#1 Wisconsin @ Northwestern: Fri 9/22/23, 7 PM CT (BTN+)

[rainbowbadger]

Wisconsin vs. Northwestern

Friday, Sept. 22, 2023 7 PM Central

Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Illinois

Thus begins the meat grinder that is Big Ten conference play. The Badgers are embarking on their quest for a fifth straight Big Ten title. The Wildcats are hoping to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time in more than a decade. These teams faced off for the conference opener last year, too, but that time, Temi Thomas-Ailara was wearing purple. This time, she will be wearing red. 

7-0, 0-0 B1G		6-4, 0-0 B1G

Follow Along

🎟: NUSports.com

📺: B1G ($)

🎧: FoxSports 1070 AM Madison

📊: StatBroadcast


Players to Watch


Wisconsin

#13 - OH Sarah Franklin 6-4 R-JR		#9 - MB Caroline Crawford 6-3 SR		#5 - MB/RS Devyn Robinson 6-2 SR
#12 - OH Temi Thomas-Ailara 6-2 GR		#52 - MB Carter Booth 6-7 SO		#14 - MB/RS Anna Smrek 6-9 JR

Northwestern

#5 - OH Julia Sangiacomo 6-5 GR		#7 - MB Leilani Dodson 6-1 SR		#5 - S Alexa Rousseau 6-3 SR
#4 - OH Maddy Chinn 6-3 GR		#6 - L Ellee Stinson 5-2 JR		#18 - OH Kathryn Randorf 6-1 SO

History

The Series: Wisconsin leads 58-29
In Madison: Wisconsin leads 31-9
In Evanston: Wisconsin leads 26-12
Neutral: Northwestern leads 8-1
The Streak: Wisconsin has won the last 12
Last Meeting: Wisconsin swept Northwestern on 9/23/2022 in Madison.


Did you know…?

Northwestern University and the University of Denver share a founder, John Evans, for whom Evanston is named. Evans, a physician by training, moved to Chicago to teach at Rush Medical College. While living there, he invested heavily in real estate and railroads, establishing sufficient wealth to cease the practice of medicine and turn full-time to those ventures, as well as politics. In 1850 he donated land and funds to establish Northwestern University, and was elected the first president of its board of trustees. An avowed abolitionist, he was elected to the Chicago City Council in 1853 and later helped found the Illinois Republican Party, campaigning for Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 Presidential election. For this he was rewarded with an appointment to the governorship of the Territory of Colorado in 1862. He moved to Denver and founded the territory's first college, the Colorado Seminary, which would later become University of Denver.


John Evans

Evans was instrumental in connecting Colorado to the coasts by railroad, with a goal of growing the (white) population of the territory. He enforced treaties that forced the indigenous people of Colorado - the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Kowa, Ute, and Sioux - onto reservations. Believing he had to rid Eastern Colorado of Native Americans in order to win a bid to the US Senate, in 1864 he ordered all "peaceful" Natives in the region to report to various military forts and surrender for their "safety and protection." Those who did not were "hostile" and should be "pursued and destroyed," and he raised a 100-day militia to lead the purge. A group of Cheyenne and Arapaho people, led by Chief Mo'ôhtavetoo'o ("Black Kettle"), presented themselves to Fort Lyon in November 1864 as instructed, and were told to camp along the Sand Creek. Reluctant to see hostilities abate before they had scored a decisive victory, the militia attacked the Sand Creak encampment at dawn on November 29, 1864. Most of the Native men were away hunting at the time, but the militiamen were indifferent; they slaughtered around 200 people - primarily women, children, and elders - and mutilated their corpses. As word got out about the massacre, Evans' political hopes were dashed and he was forced to resign the governorship. He returned to life as a railroad magnate.


Cheyenne Chief Mo'ôhtavetoo'o, known as "Black Kettle"

For the last decade, Northwestern's Office of Native American and Indigenous Initiatives has committed to engaging this history and working towards the present and future wellbeing of Cheyenne and Arapaho people and of the Indigenous peoples on whose ancestral homelands the university sits. As part of that, they commissioned a short film about Sand Creek Massacre, featuring descendants of its survivors: Only the Mountains and the Earth.

