Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.
Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/284355
28 // VARSITY March 27, 2014 BADGERING MARY MASSEI A unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection last season after setting UW school re- cords in batting average (.421), slugging percentage (.672) and hits (82), senior Mary Massei is a leader at the plate for the Badgers once again and became the program's all-time hits leader on March 15. Heading into this weekend's home-opening series with Iowa at Goodman Diamond, Massei ranks third in the Big Ten in slugging (.726) and 10th in batting average (.393) with five home runs and nine doubles to her credit. What have you enjoyed most about this season so far? "I think it's just great traveling with the team. We haven't had any home games yet and getting to travel with the team, and even getting to know the freshmen more and more as the weeks go by, that's what I love because I'm from California and this is my family away from home. I love traveling with the team and getting to know everyone on a closer basis." Has a tough preseason schedule prepared the team for Big Ten play? "It was definitely something we all knew coming into the season: we were going to have one of the hardest schedules ever put together (at Wisconsin). But we embraced the challenge and talked a lot of strategy with the team, just knowing that we were going to have tough games and recognizing that we may not have the best record going into conference play. But it's tough games and teams that we're playing that's going to prepare us for conference. So, after having that tough of a preseason, we definitely have a better mindset and mentality." What are the team's goals for the conference season? "We're definitely excited. We just had our opener against Northwestern and we were able to get one (win) from them, which is really big be- cause they're a ranked team. We're just excited to keep playing well and working during the week to get as many signature wins as we can. We know we're playing a lot of great teams like Northwestern, Michigan, Nebraska and Minnesota. They're all ranked right now and we're just excited to play them and to see how we do." What does it mean to you to be Wisconsin's all-time hits leader? "I wanted to come to a team where we had to work hard to build our legacy. And to just know that I've been a part of this team for four years and have been putting in hard work, it's nice to see things paying off (individually) along with our team accomplishments." How do you want to be remembered at Wisconsin? "I think, speaking for the rest of my senior class, we all wanted to come in and change this program. And we wanted to be a part of the legacy of building the culture of UW softball. I think that's how I want to be remembered. Partly by helping to change and build up the program, but also as the coaching staff 's first freshman class to graduate. We are lucky that we got these coaches and are so blessed that they have helped so much with the changing of this program. I think I can speak for my senior class when I say we came because we wanted to be the change. And I think that's what we want to leave after we graduate." Favorite meal? Grandma's spaghetti Favorite athlete? Mike Trout Twitter or Facebook? Facebook Favorite vacation spot? Needles, Calif. Early bird or night owl? Both QUICK Q'S WITH MARY