The Wisconsin volleyball team will kick off its home spring schedule Saturday with a match against a tough Iowa State team coached by former Badger assistant Christy Johnson.
The young Badger team, which opened the spring season March 7 against Florida, will use the short schedule to fine tune their new offensive formation and get their younger players some valuable playing time against tough opponents.
According to head coach Pete Waite, the Badgers have switched back to a 5-1 offensive set after playing last year in a 6-2 formation. The Badgers used the 5-1 formation two years ago before switching to the 6-2 for last year's season. Freshman Janelle Gabrielsen said she is pleased with the progress of the transition, but acknowledged that there is still plenty of work to be done.
""We're working on a bunch of new things, trying to speed up our offense, and it's going well so far,"" Gabrielsen said. ""Once spring season is over we can't really practice it anymore, so we just want to get really good at it by the time preseason starts.""
The main difference between the two formations is that the lone setter in the 5-1 rotates between the front and back row of hitters, while in the 6-2 there are two setters rotating opposite of each other so there are always three hitters in the front row.
The Badgers look to fine tune the new formation against an Iowa State team that reached the Elite Eight for the first time in last year's NCAA tournament. The Cyclones finished the 2008 season ranked No. 12 and help compose a difficult spring season schedule for Wisconsin that pits the Badgers against 2008 NCAA tournament teams in all four of their matches. According to Waite, the tough schedule will help a young Badger team when the regular season starts this fall.
""It does you no good to play somebody that's weak and can't challenge you,"" Waite said. ""What Iowa State does is they make you play your best game. If you're off and you're inconsistent, they're going to beat you.""
Saturdays match also brings a familiar face back to Madison in Iowa State coach Christy Johnson. Johnson was an assistant coach at Wisconsin from 1997 to 2004 and helped the Badgers reach the NCAA championship for the first time in 2000.
Johnson is one of three familiar faces that Badger and sophomore outside hitter Caity DuPont will see this weekend. DuPont played with sophomore Iowa State All-American Ashley Mass at Muskego High School, and Cyclone assistant coach Joe Lynch coached her when she was younger. Reunions aside, DuPont is looking forward to the team's first home game of 2009.
""It's always fun to play in the Field House,"" DuPont said. ""We're going to have some friends, and obviously our family is going to be here, so it's always nice to play in front of people that you know.""
Although the match is more or less an exhibition, Waite sees the game as a nice opportunity for fans to get an early look at this year's squad.
""There's no charge, the fans can come and watch,"" Waite said. ""Families can come out, students can come out and just hang out and have a good time.""
The match starts at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Field House and admission is free.
