The No. 14 UW volleyball team (12-5 Big Ten, 21-7 overall) took on the Northwestern Wildcats (9-8, 16-13) Wednesday night and triumphed in five games.
Coming out slow, the Badger team was plagued with small problems that ranged from communication problems to service errors to miss-hits.
\You really couldn't pinpoint one thing that was wrong, we just needed to play our game,"" senior outside hitter Erin Byrd said. ""It was a lack of communication.""
Byrd's impressive play was the only bright spot for the Badgers in the first two games, as she provided leadership on the court as they lost the first game 30-28 and the second by a score of 30-25.
The Badgers stepped it up in the third game going neck and neck with the Wildcats before breaking the game open in the latter third of the match winning 30-27. Sophomore outside hitter Aurbrey Meierotto also picked up her game for the Badgers helping Bucky to a win.
""When I went in I just knew I had to be aggressive and just swing away, that's all I really had in my head. To go in there and be really aggressive and try to score,"" Meierotto said.
Meierotto's attack strategy worked for Wisconsin as she came away with 14 kills on the night, second to Byrd who had an impressive 29 kills.
Game four was quite the battle as once again the teams were evenly matched through the majority of play. Northwestern made mistakes late in the game, which the Badgers capitalized on winning by a score of 30-25 and taking play to a fifth game.
The last game saw some impressive play by both teams as the two were determined to win. The match was tight until the Badgers scored their 10th point, after which the Wildcats had no chance. Bucky went on to win by a score of 15-10.
""We wanted this game for a long time, it's almost some of the stress from a loss when we played, which is the way we looked tonight at the beginning,"" Wisconsin Head Coach Pete Waite said. ""I don't know why, but luckily we came back over the hump and got the win. Because it shows our team, when we play our game we're really tough.\
