The Badgers' volleyball team is in the middle right now. Sporting a 3-3 record in the Big Ten and a 9-5 record overall, Head Coach Pete Waite is counting on a fairly even mix of senior leadership and young talent to improve his team from the .500 mark.
The team is coming off of a weekend that was half-and-half as well. Friday they were swept by No. 3 Minnesota, one of the top competitors in the nation, but were able to hand a sweep to Iowa Saturday.
\We took our three losses and we weren't happy with how we played in those games but I think in each game we learned something.... I think to get better in the conference now, we just need to get better at those things [we have been working on],"" junior middle blocker Aubrey Meierotto said.
Sophomores setter Katie Lorenzen and middle blocker Maria Carlini, along with freshmen libero Jocelyn Wack and middle blocker Taylor Reineke, have all stepped up their play in the last three weeks and given a needed boost to the team's play.
""They all bring tons of talent. Wack brings a lot of ball control, and it's definitely needed on the team. I mean it's a three game match and she's up over 20 digs. That's just amazing. Taylor in the middle is doing a great job and even those who don't play are great because they make us better,"" Meierotto.
The play and leadership of the senior members of the team cannot be downplayed however as senior middle blocker Sheila Shaw and junior outside hitter Aubrey Meierotto have given the team direction as well as firepower.
The Badgers are not settling for just being lukewarm, however. The infusion of new talent along with existing support has them ready to advance in the Big Ten rankings with games against Indiana and Purdue this weekend.
""One thing we're focusing on [for next weekend] is serving.... It will probably be our biggest thing in practicing coming into this weekend,"" Wack said.
The Badgers have had their fair share of trouble serving. In the loss to Minnesota, the Badgers had a total of eight service errors while U of M had only two.
""You're going to have days where you are aggressive and you just miss your serves. It just goes out or it just hits the net and you just don't get some breaks sometimes. There's a fine line between being aggressive and making errors and in rally scoring you're giving the opponents points. It's definitely something we're focusing on,"" Waite said.
One constant in the Badger attack has been their blocking. The team seems to out-block most every opponent, even in a loss, illustrated by Shaw, Lorenzen and Reineke who all combined to out-block the Gophers 10-6 in the effort.
The Badgers will make their charge for a plus .500 Big Ten record this weekend at 7 p.m. in the Field House.
