Post by bucky415 on Mar 30, 2007 1:33:14 GMT -5
Wednesday night, Wisconsin played Wisconsin-Milwaukee at the Field House, with the two teams splitting the four games, 32-30, 30-32, 30-25, 28-30 (the Badgers' scores listed first). Once both teams got untracked, it was a pretty good match for the spring season. Both teams were without notable players: Jeffers, Salow and DuPont for the Badgers, Leanne Felsing for Milwaukee. Salow, Jeffers, and Felsing were all there but not dressed. I didn't see DuPont, but she did play last saturday. She might have had a class or a midterm.
The Badgers played with Dolgner and Wack at left side, Dykstra on the right, Reineke and Carroll in the middle, and Mills and Berkley splitting the duty at libero. Simpson set the first two games and Klingsporn the last two. Wisconsin looked brilliant at times but inconsistent at others. The passing was hit or miss, with some crucial breakdowns helping Milwaukee come back from a 28-22 deficit in the second game and win a close fourth game. I have to credit the Panthers; they made the big plays down the stretch and the Badgers didn't. Both teams had 11 service errors, but I thought Milwaukee served more effectively, not just because they had 10 aces to the Badgers' five. The Badgers also were vulnerable to offspeed shots at times in the match, which is an area where they will need to improve.
While it would have been great if they had won, I still saw a lot of positives from the match from the Wisconsin perspective. Once she got going, I thought Simpson looked like the returning All-American that she is. Her connections with the middles were pretty good after some opening jitters. That is a great sign since they have not been practicing that long this spring. Wack is a crafty hitter and finally recorded a couple of blocks after slacking in that regard the first three years of her career. She had 26 digs for the night, including some really impressive saves, which is pretty good considering she was in the front row much of the night. In a moment she would like to forget, she tried a topspin jump serve that she also used last spring, tossed the ball, and....nothing. Oops. Since it is spring, even Pete had to laugh at that one.
I thought that the Badgers looked better than they did last spring, for what that is worth. Their blocking was much more solid. Carroll did a decent job there; she is pretty quick. UWM's incoming freshman left side hitter, Natalie Cherry, had a "welcome to college" type of night trying to hit against Reineke, with one kill and five errors. Mills was impressive digging cross court as Milwaukee tried to hit around the block. Berkley and McCormack didn't have their best nights ever but made some plays. Klingsporn didn't connect with the middles as well as Simpson, as might be expected, but I thought she did pretty well. She is quick and has a strong topspin jump serve. I think the redshirt year will really help her over the course of her career; she looked pretty comfortable running the offense.
The highlight of the night for Wisconsin, in my opinion, was the play of Dykstra on the right side. She still has work to do, but it was by far the best I have seen her play on a consistent basis. She had 17 kills and hit .306 for the night, hitting a couple of times from the left side and middle in addition to right side attacks. Near the end of the match, she was putting the ball down emphatically, even when it was obvious the ball was going to her. UWM really didn't have an answer for that; she was hitting at a really high point of contact and slamming the ball down. Having her on the right side looked like something that could work well in the fall. It would still leave the second middle slot open, but it does look like a viable option. Reineke and Dykstra do form a quite impressive block when in the front row together; for some reason, Milwaukee didn't really set the left side when they could avoid it in those rotations.
As for UWM, I am convinced that their NCAA tournament flameout against Iowa State was Kathy Litzau's nightmare scenario come to life, not an accurate indication of their talent. They are a pretty good team. Unfortunately for them, Moore and Hegemann, their two best hitters in this match, are out of eligibility. Still, if they can find replacements in the middle who are just decent, I think they can win the Horizon League again. Their back row defense was pretty impressive. They contained Dolgner, who only hit .169 (she did have 19 kills, though, because she is still really good), digging some balls that had vapor trails behind them. Lauren Felsing and Peters were especially impressive defensively. I thought Zaporski played well at setter, which will give them some options, maybe running some form of a 6-2 or moving Felsing back to a hitter position, assuming she is healthy in the fall. She didn't have any visible casts or braces, which is a good sign. As I said earlier, they made plays at crucial times at the ends of games to win them. Hegemann served the Badgers way out of their offense to win the second game, when Wisconsin got stuck with only Carroll and Wack in a two hitter rotation in the Panthers' big run, forcing Pete to change his rotations.
