The UW volleyball team proved this weekend that they have the both the strength and the depth to repeat as Big Ten champs.

The Badgers suffered a tremendous loss last Friday when sophomore OH Lisa Zukowski went down with what was ultimately found to be a season-ending knee injury.

Before the injury, Zukowski was averaging 3.54 kills per game (second best on the team), 2.33 digs per game (third-best on the team), and a team-high 26 service aces for the season.

The loss of Zukowski was a definite blow to the previously unstoppable UW front line, but the Badgers have shown just how dangerous they can be despite losing a major player.

Freshman Jill Odenthal stepped into the starting front line for the first time at home this weekend. In her Field House debut she proved that she is able to jump into the front line at mid-season and be a major offensive and defensive factor.

For the weekend, Odenthal recorded 21 kills in the Badgers’ victories over Illinois and Indiana. A lefty, Odenthal has been a difficult player for defenses to block, and has provided a new threat to the already-impressive Badger offense.

Along with Odenthal, junior Amy Hultgren has stepped up her play the past few weeks and has proved to be a formidable middle-blocker in the absence of senior All-American Sherisa Livingston.

Hultgren transferred to UW this season and has picked up on the Badgers’ fast style of offense in a very short period of time. Hultgren recorded 19 kills this past weekend, and leads the team in overall blocking. The tallest player on the team at 6-foot-3, Hultgren has been both a defensive and offensive force all season.

Wisconsin head coach Pete Waite praised his team on their impressive play this weekend and also noted the good play of the many newcomers.

“I thought [the Indiana win] was great,” Waite said. “Odenthal did well again tonight, and Marian Weidner was able to get in toward the end, and that says a lot about our team maintaining our level of play when we are making a few switches in there.”

Also important for the Badgers during a lineup transition is leadership, and they are certainly not in short supply of that this season.

Junior OH Erin Byrd commented on how she and her older teammates are helping the newcomers adjust to the UW style of play.

“With Zukowski gone we are much more of a younger team,” Byrd said. ” So I just want to be sure that I keep stepping up my hitting, and make sure I’m a leader out there.”

Along with Byrd, the new players have seniors Lizzy Fitzgerald and Livingston to help ease the transition into the Badger style of play.

No one on the team denies that the loss of a player like Zukowski was a major blow for UW, but they are all confident that the team will survive and continue to strive toward their goals of repeating as Big Ten Champs and making it back to the national championship game. With half of the season over and with the team as focused as ever, the Badgers are in a great position to reach those goals.