On its weekend road trip to Champaign and Evanston, the No. 14 UW volleyball team (2-0 Big Ten, 10-2 overall) put forth a dominating effort to take out Illinois (1-1, 9-2) and Northwestern (0-2, 6-5) to open their Big Ten season with a perfect conference record. The Badgers' wins this past weekend puts them in exclusive company alongside No. 2 Penn State and No. 11 Purdue as the only three teams to escape the first weekend of conference play without a loss.
Friday night, Wisconsin swept the Fighting Illini on their home court 30-26, 30-26, 30-25. Senior outside hitter Maria Carlini provided the greatest offensive effort on the night for the Badgers, hitting a match-high .448 with 16 kills and two service aces. Illinois middle blocker Vicki Brown, who led the Big Ten in average hitting percentage coming into the game with .449, was held to only nine kills with five errors for the match. Wisconsin's defense blocked 12 attacks as a team, came up with a total of 30 digs and held all but three Illini players below a .060 hitting percentage.
""I was pleased with our play,"" Wisconsin head coach Pete Waite said. ""I thought we served tough and blocked well. In each game, we were pretty tight with them through around 20 points ... It was a good win for us to start the Big Ten season. It was good to win in three and get out of there.""
The match against Northwestern proved to be another three game sweep for the Badgers, as freshman outside hitter Brittney Dolgner put up career numbers against the Wildcats to lead Wisconsin to a 30-22, 30-24, 30-22 victory. As a team, the Badgers had 60 digs and hit .328 for the night, exceeding Northwestern's paltry .127 hitting percentage and 43 digs.
But it was Dolgner's 22 kills on 42 attempts that powered the offense all night, as the 6'0"" freshman sparked runs that eventually put the Badgers in prime position to win in all three games. The Wildcats' only answer to the powerful play of the UW offense was a 14-kill performance by middle blocker Chelsy Hyser.
""I was really pleased with the way we played tonight,"" Waite said after the win against Northwestern. ""Dolgner had a big night and she really stepped it up. I think our blocking really threw Northwestern off a little bit. I think we felt like we were really in control of the match in all three games. It was nice to get another victory on the road in the Big Ten.""
Wisconsin will return to the UW Field House next weekend to host Michigan State (1-1, 10-2) Friday and No. 19 Michigan (0-2, 13-2) Saturday, the first time the Badgers will play on their home court in four weeks.
""I know it's going to be a tough Big Ten season just by the fact that Indiana beat Michigan at Michigan [Friday] night and there were two five-game matches with Purdue against Michigan and Michigan State,"" Waite said. ""It's going to be a real battle, and you can see that after the first weekend.""
