After several years of having a national powerhouse volleyball program, it appears that this year's Wisconsin volleyball team seemed to enjoy flying under the radar. After Saturday night, it won't have that luxury. The Badgers (9-3 Big Ten, 15-5 overall) stunned the No. 2 team in the country, archrival Minnesota (10-2, 21-3).
Each team battled hard in what proved to be an incredible back-and-forth five-game match. In the end, Wisconsin built a small lead in the 15-point winner-take-all fifth game, but required extra points-17-15-to fight off a fierce Minnesota rally.
\I'm just thrilled with this win,"" Wisconsin Head Coach Pete Waite said. ""It's a huge win for our team and the progress we've been making over the course of the season.""
Wisconsin got off to a fast start. After losing the first two points, the Badgers built a lead and never looked back. Minnesota looked sluggish in the first game, perhaps finally feeling the effects of a four-game road trip. Their defense and blocking struggled to contain the Badger offense that came out swinging hard.
When game one got close late, Waite turned to his deep bench and found senior outside hitter Marian Weidner who rallied the Badgers to the 30-27 win.
The second game was a much different story. Harking back to some performances earlier this season, Wisconsin came out very flat. The Golden Gophers took full advantage, cruising to an easy 30-20 win to even the match.
Wisconsin recovered out of the locker room giving Minnesota everything they could handle in the third game, but the strong play of senior outside hitters Erin Martin (29 kills on the night) and Trista Bratford (21 kills) pushed the Gophers to a close 30-28 win in a game that could have gone either way.
Minnesota's defense was stellar in the later stages of the match. Minnesota junior libero Paula Gentil-who got off to a slow start in the first game-was dominant during the rest of the match, finishing with an impressive 32 digs.
This Badger team has come a long way over the course of the season, and perhaps the turning point in the year was at Minnesota earlier this season. Wisconsin lost in a 3-0 sweep, but the match was closer than the score.
""When we lost at Minnesota, we really learned a lot from that one,"" Waite said. ""We knew we had to work on our defense if we were going to have any shot at all at them, so that was the main focus of our practices every day.""
The Badgers would not settle for another moral victory against Minnesota this time as they fought and clawed to a 30-27 win in the fourth game. Badger freshman setter Jackie Simpson, who finished with a career high 75 assists, found junior middle blocker Sheila Shaw, who really took over the match for Wisconsin. Shaw finished with a team high 24 kills.
""I just tried to pick it up and be an emotional leader out there and just try and pick everyone else up with me,"" Shaw said. ""Because we know if we play with energy and intensity, we can beat anyone.""
The fifth and final game was a showdown of wills, and the Badgers fed off the energy of the home crowd.
With the game at 13-11 in favor of Wisconsin, Minnesota coach Don Hebert called a crucial timeout. His team responded as one might have expected from the No. 2 team in the land, tying the game back at 13.
Waite sensed the momentum shift and settled his young team down with a timeout of his own. Sophomore middle blocker Maria Carlini and Shaw proved to be the end of the Gophers, sealing a 17-15 win in the fifth game and 3-2 overall win for the Badgers, who broke Minnesota's four-match winning streak against Wisconsin.
Wisconsin also won Friday night against last place Iowa. Wisconsin cruised to a three game sweep, with scores of 30-18, 30-17, and 30-20. It was important for Wisconsin not to look past Iowa with the huge Saturday game looming on the horizon, but Wisconsin came out and played hard.
Wisconsin finishes its three-match homestand with a match against Northwestern Wednesday, at 7 p.m. in the Field House.
