On Tuesday night, the last practice before game day, the Badgers played with great poise. They hustled to make every play. It was a team effort with every player showing enthusiasm and confidence. Even with different players rotating in and out, the chemistry remained unchanged.
On Wednesday night, Wisconsin (9-3 Big Ten, 15-5 overall) will face Northwestern (3-9, 8-14) at the UW Field House. The last time Northwestern and Wisconsin met, Sept. 29, the Wisconsin men trounced Northwestern, in a 3-0 sweep (30-28, 30-20, 30-16).
Since playing Wisconsin in September, the Wildcats have lost six of the last nine games. Even so, the Badgers are not taking anything for granted.
\The awesome thing about the Big Ten is that any team can beat any team on any night,"" freshman setter Jackie Simpson said of the team's big win over Minnesota.
The Badgers are coming off an upset win over the Gophers last Saturday. Last week's game ended in a thriller with the Badgers beating the Gophers in a 3-2 game (30-27, 20-30, 28-30, 30-27, 17-15).
The win came at a time when the Gophers were ranked No. 2. This was also the first time the Badgers had beaten the Gophers since 2001.
""[The win] said a lot about composure and competitiveness of the players. It would have been easy for them to just fold up and make a lot of errors and give Minnesota the game,"" Head Coach Pete Waite said.
Pivotal in the Badgers win over Minnesota were senior middle blocker Jill Odenthall and junior middle blocker Sheila Shaw. Shaw walked away with the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week accolade for her performance on Saturday night against the Gophers. Shaw had five kills, five block assists, two digs and a service ace in that game.
""It was a shame that the whole team could not receive the award because it was an awesome team effort,"" Shaw said about her performance. This is the first time Wisconsin has had that award since 2002.
This week, the players and coaches stressed many things but especially put emphasis on serving, ball control and blocking. Simpson conceded that the combination of a strong defense and imposing blocking helps teams win volleyball games.
While the team is not looking beyond Northwestern on Wednesday night, it can not help but think of the rest of the season. As sophomore Maria Carlini put it, the ""Minnesota game was a huge win for us and it just shows that we can compete with the best of the best in the country.""
