The Badgers (11-3, 0-3) host No. 25 Northwestern (12-1, 2-0) Friday night at 7p.m. in the UW-Field House. This will be their fourth straight match playing against a nationally ranked team. The Badgers will use their fuel from a close match against the Fighting Illini on Wednesday to try and push them through to their first win in the Big Ten Conference.
The Badgers will be behind the offensive forces of Senior outside hitter Allison Wack and Freshman outside hitter Elise Walch. Wack averages 3.11 kills a set and has a strong serving power to keep Northwestern on their toes. Walch continues to stay strong so far in the season, recording the team-high 15 kills in the match Wednesday. Sophomore middle blocker Alexis Mitchell leads the team with a .382 hitting percentage and defensively averages .91 blocks per set. Junior setter Janelle Gabrielsen had 39 assists on the night and led the Badgers with a .357 hitting percentage, coming mostly from her strategic dumps to the holes in the Illinois defense.
The second efforts of the Badger defense kept them in the game on Wednesday night. Senior libero Kim Kuzma recorded her season-high 27 digs on the night and extended her streak of double-digit digs to 18 matches. Freshman defensive-specialist Annemarie Hickey got some good playing time in the last match and contributed 14 to the Badgers total 81 digs.
The Northwestern Wildcats came off of a dramatic five set win over Purdue. The Wildcats have a very balanced offense, as three players recorded double-digit kills on Saturday night. Senior middle blocker Naomi Johnson recorded 20 kills on the night, along with an impressive .410 hitting percentage. Graduate student middle blocker Sabel Moffett also added 17 kills and four blocks. Sophomore libero Julie Chin and Junior outside hitter Alex Ayers make a tough defensive duo, both contributing 17 digs in the last match.
Head coach Pete Waite is staying positive with his team as he hopes that they can close out the match to get a win against Northwestern. ""We're getting very close to breaking through and breaking out, and having a great match together as a team,"" said Waite in his opening statements after the game Wednesday night.
Friday's match is student night, so all UW-Madison students with a valid student ID can get into the game for free. There will also be Big Ten Network t-shirts handed out to students while supplies last.
