Sweet Sixteen

UW volleyball team stays home in NCAA tourney

Heather Dodaro (32) spikes a ball over University of Central Florida players during a second-round match Sunday. Dodaro was one of four Wisconsin players named to the All-Big Ten Team this year. At left, Amy Lee (15) and Kelly Kennedy (17), also All-Big Ten honorees, join Coach John Cook to answer questions from the media following the Badgers’ victory Sunday. The win sends the Badgers to the Sweet Sixteen round of the tournament, to be played this weekend at the Field House.

For the second consecutive year, the Wisconsin volleyball team will advance to a National Collegiate Athletic Association regional tournament round, and for the first time UW will host that event.

The fourth-seeded Badgers (29-2) swept Central Florida (28-4) in second-round action, 15-7, 15-8, 15-13, Sunday to advance. It was Wisconsin’s 500th match victory in its 24-year history.

Wisconsin will play Notre Dame (25-8) on Dec. 13 at 6 p.m., while Florida (32-3) will play Washington State (26-6) in the opening match at 4 p.m. The winners play Sunday at 1 p.m. for the regional championship and a trip to the Final Four in Spokane, Wash.

Tickets are available in advance only in two-day packages (first and second rounds) at Gate B of the UW Field House. Single-day tickets will not be sold until the day of the semifinals (Dec. 13). Two-day packages and single-day tickets, respectively, are $12 and $7 for reserved, $10 and $6 for general admission, $6 and $5 for students and senior citizen general admission and $4 and $3 for children under 12 general admission.

“I’m glad that Central Florida played really hard tonight,” said UW coach John Cook after Wisconsin’s win. “We needed a good tough battle and they made us play hard tonight. This was a good match for us and we should get some momentum out of this.”

Wisconsin used its height to dominate Central Florida, hitting 31 percent and tallying 58 kills compared to 17 percent hitting and 44 kills for the Golden Knights. Kelly Kennedy, a 6-foot-4 middle blocker, tied for match-high honors with 15 kills while the Badgers’ Amy Lee and Kate Fitzgerald each put down 11 kills.

The Badgers showed one of their greatest strengths at the service line where they had 10 aces including a career-high five from Colleen Neels. Neels added 46 assists in running the Wisconsin offense.

“We were definitely serving very tough,” said Cook. “Ten aces, and 13 (service) errors-that’s all-world in college volleyball. We really stressed them with our serve and kept them off balance.”

Cook, who was named the Big Ten Co-Coach of the Year, sharing honors with Penn State’s Ruse Rose, said he’s looking forward to playing Notre Dame in the regional semifinals. “I think we’ll have a chance to prepare this week and when we have a chance to prepare, we do a real good job,” said Cook. “I know Notre Dame will probably be pretty motivated to come in here after we beat them earlier this year at their place. I think it’s going to be a great match. When you get down to the final 16 teams in the NCAA tournament, it’s going to be war ball every point.”