IU prepared for weekend matches

Looking to double their win total of a year ago, the Hoosiers (15-7, 5-5), head north to face the No. 15 ranked Wisconsin Badgers in Madison on Friday night and the Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday night in Evanston. \nIU has won four out of five Big Ten matches, their only loss coming last Saturday night against the No. 8 Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Hoosiers are one game back of third place Wisconsin heading into Friday's match. \nSophomore outside hitter Christina Archibald continues to lead the team in kills with a 4.40 kills per game average, while sophomore setter and team assist record-holder Victoria Zimmerman leads the team with 13.64 assists per game. As a team, IU is averaging over two more kills and assists a game than their opponents. Junior middle blocker Melissa Brewer has played strong as of late and is now second on the team behind Archibald with 3.64 kills per game. \nHeading into Friday night's tilt, the Badgers will have revenge on their minds. Earlier this season, IU upset Wisconsin 3-2 behind 25 kills from Brewer. Wisconsin is led by senior outside hitter Erin Byrd, who is averaging over four kills a game. \nAs a team, the Badgers are second in the Big Ten with over 17 kills per game. One player trying to stop Byrd and the Badger attack will be sophomore Hoosier middle blocker Katie Pollom. \nPollom said IU will need to play as a complete team to compromise the explosive Badger offense.\n"We know they are a very strong team," Pollom said. "We can have the best offense in the world, but if we cannot block well, it will not matter."\nWisconsin is coming off a historic 3-2 win against traditional powerhouse Penn State. It was the Badger's first win ever over the Nittany Lions. They lead the overall series against IU 30-18. \nStraight down I-90, the Hoosiers will roll into Evanston for their match against the scrappy Wildcats on Saturday night. \nNorthwestern (13-9, 6-4) has been good enough for a third place tie in the Big Ten. The Wildcats beat the Hoosiers 3-2 Oct. 11 in Bloomington. The team is led by juniors Erika Lange and Iwona Lodzik, who are averaging 4.26 kills per game and 3.11 digs per game respectively. Northwestern owns a 5-3 record at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston. IU leads the overall series against the Wildcats 25-18. \nCoach Katie Weismiller said her team is looking for revenge.\n"Northwestern is a huge match for us -- they got us in our home court and we would certainly like to return the favor," Weismiller said. "Northwestern is a good team. We have to figure out how to take them out of their offense, and we need to do a much better job of shutting them down."\nBrewer said she is confident the Hoosiers will have a different mental approach than their first meeting.\n"We came into the Northwestern game expecting to win and when it was close we got frustrated," Brewer said. "We have learned our lesson from the first game against NU."\nCurrently, IU is stuck in the middle of the jam-packed Big Ten standings. In seventh place, IU is only one game behind numerous third place teams, making every conference game critical. \nWeismiller said although the conference is tough, the team's goals are still attainable. \n"We want to keep fighting to climb out of this pack," Weismiller said. "We are respecting every team in this league"