[robtearle]

Last Wednesday, Northwestern played UIC. It went five sets, and UIC won. UIC won the 4th set 25-10.

[savannahbadger]

Need to see a sweep here. Can we get it done in an hour? Not sure how much, if any, of this match I’ll be able to watch.

[badgerbadgerbadger]

This would be a good opponent to try some things out (Damrow at L), because I'm still unconvinced our current lineup's ceiling is a natty.

[badgerbyproxy]

Northwestern has some good pieces, but he hasn’t really been able to put them together just yet. I’m just wanting TTA to go off on her old team

[mibadger]

Sept 18, 2023 23:04:24 GMT -5 badgerbadgerbadger said:

This would be a good opponent to try some things out (Damrow at L), because I'm still unconvinced our current lineup's ceiling is a natty.

I think we see GG back at L and Orzol start and play thru a few rotations and then maybe TTA in front and Julia in the back row. Or they do some load management and sit Franklin for the night.

[pull3]

TTA playing against her old school is fun.

[badgerbreath]

I wonder if Sheffield decides not to play TTA against NW. He may chose to start Orzol and try a different lineup in the back row.

EDIT: I don't think this is likely, but Indiana is next, and I could see preparing for their serves with a pass centered lineup, while also not having TTA play her old team.

[InTheKnow]

Wisc is lucky it’s getting a soft start. Still have things to figure out. Like most I guess.

[chibadgerfan]

I’m not sure I agree with all of the hand wringing. It seems like we are spending points figuring out the opponents’ tactics to counter our size advantage, then countering them, while at the same time the opponent tires out due to our size advantage. Fortunately we have a size advantage over every team.

[knapplc]

NU Lite shocks the world with a sweep.

[rainbowbadger]

Links & Fun Facts Bump!

[Wiswell]

Any one driving down for this match? I just bought my tickets. I will be staying with a friend after for a nice Chicagoland weekend.

[rainbowbadger]

Game day bump!

It’s been a very long couple of weeks for the Rainbow fam, so we will be watching from home.

[badgerbreath]

Regarding the "Fun" facts, I always find it hard to square the abolitionism of some union soldiers and politicians from the civil war and reconstruction eras with their eagerness for blatant indigenous genocide. Chivington was a dedicated abolitionist along with Evans. It's even more stark because American society and institutions at large absolutely knew that what happened at Sand Creek was morally evil at the time.

From the investigation by the joint committee on the conduct of the war (a congressional oversight body during the civil war)....

"As to Colonel Chivington, your committee can hardly find fitting terms to describe his conduct. Wearing the uniform of the United States, which should be the emblem of justice and humanity; holding the important position of commander of a military district, and therefore having the honor of the government to that extent in his keeping, he deliberately planned and executed a foul and dastardly massacre which would have disgraced the veriest savage among those who were the victims of his cruelty [note: Damn. They still cannot resist using "savage" here!!]. Having full knowledge of their friendly character, having himself been instrumental to some extent in placing them in their position of fancied security, he took advantage of their in-apprehension and defenceless condition to gratify the worst passions that ever cursed the heart of man.

Whatever influence this may have had upon Colonel Chivington, the truth is that he surprised and murdered, in cold blood, the unsuspecting men, women, and children on Sand creek, who had every reason to believe they were under the protection of the United States authorities, and then returned to Denver and boasted of the brave deed he and the men under his command had performed."

The only price Evans, Chivington and others involved paid was loss of position and future political aspirations. No one was ever charged. By contrast, a lieutenant who testified against them, (a virulent abolitionist from Kansas named Silas Soule who refrained from participating in the massacre) was murdered a couple months after the hearing ended, possibly in response to his testimony.

Someone should write a novel based on Soule. He sounds like an incredibly interesting person who led a crazy life in a crazy time.