With three very talented teams coming to the Field House this weekend, the UW women's volleyball team must kick up their playing level a notch if they are to be successful. A welcome return home (where they have won 10 matches in a row) will certainly aid their cause, but the Badgers have to take what they can from the Missouri loss to beat three quality teams and win the Inn Towner Invitational.
\It's really important [to play well this weekend], we learned a lot from the Missouri game,"" freshman Audra Jeffers said. ""We want to come out this weekend and show that we've improved and that we deserve to be in the top ten.""
""We've been able to change a few things as far as position and personnel on the court,"" head coach Pete Waite said. ""Overall though, we've got some great offense going right now.""
Wisconsin will need that great offense to click for the first game, as they face Valparaiso (8-1), who are riding a seven match winning streak. The Crusaders have held their opponents to a .136 hitting percentage and get 17.59 digs per game, the high for any team in the tournament. Leading the defense are sophomore Heidi Hammond and senior Jessi Novak, who have 3.83 and 3.52 digs per game, respectively. Novak is a force to be reckoned with all over the court, as she also contributes 3.23 kills and .52 aces per game.
After a night's rest, UW will have to face undefeated Villanova (10-0). After a home tournament win last weekend, the Wildcats will look to prove that they can defeat a quality team. The Wildcats own a tournament-high .332 attack percentage, and have two players (freshman Alona Cherkez and junior Adrian Semrau) who add about four kills a game.
Sunday brings on the match that people are looking forward to the most, the showdown with No. 11 UCLA (5-1). The Bruins suffered their first loss of the season last weekend against Hawaii, and some vengeance against a high-ranked team like Wisconsin would undoubtedly ease their pain. The Badgers will keep their eye on freshman Kaitlin Sather, who leads the team in kills and aces per game, and junior Nana Meriwether, who leads the team in blocks per game and hitting percentage.
The Badgers are excited to be back in Madison. As senior Sheila Shaw puts it, ""We always love playing at home and we're really excited to get back here with all of our fans.""
