INSIDE
VOLLEYBALL
BY DIANE NORDSTROM
@BADGERVBALL
SCHEDULE (14-2, 3-1)
LAST FOUR
Sept. 27 #20 Purdue
Sept. 28 Indiana
Oct. 2
at Iowa
Oct. 5
at #10 Nebraska
W, 3-0
W, 3-1
W, 3-1
L, 2-3
COMING UP
Friday
at #14 Ohio State
6 p.m.
Saturday at #4 Penn State 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 18 #17 Michigan
7 p.m.
Oct. 20 #7 Michigan State 1 p.m.
Junior Deme Morales's
31-inch vertical jump has
earned her a starting role.
Big Ten proving it's the
toughest conference
Eight teams ranked in top 25 of coaches poll
irst-year head coach Kelly Sheffield couldn't have
picked a tougher time to
start coaching in the Big Ten
Conference.
"I talked to a couple of coaches last night who thought this
is the best the conference has
ever been this year," Sheffield
said. "From top to bottom, and
I've only been following this
just kind of as an outsider, but
F
46
//
VARSITY October 10, 2013
it certainly seems tough to me."
Four of five matches played
on Oct. 5 went to five sets with
No. 14 Michigan downing Illinois, 3-2. No. 12 Ohio State defeated unranked Indiana, 3-2,
while No. 8 Minnesota edged
11th-place Iowa 3-2. The 23rdranked Badgers also lost in five
at No. 10 Nebraska and No. 5
Penn State squeaked by No. 24
Purdue in five sets.
RANKED 13TH IN RPI
● The Badgers are ranked 13th in the
first NCAA RPI, released Oct. 7. The
RPI is one of the primary tools used
by the NCAA committee to select
teams to the tournament.
The Big Ten dominates the rankings with eight teams in the top 30,
led by fifth-ranked Penn State. Nebraska (seventh) and Michigan State
(ninth) are the only other conference
teams in the top 10. Wisconsin is the
fourth Big Ten team with Ohio State
(21st), Illinois (22nd), Minnesota
(24th) and Michigan (27th) rounding out the top 30.
MIGHTY JUMP
● A 31-inch vertical jump has earned
junior Deme Morales a starting role
at outside hitter.
Since starting vs. Kansas on Sept.
13, Morales has put away 2.97 kills
per set over the last 10 matches. She
has recorded 10 or more kills in seven of those matches. Morales adds
2.60 digs per set, tallying doublefigure digs in six matches.
She has also become one of UW's
primary serve receivers, getting
aced only nine times in 256 receptions.
