It’s set to be a busy weekend for Iowa athletics across the board, including a road meeting for the volleyball team with No. 11 Wisconsin on Saturday night.
The Hawkeyes are coming off a home loss to No. 1 Penn State on Wednesday night, dropping them to 12-16 overall, 2-13 in the Big Ten. After having won two of their last three, they would have liked a better showing than the 3-0 sweep, but they can now turn their attention to a team ranked only 11th nationally.
The Badgers are 19-6 in 2015, fourth in the Big Ten at 11-4, and 10-2 at home. With that in mind, the Hawkeyes have seen them before, on Oct. 23, and should know what to expect in the rematch.
“Here we go, going to see Wisconsin for the second time this season,” Bond Shymansky said. “That’s what I think is significant for us is what adjustments and things will we do better the second go-round when we play teams, especially the teams that have beaten us.”
Wisconsin won the previous meeting in straight sets, and haven’t lost since, winning seven matches in a row. In the weeks since, the Badgers have proven to be one of the best two-way teams in the conference.
They use impeccable ball movement to not only lead the Big Ten in assists with 13.51 per set, but they have the terminal weapons to also lead with 14.19 kills per set and are third in attack percentage. As good as the offense is, however, the defense is what could be particularly worrisome for the Hawkeyes.
Coming off a match with 29 errors against Penn State, which Shymansky identified as far too many against such stout competition, it will be imperative that Iowa avoids unforced mistakes against the similarly stingy Badger defense.
Wisconsin is second in the Big Ten in opponent hitting percentage, third in blocks, and first in digs. In that breath, the Hawkeyes could use their error problems against Penn State as a timely nudge in the right direction.
“We’ve got to clean up a lot of our errors,” Lauren Brobst said. “From a first-contact standpoint, serving and passing, just clean it up all together.”
It was a lesson learned for the Hawkeyes, and it seems to have come at a convenient time.
The team has struggled with errors throughout the season but have won two of its last four, and with only a couple of weeks remaining to make something of 2015, they could benefit immensely from a better-late-than-never revelation down the home stretch of the season.
Heading to Wisconsin, it seems that they have.
“We’ve definitely learned that first contact and serving and the little details are what’s going to make us get the win,” Jess Janota said.
First serve is set for 7 p.m.
