Volleyball
The University of Wisconsin volleyball team (10-4 Big Ten, 18-7 overall) split of set of weekend matches versus Michigan and Michigan State.
Everything started off well Friday night, as the No. 22 Badgers beat the Michigan Wolverines (8-6, 16-9) in four games with scores of 30-25, 23-30, 30-26, 30-24.
Leading the Badgers to victory was junior Jill Odenthal and her 20 kills and 10 digs. Odenthal was not alone though, and was aided by sophomore Aubrey Meierotto's equally impressive 19 kills.
Senior Morgan Shields supplied many of the opportunities on the way to registering 60 assists. By defeating Michigan, the Badgers moved into a three-way tie for first place with Minnesota and Penn State.
Their stay atop the league was brief though, as they were then defeated by Michigan State Sunday at the Field House 30-26, 21-30, 22-30, 30-25, 15-8.
UW was again led by the combination of Odenthal and Meierotto. Meierotto led the team with 17 kills while Odenthal, along with senior outside hitter Lisa Zukowski, had 15. The Badgers were done in by MSU's lethal duo of Sara Villwock and Kim Schram, who registered more than half of the Spartans 73 kills.
Men's hockey
This weekend marked a rare feat for the UW men's hockey team (2-2 WCHA, 5-3 overall), as the young squad recorded the first road sweep by a Badger team since November 2001.
Friday saw three Badgers record their first career goals in a 9-4 romp over the Huskies. Senior defenseman Jon Krall, sophomore forward Adam Burish and freshman forward Mark Heatley all registered their first collegiate goals. In all, eight different Badgers had their names on the scoresheet and chased Michigan Tech freshman goalie Bryce Looker to the bench. Wisconsin jumped out to a 6-0 lead, only to see Tech charge back with four straight goals and keep things interesting. The comeback was short-lived though, and UW scored three more insurance goals in the third period.
Another high-scoring game followed Saturday evening with the Badgers winning again, this time by a score of 5-2. Though pedestrian by Friday's standards, the game had plenty of excitement. The game was tied 2-2 with only two seconds remaining in the second period, when sophomore defenseman Tom Sawataske scored, assisted by forwards senior Rene Bourque and freshman Jake Dowell. After a dominating third period in which Wisconsin scored two more goals, the Badgers were left to look back on their first two WCHA wins of the season.
Men's basketball
The hoops season began Saturday, as the back-to-back Big Ten champion Badger men's basketball team took to the floor for the first of two exhibition games. Even though several players, including sophomore forward Alando Tucker and sophomore guard Boo Wade, are injured, Head Coach Bo Ryan's squad impressed in its first action of the season by defeating the EA Sports Midwest All Stars 103-81.
Not surprisingly, Wisconsin was lead by juniors forward Mike Wilkinson and guard Devin Harris, who scored 24 and 23 points, respectively. Wilkinson also had a game-high eight rebounds, while Harris dished out 10 assists, the most by any player on either squad.
With all the injuries, several places saw increased action. Junior guard Clayton Hanson made the first start of his career and pulled down seven rebounds. Making their debuts for the Badgers were freshmen guard Kam Taylor and junior forward Zach Morley, a transfer from Indian Hill Community College in Iowa. Taylor scored 16 points in his first Kohl Center appearance.
The Badgers' next game is next Monday against the Charleston Lowgators of the NBDL. It will be their final tune-up before they begin regular-season play at Pitt on Nov. 21.
-By Joe Hasler
