While the No. 21 Wisconsin Badgers volleyball team (12-5, 4-2 Big Ten) was able to earn an easy victory Friday night against the Iowa Hawkeyes (5-10, 0-6 Big Ten), it, once again, came up just short Sunday in a five-game loss to the defending Big Ten champion Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-7, 4-2 Big Ten).
Friday night's match against the Hawkeyes proved to be a relatively simple one with the Badgers sweeping the match 30-24, 30-19, 30-23. Wisconsin held Iowa to a scant .067 hitting percentage. It also beat Iowa on the block, tallying a 12-8 team advantage in that category.
Sophomore middle blocker Sheila Shaw and senior outside hitter Lisa Zukowski registered double digits in blocks for the team with 13 and 11 respectively, while freshman middle blocker Amy Bladow tied a career high with eight blocks. Senior libero Jill Maier also tied a career high in recording 19 digs. Hawkeyes' junior hitter Laura Simpson had a match-high 14 kills in the loss on Sunday.
\There were times when we weren't really in sync, but I think that we played at pace and got our team together well enough to come out with a good win,"" Badgers Head Coach Pete Waite said. ""I thought that it was a good win heading into a big match on Sunday with Minnesota.""
Big was definitely one way to describe Sunday's ""border battle"" match against Minnesota. Both teams battled hard to the finish, but the Gophers prevailed in the 5-game match, winning by a score of 27-30, 30-26, 30-22, 23-30, 15-11. The game marked the third match in a row that UW has lost to Minnesota in five games.
""I'm disappointed that we were so inconsistent in our play,"" Waite said. ""We'd play some very good ball and be in control of the match and then make some mental errors and take ourselves right out, and that's too good of a team to give so many opportunities.""
""We just didn't come out with the fire that matched their fire,"" Zukowski said. ""And look at the outcome.""
While most stats appeared to be even between the two teams, Minnesota held advantages in hitting percentage (.243 to UW's .218), digs (74 to 66) and team blocks (16 to 7). Wisconsin, however, did have the advantage in service aces with a seven to four mark.
The Badgers utilized a balanced scoring attack in the game with four players scoring double digits in kills. Bladow led the way with 14, while Zukowski, Shaw and sophomore outside hitter Aubrey Meierotto had 13, 13 and 11 respectively. Four Badgers also registered double-digits in digs, led by Maier with 16.
Minnesota senior outside hitter Cassie Busse, a second team All-American last year, tied a career high, torching the Badger defense for 24 kills, a total she has tallied five times. Junior outside hitters Erin Martin and Trisha Bratford had 18 and 16 kills respectively. Freshman middle blocker Meredith Nelson had a career-high 11 blocks.
The Badgers got off to a good start turning with an 18-9 lead off of strong play from Bladow and Shaw. Minnesota pulled close before Wisconsin escaped with the game win, but the Gophers used the momentum they had built up for the next two games.
Down 7-10 in the fourth game, it appeared as though the Badgers were done for the day, but they found a way to fight back, forcing a fifth game. In the end, though, the Gophers were just too much for the home team as they left the UW Fieldhouse with a win.
""This is a tremendous win for our program,"" Minnesota Head Coach Mike Hebert said. ""This is not an easy place to win.\
