The spring exhibition season has passed and fall competition is months away, yet the UW volleyball team has been busy gearing up for a summer full of challenges and changes. The squad will be looking forward to a trip to Europe and the addition of two highly touted recruits to the team this offseason that should help the team to prepare for another run into the NCAA Tournament at the end of this year.
On May 30, the Badgers departed for a two week tour of Europe that was designed as a team-building experience and a challenge for players to adjust to competing on the road against unfamiliar opponents. The itinerary for the trip includes stops in the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Italy, and five matches against European national teams, including the Italian Junior National team and KP Brno, a first-division team in the Czech Republic.
The trip will also give Badger coaches one last chance to analyze the returning talent on their team. During spring exhibition matches, Waite and his staff utilized returning players in place of the graduated outside hitter Maria Carlini and middle blocker Amy Bladow. Though he was pleased with performances by senior middle blocker Maya Carroll, junior outside hitter Morgan Salow, and sophomore middle blocker Katherine Dykstra in March and April, it is still unclear as to which of the returning players may be called upon to step up and fill the starting roles come September.
Regardless of who takes over for Carlini and Bladow, they will have big shoes to fill. Carlini was second on the team with 345 kills last year and averaged 3.38 kills per game. Bladow was tied for a team-best 21 solo blocks last year and averaged 1.21 blocks per game.
Upon their return from Europe, the Badgers will add two heralded freshman to the team that might help them make a run deeper into the postseason once tournament time rolls around in December. Kim Kuzma, a Muncie, Ind., native who posted 525 kills and 404 digs in her senior year at Muncie Central, will give Wisconsin depth at the libero position, but she will likely spend the better part of the 2007 season learning from standout senior libero Jocelyn Wack who undoubtedly will return to the starting lineup. Allison Wack, an outside hitter from Salem, Wis., and younger sister of Jocelyn, might have a better chance of making an immediate impact on the team. She finished last year with 406 kills and 58 service aces and should be a legitimate contender for the spot left vacant by Carlini.
The first chance Badger volleyball fans will have to see their team return to action in the fall will be in September, at home in the UW Field House as Wisconsin plays host to Syracuse, Gardner Webb, and in-state rival UW-Milwaukee in the 2007 InnTowner Invitational Tournament.
