Head UW volleyball coach Pete Waite addressed the media Monday for the first time since the No. 13 Badgers suffered their first two Big Ten losses of the season. The losses, which came against No. 14 Ohio State and No. 2 Penn State, were both on the road in what has proven to be a more competitive Big Ten volleyball conference.
Waite spoke about the revamped Big Ten on Monday.
""I can't remember a year recently where we've had four or five teams in the top 25. The biggest thing is that lower-level teams are coming up. Even though they're not ranked, they're much stronger than they used to be.""
This new face for Big Ten volleyball has been attributed to talented players coming from the Midwest.
""Even in recruiting these days in our sport, it's becoming very early so it's becoming more regional also,"" Coach Waite said.
Coach Waite's regional recruiting has paid big dividends this year as freshmen outside hitters' Caity Dupont and Brittney Dolgner, both Wisconsin natives, have played exceptionally well this season. Dolgner's 201 kills lead the team, and Dupont had her first real playing time when senior outside hitter Maria Carlini went down with a foot injury in the third game of Friday's loss to Ohio State. Carlini, who had been leading the team in kills prior to her injury, also missed all of Saturdays match against Penn State.
""Maria's a senior [and a] four-year starter for us, so she's one of our best attackers, one of our best blockers. She passes in our passing formation and, just as far as her leadership abilities, we lose all those things. So the rest [of the players] have to step up and for the most part, a lot of them did, but against those teams on that weekend, it was just tough to get it done,"" Coach Waite said.
The increase in competition makes the Badger's 12-4 record even more impressive. Still, the Badger's can't rest on their laurels, as No. 9 Purdue comes to town Friday night, and a competitive Indiana team visits Madison on Sunday. Their tough Big Ten schedule means the Badgers need to forget their losses and get ready for the weekend.
""We feel pretty good about things and the way we played, but we need to be strong for this weekend because Purdue is a very big match for us,"" Coach Waite said.
If Carlini is still unavailable to play against Purdue, Waite has faith in her replacement, Caity Dupont.
""Caity did a great job. She's a tough player and just went out and went after it against Penn State, and that's the biggest team she'll see all season. And she scored, I think she had six kills and two errors in three games, so she did pretty well for us,"" Coach Waite said.
The team returns to the Field House Friday night against Purdue.
