Laura Abbinante, Lizzy Fitzgerald, Morgan Shields and Jackie Simpson - four two-time All-Big Ten volleyball selections, four All-Americans, four legendary Wisconsin setters. With such decorated athletes at the helm of the Badger's attack, Wisconsin volleyball head coach Pete Waite has mastered the 5-1 offense to represent his teams.
Yet this year change is in the air.
For the first time in his 21-year coaching career, Waite has implemented the 6-2 offense, in which the setter is positioned in the back row and three attackers are live at all times.
Waite said that for the 6-2 to be successful, a team needs two composed and accurate sets of hands, at least one of them a good hitter. Waite has already tested one setter, sophomore Nikki Klingsporn, who was the InnTowner Invitational MVP last weekend. With the addition of versatile freshman setter/outside hitter Janelle Gabrielsen, Waite feels he has the personnel necessary to switch to the 6-2.
For us, Nellie [Gabrielsen] has been staying in to hit and block in the front row, so you need some pretty versatile setters that can do that,"" Waite said.
The 6-2 offense also allows Waite to take full advantage of Wisconsin's height at the net through strategic substitutions.
""In some cases we have some taller players that can come in and be better blockers - bigger blockers,"" Waite said. ""That's what we've been doing in a number of cases - Katherine Dykstra has been coming in for Nikki and it's been working out pretty well.""
""I like the versatility we have whether to go with the 6-2 or the 5-1 at any given time.""
This past weekend, the Badgers varied offenses regularly to regroup from a 2-1 deficit, primarily against No. 23 BYU.
""We offensively changed and went from 5-1 to 6-2, back and forth just to find our rhythm,"" Waite said. ""We were just off and out of sync.""
""I knew we had to make some changes,"" Klingsporn said. ""We were running a 5-1 and we had that run of points where we just couldn't get a kill, so we had to make a change and bring in Katherine so that she could get us some big kills.""
The team's ability to change offenses with the call from the sideline ultimately led the Badgers to the 3-2 victory in front of their home fans.
""Both coaches between sets were shifting lineups, trying to get better matchups,"" Waite said. ""We'd change, then they changed ... but finally we found it where we were able to get Kat up against a smaller block.""
Regardless of the lineup shifts, Waite said the offensive system is in place - it all starts with how well a team handles the ball and how tough it serves.
""It always comes down to that - if you don't ball handle, things start falling apart with any offense whether it's a one- or a two-setter offense. If you can put the ball on the money, right on the target area, then the setter has the freedom to do anything she wants and she's not forced to pick just certain sets.""
The setting tandem of Klingsporn and Gabrielsen not only brings new faces to the court, but also represents a new generation of UW volleyball.
