After suffering a heartbreaking loss to Minnesota Wednesday at home, the No. 10 UW volleyball team (14-4 Big Ten, 23-6 overall) seemed to find its footing. The Badgers pulled out of the funk plaguing them lately with a 30-16, 30-22, 30-20 sweep of Iowa (2-16, 13-17) Friday at the Field House.
The win could not have come at a better time for seniors Katie Lorenzen, Amy Bladow and Maria Carlini, who rounded out their final home conference match as Badgers in formidable fashion.
""That was a fun win tonight,"" UW head coach Pete Waite said after Friday's match. ""As a coach, I really didn't have to do much. The team really played a solid match I thought, a more spirited and high-level than we've had in about the last week. It was great for the seniors to go out in their last Big Ten home match in front of a great crowd.""
Wisconsin dominated the scoreboard all night, only allowing Iowa to pull ahead by a score of 1-2 early in the first game. From there on out, the Badgers never let Iowa take the lead thanks in large part to a highly effective serving and passing game. Wisconsin had five aces and 69 digs in three games, with five players ending the night with double-digit digs.
""I thought we were serving tough and I don't think they were able to run a lot of offense,"" Waite said. ""Even though our blocks were low, their hitting percentage was down.""
Junior defensive specialist Amanda Berkley had a particularly good night, with two assists, a service ace and a season-high 14 digs. Furthermore, Berkley's serving helped hold the Iowa offense in check with a .072 team hitting percentage for the night.
""I think she made a big difference,"" Waite said. ""You have some of their top hitters hitting zero and she was a big reason for it.""
The seniors also shined in their final regular season match. Lorenzen got the start in all three matches, replacing starting junior setter Jackie Simpson for the night. Lorenzen tallied 48 assists, a .333 hitting percentage and a career high 13 digs. Bladow ended the night with a .450 hitting percentage and 12 kills while Carlini boasted 18 kills on 45 attempts and came up with 11 digs. Both Bladow and Carlini had one solo block apiece on the night as well.
""It was bittersweet,"" Carlini said of the seniors' last Big Ten home match. ""To me, it didn't really hit me until I walked into the locker room today and they decorated the locker room for us. And seeing ‘good job seniors' or ‘we'll miss you seniors,' that's when it hit me that I'm a senior [and] this is my last Big Ten home match...but to go out with a win, that's the best present the team could have given us.""
