The No. 11 UW volleyball team (23-6) is starting the NCAA tournament right where they want to be not only geographically, but also momentum-wise. Heading into Friday's first-round matchup against Loyola (13-17), the Badgers have won four straight matches in convincing fashion, are healthy and have returned to their dominant early-season form. In addition, Wisconsin gets to play the first weekend at home, where they went 11-2 during the season.
'It's really important [to host because] every team plays better at home,' head coach Pete Waite said. 'The team raises their level, and if they ever get down, the crowd starts cheering more and the team gets even more focused.'
'We always say at the end of the season we want to make a huge run,' sophomore libero Jocelyn Wack said. 'Playing in front of our home crowd for hopefully two matches this weekend and having our fans behind us the whole way, it's pretty sweet.'
Friday night's first-round duel pits the Badgers against a familiar foe. Wisconsin played Loyola in the first round of last season's NCAA tournament as well, defeating them in three games 30-27, 30-26, 30-25. Last season's showing and the way Loyola has been playing lately displays that UW cannot take the Ramblers lightly.
'We're focusing on Loyola like we did every Big Ten team,' Waite said. 'We watched tape, we memorized their hitters and their shots and we'll come out and go after them.'
'You can't take any team for granted,' Wack said. 'Just the fact that it is single elimination, we can't lose now, we have to look to get every game done.
Should Wisconsin defeat Loyola Friday night, they will meet either No. 16 California (18-10) or Valparaiso (27-7). The Badgers swept Valparaiso at home earlier this season in their only meeting, while they have not played Cal since 1990.
Although Valpo comes into the tournament still smarting from a loss at Marquette last weekend, they were on a six-match winning streak before that setback. They possess an extremely balanced offense, with five players that average over 2.5 kills per game, led by senior Lauren Moulton's 3.02 per game. The other side of the net is just as balanced, as the Crusaders have two players with a block per game and three players with more than three digs per game.
California comes into the tournament on a three-match losing streak, but those losses came at the hands of No. 5 Stanford, No. 13 USC and No. 16 UCLA. The Golden Bears' prominent player is sophomore Angie Pressey, who contributes 4.12 kills per game along with 2.78 digs per game. The offense is set up by junior Samantha Carter, who averages 12.70 assists a game and also leads the team in service aces.
The action begins at 5:00 p.m. on Friday at the Field House, with the Wisconsin match beginning at approximately 7:00 p.m. The winner will meet at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday.
