A month ago, the No. 15 UW volleyball team (13-5 Big Ten, 21-6 overall) made a road trip to the state of Michigan, where they barely beat Michigan State (5-13, 12-16) and lost to Michigan (7-10, 13-13). The loss to the Wolverines set off a month of struggling through the brunt of the Big Ten schedule, but this weekend gave the Badgers some redemption as they handily defeated both teams. For a weekend when senior co-captains Sheila Shaw and Aubrey Meierotto played their last two regular season home matches, it was a fitting send-off.
'I think we played better than we have in the last couple weeks as far as good team play. Our passing was strong,' head coach Pete Waite said.
'You have to approach every game the same,' Meierotto said. '[Sheila and I] both knew we wanted to come out and have solid games.'
Friday night's game was on Wisconsin's calendar ever since the loss on Oct. 22. They definitively got their revenge, beating the Wolverines 30-27, 30-14, 30-27.
'We just wanted to come out and prove we're a much better team than when we played at Michigan,' Waite said.
Displaying the balanced offense that was present all weekend, five players had seven or more kills, led by Meierotto with 15. Sophomore setter Jackie Simpson had the offense working as fluidly as it has looked in a month, amassing 40 assists to go along with five digs and four blocks. The defense got back on track as well, with 11 team blocks in holding Michigan to a .155 hitting percentage (including a dismal negative .079 in game two).
'Our block really started slowing them down; that's part of our game plan,' Waite said.
Saturday night's match held more of the same results, as the Badgers swept the Spartans 30-17, 30-28, 32-30. In their last regular season match at home, Shaw and Meierotto both put the pressure and emotion aside to play very well. Meierotto was second on the team with 13 kills, while Shaw had nine kills and a .444 hitting percentage. Simpson also put together another nice game, with 48 assists, six digs and five blocks. Holding down the defensive fort, as always, was sophomore Jocelyn Wack, who had 15 digs to give her 58 straight matches with double-digit digs, only five short of the NCAA record.
The Badgers only have two more matches before the NCAA selection process. If they are able to win those two, there is a very good chance they will be able to host a first and second round match, which will be a key to success.
'That's a huge advantage for our team; it would be great if we could host,' Shaw said.
