The Badgers (3-9 Big Ten, 14-9 overall) take on the No. 6 Fighting Illini (11-1, 19-3) in Champaign, Ill., Wednesday. Wisconsin will be coming off of a weekend split, while the Illini will be coming off of two wins.
Right-side hitter Julie Mikaelsen earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors after averaging 2.57 kills per set and hitting for an impressive .319 average this weekend. She also recorded her career-best five blocks against No. 15 Michigan, which included three solo blocks. Defensively, she contributed nine digs total for the weekend.
This past weekend, the Badgers stepped up their blocking force, out-blocking the Spartans on Friday and recording a season-high 13.5 blocks against the Wolverines Saturday.
""We really emphasized [blocking] every day this week and made sure the players were getting a good feel for their technique and being patient, but getting their hands across the net well,"" UW head coach Pete Waite said.
The Badgers will need strong blocking against Illinois, as the Illini hit for a high efficiency in their last match, committing just eight hitting errors.
Senior Illinois middle blocker Johannah Bangert earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors after notching a season-high 10 blocks against No. 15 Michigan, while holding a .429 hitting percentage.
Last weekend, the Wisconsin offense was led by senior outside hitter Allison Wack. She contributed team highs in kills both matches, registering 14 and 13, respectively. Sophomore middle blocker Alexis Mitchell also had a good weekend, hitting a remarkable .600 against MSU.
""With Alexis, she had some great kills,"" Waite said. ""She was hitting some slides better than we've seen all season.""
One problem area for the Badgers is thier passing, as their serve receive against Michigan this weekend was not as good as it has been most of this season. In the third set of the match, the Badgers received the ball better, leading to a smoother offense and, not coincidently, a victorious set.
""We were just caught off guard sometimes,"" Wack said. ""We weren't really moving our feet as well as we have at times.""
Defensively, the Badgers are led by senior libero Kim Kuzma. Kuzma recorded a total of 38 digs on the weekend, moving her into third place in the all-time digs list at Wisconsin. Kuzma averages 4.79 digs per set, good for third in the Big Ten.
Junior setter Janelle Gabrielsen has also contributeed 3.24 digs per set. Gabrielsen is averaging 10.58 assists per set, the fifth-best mark in the conference.
The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
