Six takeaways from Wisconsin-Marquette women’s volleyball scrimmage
- Advertisement -
OCONOMOWOC – Not even the threat of a tornado and heavy rain kept the crowd away.
With the heavy storm audible inside the Oconomowoc High School fieldhouse, a packed house watched the Marquette and Wisconsin women’s volleyball teams scrimmage Friday night. The matchup pitted the defending champions from the Big Ten and Big East, teams that will likely be favored to win the title in their respective leagues this upcoming season.
Wisconsin swept the meeting, 25-17, 25-13, 25-14, though at this time of year the goal is more on development than wins and losses.
Here are six takeaways from the scrimmage:
Wisconsin’s Carter Booth comfortable in debut
The scrimmage was the first look fans had at Minnesota transfer Carter Booth. The 6-foot-7 rising sophomore middle blocker finished with seven kills and eight blocks and her 11 points were second on the team to Devyn Robinson, who had 12.5 thanks to 10 kills and five blocks..
The Badgers will be field a number of combinations in the front row that bring great size. Nothing illustrated that more than the times Booth was on the floor with 6-9 Anna Smrek.
“It felt great out there,” Booth said. “We came with the fire and the energy that we committed ourselves to coming with to every practice and every single game. The one thing that stood out to me is that we’re already such a tight-knit group, but out there when you’re in a battle it’s easy to fall apart from each other, but we didn’t do that.”
Marquette’s Samantha Naber, Adriana Studer compete for libero jersey
The Golden Eagles return most of their top players from last season. One void, however, is the departure of libero Carly Skrabek, who is now a graduate transfer at Cincinnati.
Samantha Naber, a rising junior, and Adriana Studer, a rising sophomore, shared that role Friday. Naber totaled nine digs while playing the first and third sets; Studer recorded two digs in the second set.
The competition between the two will likely continue throughout the spring and the team’s tour of Europe this summer.
“They were a freshman and sophomore last year and they’re doing better,” Marquette coach Ryan Theis said. “You can see it in practice, you can see it statistically.”
Wisconsin’s defense delivers
The Badgers ranked fifth in the nation last season in opponent hitting percentage (.144). Friday they held Marquette to negative hitting percentages in the first and third sets and to -.059 for the match. A lot of the credit for that goes to the Badgers’ block – UW had 22 in the match – and back row defense that UW coach Kelly Sheffield felt improved as the match progressed. Libero Gulce Guctekin finished with a match-high 13 digs, while Julia Orzol had 10.
“Marquette can be a real handful because of how fast they’re running their tempo,” Sheffield said. “They can really give you some issues … that’s a really good offense to be able to hold them to that. That’s not something that you certainly expect.”
Marquette’s Anastasija Svetnik…
Read More: Six takeaways from Wisconsin-Marquette women’s volleyball scrimmage 2023-04-01 15:22:33