The women's volleyball team pulled through with two crucial wins last weekend earning a fourth place position in the Big Ten Conference. The Badgers (5-3 Big Ten, 11-5 overall) will look to continue their momentum as they approach the second half of the conference season.
Friday night the Badgers achieved a 3-2 victory over Indiana 1-7, 7-12) improving their Big Ten record to 5-3. Junior middle hitter Sheila Shaw had a season-high of 22 kills reaching a .320 hitting percentage to contribute to the win.
\Our passing and our defense was really on,"" said Shaw. ""The setters were actually able to set the middle and use the middle, then start mixing it up in the fifth game.""
Freshman middle blocker Taylor Reineke added a solid defensive effort with a career-high of 12 blocks against the Hoosiers, including two solo blocks and 10 block assists. Reineke now leads the Big Ten in blocks per game with a 1.39 average.
""Last year Wisconsin used to be in one of the last places for blocking, and this year we're somewhere in the top,"" said Reineke. ""The block really helps us a lot. I'm just working hard in practice and hopefully my hard work is paying off.""
Wisconsin is now ranked first in the Big Ten Conference and sixth in the nation in blocks per game with an average of 3.47 per game. The defensive effort has no doubt been a strength in the team's strive for success in the first half of the Big Ten Conference season.
Saturday night the Badgers prevailed over Purdue (3-5, 10-8), further improving their Big Ten record and establishing their position for the second half of the season.
Sheila Shaw again led the team with 17 kills and a match-high hitting percentage of .571. A solid blocking effort in the fourth game solidified the victory for Wisconsin and gave them their first weekend sweep of the season. None of the past Badger victories have seemed as close as the matches last weekend.
""We feel good about the wins. They are really important for us in the conference race,"" said Head Coach Pete Waite. ""We'd always rather get done in three games if we can, but if we have to go into game four and five, it says a lot for how you adjust to the opponent and how you deal with adversity. So, I think it's one of those things that builds character as a team and makes us stronger.""
Wisconsin is striving to improve the character of their team for the next half of the season by focusing on their serving game. The serving game has been a weak spot this season for the Badger women with averages of 2.79 service errors per game and 0.98 service aces per game.
""We're working a lot on just getting more repetitions, more strategic serving, and just finding ways for each person to be most comfortable back there and still be aggressive with their serving,"" said Waite of his team's work in practice.
The team looks toward the second half of the season with hopes of gaining significant stature in the Big Ten Conference.
""We really want to be moving up in the Big Ten race here,"" said Waite. ""I think we've positioned ourselves well right now. It's very important this next weekend if we could get two wins, it would really put us near the top. Then we will have a shot at those players that we lost to in the first round.""
The Badgers will finish off the first half of their season in Michigan this weekend, first facing Michigan State, currently last place in the Big Ten on Friday, and current sixth place holder in the Big Ten, University of Michigan Saturday. The volleyball team will then start off the second round against Iowa Oct. 29 at the UW Field House.
