For the first time since Oct. 8, the Wisconsin volleyball team (10-4 Big Ten, 16-6 overall) sailed into uncharted waters, losing for the first time in a month to No. 25 Illinois last Friday. This weekend, Wisconsin travels to State College, Penn. and Columbus, Ohio-hopefully mapping wins against No. 4 Penn State (12-2, 21-2) and No. 8 Ohio State (12-2, 22-2).
Beating these powerhouses would be as nice as upsetting former No. 2 Minnesota Oct. 30. Winning would not only help Wisconsin maintain its top-four Big Ten ranking, but would bring back confidence lost against Illinois.
\I think winning would be huge,"" senior outside hitter Jill Odenthal said. ""It's a step we need to take to come together and regroup again.""
Regrouping is key to victory, said Badger Head Coach Pete Waite. Wisconsin lost its first two Big Ten matches of the year to its upcoming opponents.
On Sept. 24, OSU beat Wisconsin 3-1, despite junior middle blocker Sheila Shaw's 18 kills and five block assists. Odenthal also spiked down her 1,000th kill that night. Two days later, PSU swept the Badgers. It was the first time since 1987 Wisconsin started the Big Ten season 0-2.
""We let them come into our place and gave them some easy wins,"" Waite said. ""Obviously we have improved since we played them. Our defense and our pursuit of balls on defense improved.""
Freshman libero Jocelyn Wack has maintained and improved upon her double-figure digs in 21 straight matches. She had 22 digs against Penn State.
In the previous matches against PSU and OSU as well as last weekend's loss to Illinois, the team did not play as a cohesive unit. Odenthal said this fact played a role in the losses. Wack thinks the returned role of underdog will help the team.
""We're now the underdogs once again. ... I'm excited to play against a team like Minnesota,"" Wack said. ""We're expected to lose, so when we beat highly ranked teams it's a great feeling, and we know we can compete against teams like that.""
Competing against athletes such as OSU's senior All-American Stacy Gordon, who leads the nation with 7.22 kills per game. PSU's Ashley Pederson leads the Nittany Lions with 4.07 kills per game. Odenthal and fellow senior outside hitter Marian Weidner played against Gordon and Pederson for four years, and Odenthal looks forward to the renewed challenge.
""It's an exciting challenge because they are such great athletes and competitors. I play opposite them,"" Odenthal said. ""We just have to play our game. We won't take them for granted because this team doesn't take much for granted because we know we have so much more to do and much further to go.\
