The Wisconsin volleyball team concluded its season over the weekend, losing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to No. 24 Texas A&M in three games, 30-22, 30-24 and 30-18.
\Of course I am disappointed that the season's ending today, but we played a very good team and credit goes to Texas A&M for having an excellent match tonight,"" said Wisconsin Head Coach Pete Waite.
The Badgers (22-11) tied a season low in kills with only 39. Junior outside hitter Jill Odenthal and sophomore middle blocker Sheila Shaw were the only two Badgers to record double-digit kills, with 12 and 10 respectively.
Texas A&M used their superior size to their advantage, recording 53 kills, with four Aggies in double-digits. The shocking statistic of the game was the differences in the hitting percentage. Texas A&M had a .319 hitting percentage, while Wisconsin only recorded a .178.
""They were a big team from pin to pin,"" Waite said. ""They just touched a lot of balls and slowed them down for their defense, and when we did get it by the block, they were moving well to the ball and able to run their offense really well.""
UW never had the lead against A&M. Wisconsin kept it close all night, but could not keep up. Waite said that A&M was too much.
""We were always playing catch-up ball. ... They just kept the momentum on their side for most of the time,"" Waite said. ""I thought that we battled well in the first two games. I think we played some really great ball, transitioned well off some tough hits and played the kind of game we're used to playing. But we just broke down at times. Our ball handling needed to be better if we were going to beat that team.""
The Badgers advanced to the second round after defeating Arizona Friday. This was the second year in a row that UW was knocked out of the tournament in the second round.
