December 09, 2005
The 11th-seeded Wisconsin Badgers (26-6) advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championships with a 30-25, 28-30, 30-25, 25-30, 15-9 victory over No. 6-seed Notre Dame (30-4) Friday evening at G. Rollie White Coliseum on the Texas A&M campus.
With the win Wisconsin, Big Ten runners-up, moved into to the round of eight for the second straight year and awaits the winner of Friday's other regional semifinal between No. 3-seed Washington and No. 14-seed Purdue. The Irish, Big East champions, end the year after making their first trip to the round of 16 since 1997.
Wisconsin, who has beaten Notre Dame in all three of the schools' previous NCAA meetings, took the initial lead in the match with a 30-25 game one victory.
The Badgers used an 8-1 run early in the game to take a 14-5 lead. Wisconsin maintained the big lead late into the game before Notre Dame fought back.
Trailing by five and two points shy of losing the game, the Irish used a kill by freshman Mallorie Croal and a smash of an overpass by senior All-American Lauren Brewster-one of her eight kills in the game-to climb within three at 28-25.
Wisconsin responded, reaching game point on freshman Audra Jeffers' fifth kill of the game, then won when Brewster was called in the net.
Notre Dame took a 16-10 lead in the second game before Wisconsin's Aubrey Meierotto and Taylor Reinecke teamed for back-to-back blocks. Following a timeout, the Irish scored the next four points to extend their lead to eight.
The Badgers battled back and pulled within one at 24-23 but could not take the lead, despite posting nine blocks in the game.
Meierotto teamed with Sheila Shaw to block UW's Lauren Klebley and tie the game at 28, but the ensuing serve by Jackie Simpson sailed long and gave the Irish game point. Croal found the back line on a roll shot on the next rally for a 30-28 Notre Dame win, tying the match at one.
The Badgers used a quick start in the third game to propel them to a 30-25 victory and a 2-1 match lead.
Meierotto and Maria Carlini served Wisconsin to a quick 11-4 lead out of the locker room. The Irish would get as close as one at 16-15 before the Badgers eventually extended their lead to five on a block by Meierotto at 26-21. The teams would side out the rest of the way with Carlini providing the final point on her 15th kill of the night.
Trailing 14-9 in the fourth game, Wisconsin scored six straight points to take a 15-14 lead. After Carlini's sixth block of the match put the Badgers up four, 21-17, Notre Dame began its own comeback.
The Irish went on a 10-3 run to take a 27-24 lead. After a kill by Jeffers cut the lead to two, Notre Dame scored the final three points to win the game, 30-25. Irish outside hitter Adrianna Stasiuk accounted for the final two points, notching a kill off the back row before blocking a Badger tip attempt on the next point.
Wisconsin took a quick 7-3 lead in the fifth game and did not allow Notre Dame to get closer than three points the rest of the way. The Badgers put the game away when back-to-back Irish errors gave UW a 12-6 lead and forced a Notre Dame timeout. Carlini followed the timeout with her 21st kill of the night to put the Badgers up 13-6. With Wisconsin leading 14-8, Brewster notched a kill to keep the match alive but the ensuing serve by Meg Henican went into the net to end the match.
For the match Wisconsin out-hit Notre Dame, .264 to .179, and out-blocked the Irish 18.5 to 12. The Badgers placed five players in double-figure kills led by Carlini's 22. Wack led the defense with a career-high 36 digs.
Notre Dame was paced by Croal and Kelbley with 18 kills apiece.
Postgame Notes
Postgame Notes
NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH DEBBIE BROWN: opening Statement... "It's the end of the season, and we're reeling a little bit right now. We're very disappointed obviously, because we wanted to keep playing. At the same time we're proud of our season. Give Wisconsin a lot of credit. They played well tonight. All I can say is that we wish we were still playing tomorrow. We knew coming in that they were a very balanced offensive team and that we were going to have to take some chances. Their outside hitters did get a lot of outside looks one-on-one. Their middles were strong. It's tough to defend against a team that's as balanced as Wisconsin is."
