This weekend marks the beginning of the Big Ten season for the UW volleyball team (6-2 overall) and for the first time since 1996, the Badgers will open conference play with matches against two nationally-ranked opponents.
Up first for Head Coach Pete Waite's young squad will be 20th-ranked Ohio State (10-0) at 7 p.m. Friday followed by 4th-ranked Penn State at 1 p.m. Sunday.
\With these teams coming up, there are going to be tougher teams-there is no doubt,"" Waite said. ""We met, in our last tournament, three mid-level teams who are very strong in their conferences, but they aren't the size of Big Ten teams, and don't have the speed of the Big Ten teams.
As far as this weekend, motivation is not a problem,"" Waite said. ""We have two undefeated teams coming to our gym, two top-25 teams, so they are going to be excited and they're going to be really ready to get after it. But all the things we have been working on in the last five weeks are going to come into play now.""
Big Ten play could not come at a better time for UW, considering the momentum and confidence they have built following their dominating performance in the InnTowner Invitational. The Badgers' play at the net was most impressive, both on offense and defense, in the three solid victories over Virginia, Marshall and Cincinnati. In the past three contests, the Badgers have averaged 13.4 kills per match while limiting opponents to 11.3, and are averaging 4.55 blocks to their opponents' 1.1.
""Blocking is definitely becoming one of our strong points and that's something we have been working really hard on in practice, and I think that will help us a lot in the Big Ten, because there are a lot of big, physical teams out there that we are going to have to get by,"" senior outside hitter Marian Weidner said.
Last Saturday, UW notched a three-game match record with 23.5 blocks against the Bearcats and will need to produce a similar performance this Friday to fend off the high-powered Buckeyes and their All-American senior outside hitter Stacey Gordon.
Gordon ranks among the nation's best with 7.00 kills per match and a .447 hitting percentage. She also paces the team with .56 service aces and 2.59 digs per match.
""I think one of the keys is going to be ball control,"" Waite said. ""We talk to the team about that all the time, which means serve-receive, if you pass well, we'll be able to run our offense and if we serve tough, we'll keep them out of their offense. So no matter what level you are coaching, it comes down to basics of serving and passing.""
Penn State enters Madison off a championship win in its own Penn State Classic with 3-0 wins over the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Yale and West Virginia, and were as dominant this past weekend as they have been all season. On the year, the Nittany Lions have dropped only three games and are led by their senior outside hitter Ashley Pederson. Pederson leads PSU with 4.2 kills per game and as a team the Lions average close to 17 a contest.
""We're really just going to go out there and do what we have been doing in practice,"" Weidner said. ""Blocking and digging is our focus, so once we get out there and dig a lot of balls, we'll be good to go.""
For UW, a lot of pressure will fall on the underclassmen, as three freshmen have gotten the nod to start in the past three matches. But the players know that in order to win at home this weekend and knock off two strong conference foes, they will all need to be on the same page and play together.
""We're really getting into a rhythm and groove that will help us in Big Ten play,"" senior outside hitter Jill Odenthal said. ""What we saw last weekend is a good step for where we want to be come the end of the season. Everyone is stepping up and playing good, quality volleyball.""
""We have to be ready for every team, every weekend,"" Odenthal added. ""Sometimes you might have a bad weekend and you just have to depend on your teammates and pick each other up through that. There is never a single break, no team you can walk over in this conference, so we have to be ready come Friday.\
