The No. 13 Wisconsin volleyball team will head to the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee this weekend to compete in the Marquette Cheese Bowl. The Badgers are undefeated and have a 21-0 all-time combined record against American, Marquette and Oregon State.
In Saturday’s first match, the Badgers will take on American University. The Eagles (5-4) swept Harvard and Dartmouth before losing 3-2 to No. 22 Long Beach State last weekend.
The Eagles’ senior outside hitter Rubena Sukaj is averaging a team-high 4.5 kills per set while hitting at a .264 clip.
Sukaj holds the Patriot League record for career service aces with 256 and kills with 1,756. Junior Claire Recht, a 6’8” middle blocker, leads the team with 1.2 blocks per set.
For Saturday’s nightcap, the Badgers will face Oregon State. The Beavers (8-2) swept UC Riverside, Idaho and Portland en route to the Portland State Showcase championship last weekend.
Oregon State boasts two outside hitters—junior Rachel Rourke and sophomore Jill Sawatzky—who each average over three kills per set. Overall, the Beavers are hitting .274 as a team and limiting their opponents to a .175 hitting percentage.
Wisconsin will play host to Marquette (4-5) Sunday afternoon in the tournament finale. The Golden Eagles went 2-1 at their own Marquette Challenge last weekend, defeating Temple and Green Bay before losing to Bowling Green in five games. This will be the third home tournament for Marquette this season.
Senior outside hitter Ashlee Fisher leads the Golden Eagles with 4.0 kills per set, while sophomore Rabbecka Gonyo leads in blocks with 1.44 per set.
Three Badgers were named to the InnTowner Invitational All-Tournament team last weekend, as Wisconsin defeated Central Michigan, IUPUI and BYU.
Sophomore setter Nikki Klingsporn was named the tournament MVP as she averaged 10.18 assists per set and scored seven service aces. Junior outside hitter Brittney Dolgner led the team with 3.73 kills per set and added two double-doubles to her career total.
Senior Audra Jeffers led the Badger middle hitters, averaging 3.0 kills per match, including a match-high 16 kills against IUPUI.
Wisconsin ranks No. 14 in the country for kills per set with 14.33 kills and No. 31 in the country for assists per set with 12.86. Klingsporn’s 0.38 aces per set place her third in the Big Ten’s ranking and sophomore Libero Kim Kizma ranks sixth with 4.28 digs per set.
Statistically, the Badgers are the favorites for this weekend as they lead the field in kills, hitting percentage, assists, digs, blocks and opponent hitting percentage per set.
All three Wisconsin matches can be heard locally on 92.1 FM, with live stats updated from the Marquette web-site www.GoMarquette.com.
