall) have a weekend planned on the volleyball courts in Indiana as they face the Boilermakers (5-2, 12-5) Friday and the Hoosiers (2-5, 9-9) Saturday.
\I think any weekend on the road in the Big Ten is a long weekend,"" senior setter Morgan Shields said. ""Any team can come out and play really well on any given night.""
Purdue has been a surprise team in the Big Ten this season, having matched their win total from last year with 12 victories. Much of their success can be attributed to their first-year Head Coach Dave Shondell, who has turned this team around this year.
""He's done a nice job in organizing the program,"" Head Coach Pete Waite said. Waite was a former teammate of Shondell's in Ball State. ""He was a senior when I was a freshman, and his dad was a coach, so I've known him for a long time already.
Waite is not the only one who has ties with Purdue in this game. Junior outside hitter Jill Odenthal said that she has two friends at Purdue that she will be playing against. Friendships aside, both UW and Purdue are fighting for what will be a tough conference contest.
""They've got a lot of great hitters who hit a lot of great shots. It ought to be a good game,"" Odenthal said. ""We definitely have to jump on them early. It's going to be a huge task but we need to play well early on.""
The Boilermakers have also caught the eye of Badger senior outside hitter Lisa Zukowski, who can tell why Purdue is so good as of late.
""I think they are playing really well as a team,"" Zukowski said. ""They are digging a lot of balls and are solidifying as a team, which is something they haven't had in a couple years. They are playing with fire. It's harder to beat teams that are on an emotional high, and Purdue is on one right now.""
On Saturday, Wisconsin has to travel south to Bloomington to take on a tough, yet unsuccessful Hoosier squad that upset the Badgers last year in Bloomington. After coming off of a huge win against then-No. 24 Ohio State in Columbus, UW traveled to Indiana and lost in five games. There is still a thought of that game in the mind of the Badgers this season.
""We lost to Indiana last year and that was pretty hard, so there will be a lot of revenge on our minds because we don't want that to happen again,"" Shields said. ""We have to play consistently well every match and not let up.""
Wisconsin can ill afford to drop any of the games this weekend because of how tight the Big Ten race is. With Wisconsin in a four- way tie for third place, one loss, or even two, would cause them to lose precious ground on their trek for the Big Ten championship.
