In the first conference match between any two teams in the Big Ten this year, the No. 9 UW volleyball team (1-0 Big Ten, 9-1 overall) defeated Illinois (0-1, 8-3) Wednesday night in four games, 39-41, 31-29, 30-14, 30-20.
Despite their solid non-conference record to start the year, few could have predicted that the Illini would put up such a tough effort to start the night, pulling out with a victory in the first game, but a more focused attack and better blocking down the stretch helped the Badgers come up with the win.
It feels great to have our first conference win,"" UW head coach Pete Waite said. ""We're definitely 1-0 and Illinois' crowd welcomed us with some great energy tonight.""
The night started out with an impressive offensive attack by the Illini, led by freshman outside hitter Laura DeBruler, who threw down seven kills in each of the first two games. Their hitting allowed them to take the lead in game one and never fall behind at any point down the stretch.
Despite a Badger effort that tied the game at every point from 29 to 39, UW finally gave up the win on an Illini kill and an attack error by sophomore outside hitter Brittney Dolgner.
""We had our chances to win in the first game, but missed some opportunities to score points,"" Waite said. ""The first game got our engines started, and it set the pace for our team to step up and get the win on the road.""
Game two was also close throughout, with six ties and seven lead changes. The Illini's senior outside hitter Stefanie Alde contributed four kills to keep Illinois in the game, but ultimately lost the game on an attack error, just after two kills a piece from UW freshman outside hitter Allison Wack and sophomore opposite hitter Katherine Dykstra.
Game three was a completely different story for Wisconsin. Fueled by junior outside hitter Audra Jeffer's five kills, the Badgers closed out the third game with a .360 team hitting percentage. Better defense on the other side of the net also helped to stifle Illinois' attack, as Wisconsin tallied five blocks and held the Illini to -.156 hitting for the game.
The final game of the match once again started off shaky for Wisconsin, falling into an early 6-3 deficit thanks in part to a few precision strikes from DeBruler. But the Badgers battled back to even the score at 10 and took off from there.
Dolgner and senior middle blocker Taylor Reineke each threw down five kills in the game for Wisconsin to give the team a commendable .378 hitting percentage for the round.
The Badger block throughout the match also helped to rally the team to victory. Wisconsin had 18 total stuffs compared to the six that Illinois came up with. Reineke was the biggest force behind the net for UW, tallying eight block assists and one solo. Dolgner, who did not have much of a blocking game last year during Big Ten play, held her own for the night and came up with seven assists and one solo. Dykstra and Jeffers - who were referred to as potentially the best blocking tandem in the conference by the announcers on the Big Ten Network - combined for 7.5 blocks on the night as well.
""When we started putting the block up is where we really started to pull ahead,"" Waite said. ""(Audra) Jeffers did a nice job in the middle and Kat (Dykstra) made some great stops on the right side.
The Badgers will come home for two days before heading out on the road again to take on the current Big Ten frontrunner No. 10 Michigan in Ann Arbor.
