Wisconsin (6-8 Big Ten, 11-12 overall) hits the road for Iowa City to play the Iowa Hawkeyes (3-11, 11-15) at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Pressure will be on the Badgers to forget about their lackluster performances recently, which have resulted in three straight sweeps, dropping them to sixth in the Big Ten and giving them their first sub-.500 record since September.
""It's one game at a time, but we know we've only got six matches left,"" head coach Pete Waite said. ""We also know that we need four of these matches to have a shot at the NCAA Tournament. This one at Iowa is the start of that sequence.""
This match is presumably the easiest on their remaining schedule. Although the Hawkeyes beat the Badgers on opening night at the Field House Sept. 23, they have only won two games since then and have lost their last five.
""They're a team that plays some good ball, and they've been in a lot of the matches they've lost,"" Waite said. ""Their record doesn't show it, but they're very strong.""
""They're going to be really scrappy. They're always good defensively,"" senior outside hitter Brittney Dolgner said.
Iowa's defense is definitely its strong point; it is led by senior libero Christina Meister, who saves 4.40 shots per set, second best in the Big Ten.
""Obviously she's protecting the court very well. If we can keep the ball away from her we will,"" Waite said.
Junior middle blocker Becky Walters anchors the middle of their defense, stuffing .99 shots per set. On the offensive side, junior setter Mara Hillenberg leads the way with 9.59 assists per set. She passes a majority of balls either to senior outside hitter Megan Schipper, who chips in a team-high 3.02 kills per set, or junior outside hitter Aimee Huffman, who records 2.62 kills per set.
On the Badger side of the net, getting a win means playing on a completely different level than they have been lately. In their last two matches the Badgers had a hitting percentage of 6.3 percent to opponents' 31.9 percent and averaged 11.50 kills and 1.67 blocks per set to opponents' 13.17 kills and 4.67 blocks per set. They must improve their hitting percentage, which is currently second to last in the Big Ten at 18.7 percent, and their opponent hitting percentage, which is currently dead last in the conference at 23.5 percent, to turn around a season that has been rife with inconsistency.
""It's definitely frustrating to have these ups and downs,"" Dolgner said.
Dolgner will have to play a big part in a potential late run to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. In her last 10 games, she has been averaging 3.51 kills per set, but she only had 6 total kills in the Badgers' first meeting against Iowa.
She could use some help from the freshman starters around her. Middle blocker Alexis Mitchell leads the team with .80 blocks per set and has 46 on the season. Outside hitter Kirby Toon will look to match the performance she had against the Hawkeyes in the first meeting, in which she tallied 13 kills.
The Big Ten Network will be broadcasting the match live from the Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
