This Friday the UW women’s volleyball team (3-7 Big Ten, 15-8 overall) will be hosting Illinois (4-6, 10-10) at Wisconsin’s Field House. Northwestern (3-7, 14-7) will then travel to Wisconsin for a Sunday afternoon match.
Last week the Badgers played a tough match and went four sets against Indiana, but it was apparent that there was room for improvement. Head coach Pete Waite acknowledged that his team had more communication issues on the court than usual.
“They’ve been working on that [teamwork] in practice, as far as their seams and who they are next to on the court, generally it works pretty well just sometimes things are a little off.”
The Badgers have been really improving as a team and some players have really started to shine. Sophomore outside hitter Ellen Chapman had 24 kills last and only one error last weekend against Indiana. She set the tone for the night, scoring the most points of any individual on the court. Junior libero Annemarie Hickey also had a good game keeping up her reputation as one of the best diggers in the nation.
“We need to have tougher serves,” Chapman said, when asked what it would take to beat Illinois this weekend.
According to Waite, Hickey has been improving her own serve and showing leadership amongst the team. Hickey said that she is becoming more confident with her serves and feels she is improving. This could very well be just what UW needs to beat Illinois this weekend. When Illinois and the Badgers met previously this season, they played through a hard earned five sets that ended with a Wisconsin loss.
“Our passing and serving is going to help us a lot… believing that we can do it knowing that we are a really good team and that we can win games, we just need to believe in ourselves,” Hickey said.
Confidence may be the key to Wisconsin really coming together this season. As they enter this weekend they will already be halfway through Big Ten play.
The Badgers have noticeably been a team that tends to fall behind early in sets and fights their way back either to take the set or to end in a hard fought close game.
“It’s something we have to be better at [referring to the fall-behind gameplay],” Waite said. “It’s never easy but a team as they mature has to be really eager and hungry to get a fast start and a jump on a team… A good sign is they’re making some comebacks but that’s not preferable.”
