Though an NCAA record was shattered by sophomore Jocelyn Wack, the UW volleyball team's hopes to stay in warm weather for one more weekend were dashed Saturday night as Washington (30-1) ended their NCAA tourney run along with their season. While the Badgers (26-7) were able to upset Notre Dame (30-4) Friday to make it to the Elite Eight, the No. 3 Huskies were just too much for Wisconsin to handle.
'I think we just ran into a very good team,' head coach Pete Waite said. 'We're really proud of our team.'
Although the defeat was not the way Wisconsin wanted to end their tournament, some accolades may help sooth the pain. Carlini and Wack were all-tournament selections and Wack set an NCAA record against Washington; the match was her 64th straight with double figure digs. Her amazing streak has included multiple 30 plus dig matches and coming up big in clutch situations, as those 30+ dig performances have been in the NCAA tournament. In fact, the only match in her career is which she has not gotten ten or more digs was her UW debut against Missouri last season.
Friday night's match did not disappoint'it was a slugfest that topped last year's meeting between the two teams. Wisconsin outplayed the Fighting Irish in nearly every category, but was able to overcome every shot Notre Dame gave them, winning 30-25, 28-30, 30-25, 25-30, 15-9.
'I was proud of our kids for the way we came back and got the momentum back ... in the fifth game,' Waite said. 'It was a battle out there tonight, both teams came in with a great effort.'
As they have all season, the Badgers were able to spread out the offense to keep the Irish off balance, as Wisconsin had five players in double digit kills led by junior Maria Carlini with 22. The offense was set up by sophomore Jackie Simpson, who had 67 assists to add to her 12 digs. Sophomore Taylor Reineke had a match-high nine blocks to go with her 15 kills and senior Aubrey Meierotto had 11 kills and seven blocks. The back row held up their end of the bargain as well, as five players had double figure digs, led as always by sophomore Jocelyn Wack, who had an incredible 36 digs, a career-high.
For Notre Dame, their offense was led by Mallorie Croal and Lauren Kelbley, who both had 18 kills. Setter Ashley Tarutis had 58 assists and Lauren Brewster had the best all-around match with 17 kills and seven blocks. The Irish also had three players with 19 or more kills, led by Meg Henican's 27.
Saturday night's match was going to be an uphill battle all the way, and the Badgers were going to have to play near-flawless ball to defeat Washington. Unfortunately, that was not the case as UW's season finished in the form of a 30-28, 30-25, 30-23 loss.
Having played their last games for Wisconsin, seniors Sheila Shaw and Meierotto were able to leave on consecutive Elite Eight appearances and their illustrious careers will be forever etched into UW's record books; not to mention that they leave the relatively young team in good hands.
'We have had great leadership here with our seniors last year and this year,' Waite said. 'They will be hard to replace.'