Anyway, I hope that the Badgers will play a bit more consistently as they move on through the spring. They showed that they could be a very good team, but they also had some breakdowns they need to address. I think the health of Jeffers is probably the Badgers' biggest concern going into the fall at this point; they don't need to risk that to win spring matches. I hope that Salow and DuPont will be back this spring to help their development. For a spring match, it wasn't too ugly; I have to give Milwaukee credit for a pretty good effort without their starting setter. They are just a solid program. I hope they go win an NCAA match somewhere other than Madison this year.
The Badgers played with Dolgner and Wack at left side, Dykstra on the right, Reineke and Carroll in the middle, and Mills and Berkley splitting the duty at libero. Simpson set the first two games and Klingsporn the last two. Wisconsin looked brilliant at times but inconsistent at others. The passing was hit or miss, with some crucial breakdowns helping Milwaukee come back from a 28-22 deficit in the second game and win a close fourth game. I have to credit the Panthers; they made the big plays down the stretch and the Badgers didn't. Both teams had 11 service errors, but I thought Milwaukee served more effectively, not just because they had 10 aces to the Badgers' five. The Badgers also were vulnerable to offspeed shots at times in the match, which is an area where they will need to improve.
While it would have been great if they had won, I still saw a lot of positives from the match from the Wisconsin perspective. Once she got going, I thought Simpson looked like the returning All-American that she is. Her connections with the middles were pretty good after some opening jitters. That is a great sign since they have not been practicing that long this spring. Wack is a crafty hitter and finally recorded a couple of blocks after slacking in that regard the first three years of her career. She had 26 digs for the night, including some really impressive saves, which is pretty good considering she was in the front row much of the night. In a moment she would like to forget, she tried a topspin jump serve that she also used last spring, tossed the ball, and....nothing. Oops. Since it is spring, even Pete had to laugh at that one.
I thought that the Badgers looked better than they did last spring, for what that is worth. Their blocking was much more solid. Carroll did a decent job there; she is pretty quick. UWM's incoming freshman left side hitter, Natalie Cherry, had a "welcome to college" type of night trying to hit against Reineke, with one kill and five errors. Mills was impressive digging cross court as Milwaukee tried to hit around the block. Berkley and McCormack didn't have their best nights ever but made some plays. Klingsporn didn't connect with the middles as well as Simpson, as might be expected, but I thought she did pretty well. She is quick and has a strong topspin jump serve. I think the redshirt year will really help her over the course of her career; she looked pretty comfortable running the offense.
The highlight of the night for Wisconsin, in my opinion, was the play of Dykstra on the right side. She still has work to do, but it was by far the best I have seen her play on a consistent basis. She had 17 kills and hit .306 for the night, hitting a couple of times from the left side and middle in addition to right side attacks. Near the end of the match, she was putting the ball down emphatically, even when it was obvious the ball was going to her. UWM really didn't have an answer for that; she was hitting at a really high point of contact and slamming the ball down. Having her on the right side looked like something that could work well in the fall. It would still leave the second middle slot open, but it does look like a viable option. Reineke and Dykstra do form a quite impressive block when in the front row together; for some reason, Milwaukee didn't really set the left side when they could avoid it in those rotations.
As for UWM, I am convinced that their NCAA tournament flameout against Iowa State was Kathy Litzau's nightmare scenario come to life, not an accurate indication of their talent. They are a pretty good team. Unfortunately for them, Moore and Hegemann, their two best hitters in this match, are out of eligibility. Still, if they can find replacements in the middle who are just decent, I think they can win the Horizon League again. Their back row defense was pretty impressive. They contained Dolgner, who only hit .169 (she did have 19 kills, though, because she is still really good), digging some balls that had vapor trails behind them. Lauren Felsing and Peters were especially impressive defensively. I thought Zaporski played well at setter, which will give them some options, maybe running some form of a 6-2 or moving Felsing back to a hitter position, assuming she is healthy in the fall. She didn't have any visible casts or braces, which is a good sign. As I said earlier, they made plays at crucial times at the ends of games to win them. Hegemann served the Badgers way out of their offense to win the second game, when Wisconsin got stuck with only Carroll and Wack in a two hitter rotation in the Panthers' big run, forcing Pete to change his rotations.
Anyway, I hope that the Badgers will play a bit more consistently as they move on through the spring. They showed that they could be a very good team, but they also had some breakdowns they need to address. I think the health of Jeffers is probably the Badgers' biggest concern going into the fall at this point; they don't need to risk that to win spring matches. I hope that Salow and DuPont will be back this spring to help their development. For a spring match, it wasn't too ugly; I have to give Milwaukee credit for a pretty good effort without their starting setter. They are just a solid program. I hope they go win an NCAA match somewhere other than Madison this year.
