Despite the hard-fought battles in this weekend's volleyball games, the Badgers fell to No. 25 Ohio State and No. 2 Penn State in their Big Ten Conference opener. Senior outside hitter Allison Wack and Freshman outside hitter Elise Walch led the Badger's offensive force while junior libero Kim Kuzma continued her solid defense, extending her streak of double-digit digs to 17 straight matches.
The Badgers rallied against the Buckeyes Friday night, eventually falling to Ohio State after the fifth set, 15-11.
""We wouldn't be in the fifth set with a team who's been in the top 25 this year if we weren't playing some good ball,"" head coach Pete Waite said.
Wack tied her career-high 20 kills while junior setter Janelle Gabrielsen amassed 47 assists. The Badgers had 64 kills on the night, while Ohio State only had 58.
With the inconsistency of the Badgers hitting a lowly .195 percentage, the Buckeyes were able to take advantage with their percentage of .268. Senior outside hitter Katie Dull led OSU with 19 kills, and red-shirt graduate outside hitter Anna Szerszen added 12.
Wisconsin did however take the advantage over Ohio State 65-64 in digs, with 20 of those coming from Kuzma.
The two teams rallied back and forth, with Ohio State and Wisconsin alternating wins in the first four sets. It all came down to the fifth and final set, in which the Buckeyes came out with an early 5-3 lead. Walch answered back with a kill, while Wack served two straight aces to tie the set at 5-5. Szerszen was dominant in the set, putting down four game-changing kills. Despite an impressive defenseiveshowing from Kuzma, OSU finished off the set with a 5-1 run.
The Badgers had more tough competition Sunday against the three-time defending national champion Nittany Lions and fell short, losing in three straight sets.
""I think we did play timid, like Pete [Waite] had said, and we need to treat them just like any other team, no matter what name is on their jersey,"" freshman middle blocker Dominique Thompson said.
Wack continued to demonstrate her senior leadership with 10 kills in the match, while Walch again stepped up with eight kills and a team-high .273 hitting percentage. However, the Badgers had to go up against senior All-American middle hitter Blair Brown, who led both teams with 14 kills and a remarkable .480 hitting percentage.
The closest set in the match was the third, in which the Badgers opened with their first lead of the afternoon, until the Nittany Lions tied up the set at 7-7. The two teams rallied back and forth, but Penn State pulled ahead 17-13 behind their offensive strengths of Brown and freshman outside hitter Deja McClendon. The Badgers fought back and pulled within two (22-20), but the Nittany Lions finished the set strong with kills from Brown and blocks from McClendon.
The Badgers will finish their Big Ten homestand this week with Illinois on Wednesday night and Northwestern on Friday at the Field House.
