In its final two matches of the regular season, the No. 9 UW volleyball team (17-3 Big Ten, 25-4 overall) earned a pair of sweeps against Iowa (1-19, 9-22) and Minnesota (11-9, 18-12) and gained a great deal of momentum heading into the NCAA Tournament, which kicks off next weekend. Wisconsin took out the Hawkeyes 30-20, 30-22, 30-23 on Friday night and beat the Gophers 30-19, 30-17, 30-16 on Saturday to end the year with a second place finish in the Big Ten standings.
The match against Iowa was a career night for sophomore outside hitter Caity DuPont, who threw down a career-high 16 kills to lead all players and served a match-high two aces. Her play was especially strong down the stretch, with seven of her 16 kills coming in the final game.
We had some different players step up tonight like Caity DuPont so that was nice to see,"" UW head coach Pete Waite said on Friday. ""Early in the season she and [freshman outside hitter] Al Wack were going back and forth with court time and she has really stepped it up.""
Middle blocker Taylor Reineke, sophomore outside hitter Brittney Dolgner and opposite hitter Katherine Dykstra also played well on the night, combining for 27 kills and eight blocks to help end the match in three games - a feat the Badgers failed to accomplish earlier in the season when they battled the Hawkeyes in Iowa.
Saturday's bout with Minnesota proved to be relatively one-sided, as the Badgers bested the Gophers in kills, hitting percentage, assists, service aces and digs by night's end. Junior middle blocker Morgan Salow got the nod to start the match in place of injured junior middle blocker Audra Jeffers, and did her part by hitting .462 with seven kills and three assists in the match. Reineke led the Wisconsin attack with 14 kills on 18 attempts to finish the match with a .667 hitting percentage. She also tallied three blocks, including one solo, and led all players with 16 points.
The Badger offense was relentless throughout the match, leading by as much as 12 points in the first game and 10 points in the second. The Minnesota defense made an impact by putting up 11 blocks on the night, including three solo blocks from freshman outside hitter Brook Dieter. But Wisconsin still managed to hit .267 as a team while holding the Gophers to .000 on the night.
""I thought it was an outstanding team effort by everyone in every position tonight for us,"" Waite said following Saturday's match. ""Morgan came in and did a great job starting for Audra tonight. It was great to see her to step up.""
The stage is now set for Wisconsin to host the University of Northern Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night in the UW Field House. The Panthers (22-10) claimed its 13th Missouri Valley Conference title on Saturday after defeating Illinois State in four games and will face Wisconsin for the second time this season. The Badgers beat UNI 3-0 in their first match-up earlier this year at the BYU Molten Classic Tournament in Provo, Utah.
