After a strong start to their season last weekend, winning the Air Force Falcon Invitational, the No. 9 UW women's volleyball team (3-0) will look capitalize on that momentum this weekend in Bozeman, MT for the Montana State Holiday Inn Classic. With No. 14 Missouri also in the tournament, the Badgers will face their first true test of this young season.
With three other Big Ten teams in the top 12 nationally, Wisconsin will have to be on top of their game each and every week to stay in the upper echelon of the conference.
The Big Ten is packed to the brim with talent this year, with No. 4 Penn State (4-1), No. 5 Minnesota (3-0), No. 12 Ohio State (2-1), and undefeated Purdue and Illinois (both barely outside the top 25) all contending for the coveted Big Ten title. Perennial contender Minnesota, last year's NCAA championship runner up, will be the main competition. However, do not count out the Nittany Lions of Penn State, who were the ESPN.com college volleyball team of the week with defeats of then No. 4 Hawaii and No. 7 USC last weekend. Nonetheless, there are a few weekends of volleyball before the Big Ten season starts, and the Badgers cannot look ahead.
Wisconsin starts the round-robin tournament Friday with a match against Northern Colorado (1-3). The Bears' lone win was a nail-biter against Wyoming last weekend, but they may try to catch UW looking past them to the Missouri match and pull off the shocker. The Badger defense will have to be on the lookout for senior Amanda Wiggins, who has 3.6 kills per game.
The first game Saturday is the big one for Wisconsin, as they will play a tough Missouri (3-0) team. Coming off an upset against then-No. 9 Tennessee last weekend, the Tigers have some momentum of their own for the match, as they have already played prime competition. Mizzou also has the nation's leading setter in senior Lindsey Hunter and are first in the nation in kills per game.
The final match is against hometown Montana State (3-3). After a disappointing 1-2 performance last weekend coupled with home-field advantage, the Bob. Junior Kim Stonehouse is the team's main offensive threat, with 2.9 kills per game.
If the Badgers are to take home a second straight tournament title, their key players are going to have to step up their games. Senior Sheila Shaw has the potential to take over matches, as she is fourth on the team with 24 kills and leads the team with 18 blocks. In control of the offense will be sophomore Jackie Simpson and junior Katie Lorenzen, who have 88 and 32 assists, respectively. Driving the ball home will be sophomore Taylor Reineke, who has a team-high 28 kills. On the defensive end will be sophomore Jocelyn Wack, who hopes to lengthen her streak of 34 matches with double-digit digs.
If the Badgers can take home the tournament, they will be looking to move even further up the NCAA rankings.
