After starting the season with two road weekends in a row, the 5-1 UW women's volleyball team will put their 10 match home winning streak on the line this weekend as they return to the Field House for the InnTowner Invitational. And nobody is more happy about coming back home than redshirt freshman Audra Jeffers, who will be playing the first home match of her young career.
\I'm really excited; my whole family is excited to see me play,"" said Jeffers, a Hartland, Wis. native. ""I can't wait to be out there in front of the awesome crowd we always have.""
Leading the team in kills, Jeffers has had quite the impressive start to the early season. Named to the all-tournament team last weekend (along with sophomore teammate Jackie Simpson), she boasted a team-high 4.56 kills/game and .337 hitting percentage. Jeffers was also on the all-tournament team for the Falcon Invitational the first weekend of the season.
""It was one of my goals [to contribute] before this season started,"" said Jeffers. ""I knew I was ready, and I wanted to show the team I could contribute.""
""We saw [Audra] last year in practice do a lot of great things,"" said head coach Pete Waite. ""At one point she probably could have been starting for us.""
Jeffers and the rest of the team will have to be on top of their game once again, as some tough competition is coming to town. Valparaiso, Villanova, and No. 11 UCLA are all formidable foes, as they have a combined record of 23-2. Even with the tumble against Missouri last weekend, the Badgers remain optimistic and have momentum.
""It was actually beneficial that we lost this weekend because it shows a lot of what we need to learn and it's going to make us stronger as a team,"" said senior Sheila Shaw. ""We're going to work on the things we need to do better, try and team block, and play better defense.""
With the Big Ten season and a showdown with Minnesota on the horizon, Wisconsin would like to take a few big wins into the conference schedule.
""We've got some great teams coming in,"" said Waite. ""UCLA is obviously one of the best teams in the country so it's going to be fantastic. If we can play great this weekend, we're walking right into Minnesota for our first Big Ten match, and they're coming off a Final Four appearance, it doesn't get any more exciting than that.""
Fans can come and feel the excitement Friday at 7:00 against Villanova (students get in free with ID), Saturday at 7:00 against Valparaiso, and Sunday at 5:00 against UCLA.
