Wisconsin Athletics Weekend Review

It was a busy weekend for the Wisconsin Badgers in a variety of the major sports. It was the first weekend without football, which was a struggle in itself, but there was plenty of other action to make up for it. It was an exciting time for three of Wisconsin’s most popular sports as the Men’s Basketball team took on its in state rival, the Women’s Volleyball team fought for a trip to the final four, and the Men’s Hockey team began Big Ten Conference play. In case you missed any of the action, here’s a review of some of the big moments in Wisconsin athletics this weekend.

Wisconsin Men’s Basketball

The Men’s Basketball team took on a familiar foe on Saturday afternoon in the Battle of 1-94 as the Badgers took on in state rival Marquette. The rivalry between Wisconsin-Marquette is a very underrated rivalry as its always a quality test for both teams before heading to conference play. This year was however seem to heat the rivalry even more as the Badgers looked for revenge against the Eagles after Marquette came to the Kohl Center last season and defeated the Badgers 57-55.

The same result would not come to light as the Badgers exploded for 58 points in the second half to defeat the Golden Eagles 93-84. The persona of slow methodical basketball may no longer fit the mold of the Badgers as Wisconsin is putting up monster points against quality opponents. The Badgers have one five in a row and have put up 90+ points in three of the last five in a large part due to their usual stars. Nigel Hayes led the Badgers in scoring with 17 points, while center Vitto Brown put up 15. The Badgers are playing some of their best basketball right now, and with two games to play until the conference opener, Wisconsin will hope to continue that over the course of the next two weeks.

Wisconsin Women’s Volleyball

The Wisconsin Women’s volleyball also had an exciting weekend as the Badgers battled it out for a possible trip to the Final Four. It was a mixed weekend of emotions for the Badgers as both Friday and Saturday brought about excitement and disappointment in the bitter end.

The Badgers took on Ohio State in the regional semifinal at the Fieldhouse in Madison on Friday. It was a back and fourth game as the Badgers took the first set, before dropping the next two, and winning the final two to win in five sets over the Buckeyes. The back and fourth action was one of the most exciting atmospheres the Fieldhouse had seen in years, and with the victory it took the Badgers to the Elite Eight to take on Stanford.

While Friday brought about excitement, Saturday was a different story as the Badgers suffered an heart breaking loss vs the Stanford Cardinal. The Badgers took control of the match early as they won the first two sets, before Stanford went on a rally to comeback and steal a victory from Wisconsin. Its an end of an era for Wisconsin Volleyball as star players like Lauren Carlini played their final match on Saturday. Carlini said “It’s hard to believe its over” when asked about her impressive four year career at UW.

Wisconsin Men’s Hockey

The Badgers Men’s Hockey team also had an exciting weekend as the Badgers opened up Big Ten play on the road at Michigan. The Badgers have had a positive start to the season as they were off to the best start in recent years under first year coach Tony Granato. The Badgers split the weekend series with the Wolverines.

The Friday Night result was much more exciting for Wisconsin as the Badgers rallied from a two goal deficit to eventually come away with a 7-4 victory. In the second period the Badgers rallied for five goals in the frame to pull ahead 6 to 3 which would hold on to be enough for the victory.

Saturday night was much more disappointing for the Badgers as Wisconsin dropped the result 4-1 against the Wolverines. The Badgers have yet to sweep a weekend series, which will be the next step for the young Badgers in trying to rebuild the once dominate program. The Badgers have been impressive so far this season, and could eventually crack the Top 20 if they are able to pick up some quality Big Ten wins over the next two weekends as the Badgers will play host to Michigan State and Minnesota over the next two weeks. The Spartans are predicted to finish at the bottom of the conference with Ohio State, so the Badgers will have an opportunity to sweep before taking on 11th ranked Minnesota in a border battle.