The battle for the top of the conference continues this weekend for the women's volleyball team as the No. 23 Badgers (6-2 Big Ten, 14-5 overall) try to separate themselves from the four teams that sit atop the Big Ten leader board.
With matches this weekend against No. 15 Penn State (6-2 Big Ten, 17-3 overall) Friday and Ohio State (2-6 Big Ten, 9-10 overall) Saturday, Wisconsin has a chance to break from the pack as the second half of conference play begins.
After winning two matches on the road against Purdue, 3-1 and Indiana, 3-2, the Badgers return home with the momentum of strong performances, such as sophomore outside hitter Aubrey Meierotto, who had a career-high 25 kills against the Hoosiers and 17 against the Boilermakers.
\We've been playing hard and we had two good wins [last] weekend, so we've got some momentum into this weekend, but Penn State's going to be tough and we've got to be ready to play,"" senior libero Jill Maier said.
Penn State's last four matches have ended with mixed results. The Nittany Lions have lost two of their last four; against Illinois, 3-1 and against Minnesota, 3-0. However, they still are a formidable opponent and are one of the four teams tied with UW in first place. Led offensively by senior middle hitter Cara Smith, PSU is a team the Badgers undoubtedly have their eye on this weekend and for weekends to come.
""We're going to have to serve tough, keep them out of their offense,"" Head Coach Pete Waite said. ""Smith is one of their best middle hitters [and] in the country. If we can keep the ball away from her we'll have a better shot at [a win].""
Ohio State finds itself on the other end of the Big Ten results, being unable to find any real consistency. The Buckeyes opened the season with losses to Michigan and Michigan State, bounced back against Indiana only to drop four straight before winning against Iowa last Sunday. Junior outside hitter Stacey Gordon leads OSU with a strong offensive presence. With good speed and double figure kills in her last 64 matches, she will likely be someone the Badgers will try to keep under control.
In order to win both matches this weekend, the Badgers plan to focus on the defensive end of things. After Meierotto's breakout performance, the added strength of Maier, who's had more than 20 digs in her last two games, and junior outside hitter Jill Odenthal, who leads the team in kills, UW hopes to keep control of the game from their side of the court.
""Our primary focus is going to be on our defense,"" Odenthal said. ""[The focus is] always going to be on our side of the net. Every team is going to bring something different, but we worry about ourselves.""
Waite added that they are looking for a strong offensive game as well.
""It's going to be us being a balanced team offensively,"" Wait said. ""We're going to need three if not four players in double digit kills to keep us in the match.""
The importance of both games is not lost on the team, as everyone knows one loss could come back to haunt them at the end of the season, but Waite offers caution reading a lot into this weekend's matches.
""These are huge. With four teams knotted at the top, it can make the difference at the end of the year,"" Waite said. ""At the same time, more people are going to lose matches along the way. It's so close, but there's no guarantee you're going to stay at the top.\