On Unforced Errors ... "I don't have an explanation for it. We had a lot. We felt like we didn't play well all night. We felt like we were struggling, and that's disappointing. It's disappointing to lose, but it's even more disappointing to feel like you could have played better. I think Wisconsin put a lot of pressure on us and maybe they caused some of that. I think we had uncharacteristically high errors tonight."
On The Fifth Game ... "The team has a lot of confidence in each other and the individual play. We felt like we found a good combination starting off with Adrianna (Stasiuk) serving and being able to score well in game four. That was our strategy going into game five. Unfortunately, it didn't work out as well for us."
NOTRE DAME SENIOR MB LAUREN BREWSTER: "I don't know if we can offer an explanation, because if we had one, we could have corrected it. I do know that we're really disappointed. We started out with such high expectations for the season. We didn't play as well as we wanted to tonight. We fought really hard, even at the end of game five when we were down. I'm really proud of our team for that."
NOTRE DAME SENIOR OH LAUREN KELBLEY: "I am very proud of our team, and I'm disappointed that we won't be playing tomorrow. I love my teammates, and this was a wonderful season. I had a great four years here at Notre Dame."
WISCONSIN HEAD COACH PETE WAITE: Opening Statement... "It was a battle out there tonight; both teams came out with great records. We went head to head and we were up, we were feeling good and then they came back. They have some great athletes on that team; they were digging a lot of great balls also. I was proud of our kids for the way they came back and got the momentum back on our side of the net for the fifth game, and that's why they play five. Jocelyn (Wack) had a great match, with 36 digs that really kept us in the game. I don't think it was a night where we played our best, I think we've got more inside us that we've seen more in the season, so hopefully we'll see that tomorrow night."
On balance attack... "It's been a strength for us this year. We don't have any one person that's been dominating every night where they're getting 20 or 30 kills. But we're beating teams because we're hard to shut down in different areas. They don't know if we're coming from the left, middle or right. We've got strong players in each area. I think every team sometimes has weaknesses, but I think we're balanced. That's real important this time of the year."
On having the momentum ... "I think there were times they tried to hide their setters, because they're shorter players. A point of attack for us is to go after her. I thought once we got going, more in the second and third games, we started our middle going. There were times they put a big block on the right side, with two 6'3 players out there it was pretty hard to get around. But overall I thought Jackie (Simpson) did a nice job setting. And by the stats, we had a great balance in the attack."
On drawing one-on-one attack... "That was our plan, we hoped we could set the middle a few times, and then go outside with it, and they were going to just be jumping up and down. What Notre Dame did well was make good digs off those one-on-ones; I think that's what they been doing all season. That's what we saw on tape, that's what we thought was part of their plan. Sometimes they were committing on the middle, if they didn't get there, they'd get a one-on-one on the outside and dig it. They made some big plays that way."
WISCONSIN JUNIOR OH MARIA CARLINI: On winning the first game... "I thought we came out on fire. It's the Sweet Sixteen, one match elimination, so we just came out on fire. We lost it in the second and the fourth game, but we fought back hard. We always want to come out strong. Coach always tells us to stay aggressive, come out aggressive and intimidate the other team."
WISCONSIN SENIOR OH AUBREY MEIEROTTO: On intimidating Notre Dame... "I don't know about that. I think we did come out very aggressive, and when teams come out like that it does intimidate the other team."
WISCONSIN SOPHOMORE L JOCELYN WACK: On serving her the first game... "I wasn't surprised. I was struggling a lot the first game, that's probably why they continued do that for so long. Maria (Carlini), Amanda (Berkley) and Megan (Mills) pass great too, and I struggled early. That's probably why they picked on me a little bit more than usual."
On Defense... "That's something we've been priding a lot since spring season. We take a lot of pride in our defense; it's something we've been working on since pre-season. The blocking too, the blocking is a big part of the digs I get. You have got to give a lot of credit to the block, sometimes it makes it really easy."