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The Daily Cardinal Est. 1892
Friday, November 01, 2024

Volleyball checks into InnTowner success

This past weekend at the Field House, the women's volleyball team hosted the Inntowner Invitational in their first appearance at home this season. The Badgers ranked 16th in the nation with a record of 2-1 coming into the invitational after a disappointing loss to North Carolina at the Carolina Classic a week ago.  

 

 

 

Despite this setback the Badgers put the previous loss behind them and defeated Illinois State and No. 17 Texas A&M. 

 

 

 

UW played with great intensity and passion against all teams, leading to victories over Illinois State, University of Montreal and Texas A&M. Against Illinois State, the Badgers won the match 3-0 by scores of 30-21, 30-24 and 30-17. 

 

 

 

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Sophomore outside hitter Jill Odenthal played exceptionally well against Illinois and had 16 kills and a hitting percentage of .652. Also playing well against Illinois were junior outside hitter Lisa Zukowski, who had 11 kills and five digs, and senior outside hitter Erin Byrd who had 14 kills and 10 digs. 

 

 

 

Playing the University of Montreal Saturday, the Badgers dominated, winning all three games by scores of 30-16, 30-16 and 30-24. 

 

 

 

The Badgers came out very aggressive and alert against Texas A&M, who knocked them out of the NCAA Mideast Regional tournament last season. They played great offense and defense against a very talented and aggressive A&M team. The previously undefeated Aggies fell to 4-1 while UW improved to 4-1. 

 

 

 

\It's a great win for our program,"" Head Coach Pete Waite said. ""It was a great test with Texas A&M, they're an awesome program. But we saw some people step up for us at some critical times and pull us through. I'm very, very happy with that win."" 

 

 

 

UW won the match 3-1 against the Aggies, winning the first game 30-23, but losing the second 25-30. The next two games saw a more alert and confident Badger offense and defense as five Badgers recorded double digits in kills and digs en route to their 30-25 and 30-28 victories in games three and four. 

 

 

 

The game against Texas A&M was a challenge for the Badgers. 

 

 

 

""We knew the game was going to be a battle,"" Byrd said. ""They came out more aggressive than we did in the second game. ... We just came out very hungry and on fire. I know we scored the first three points, which kind of set the tone for the whole [third] game."" 

 

 

 

Another reason for the great performance by UW was due to just playing at home in the Field House.  

 

 

 

""Just being in there and having something to focus on...makes it all the more exciting,"" freshman defensive specialist Beth Haberli said. 

 

 

 

Playing well for UW were Odenthal and Zukowski ,who both recorded double digits for kills and digs. In addition, senior middle blocker Lori Rittenhouse, Byrd and junior setter Morgan Shields played well throughout the weekend. Shields had a career high for kills (9) against Texas A&M and Rittenhouse had a career high hitting percentage (.727) against A&M. 

 

 

 

Byrd and Odenthal earned all-Tournament honors while Shields was named MVP.

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