'This kid is on a mission': Julia Orzol playing at a higher level highlights our midweek review of Wisconsin volleyball

A weekly update on the University of Wisconsin volleyball team:

IN THE POLL

Wisconsin splits first two Big Ten matches

Wisconsin dropped two spots to No. 8 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll after splitting matches with Northwestern and Minnesota during the first weekend of Big Ten play. The Badgers (7-3, 1-1) swept Northwestern at home Friday and lost at Minnesota, 3-0, on Sunday.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

No sophomore slump for Wisconsin's Julia Orzol, the Big Ten freshman of the year in 2021

The 6-foot outside hitter from Poland, last year’s Big Ten freshman of the year, has been a consistent force in the Badgers’ attack. Last week she hit .383 (23 kills, five errors, 47 total attacks). She posted double-digit kills in both matches to give her five double-digit kill performances this season, which is second on the team to Sarah Franklin. The efforts pushed her hitting percentage for the season to .305.

“She went and trained with her national team during the summer and the strength that this kid is playing with and freedom she is playing with is at a totally different level than it was a year ago,” Badgers coach Kelly Sheffield said. “She’s playing at a really high level but all of that has come through really purposeful work.  This kid is on a mission and we’ve seen that from the very first day. She hasn’t let up.”

THE BALANCE OF THE BIG TEN AND OTHER NOTES

Ups and downs: Wisconsin wasn’t the only ranked team to experience the highs and lows of Big Ten play during the first week of league action. Two other ranked teams, Penn State and Minnesota, won and loss by sweep. Another ranked team, Ohio State, also came out of the week with a 1-1 record.

Six of the conference's teams are ranked among the top 11 nationally.

“That’s what makes this conference so gnarly,” Sheffield said. “It’s never the end of the world after a loss and you’ve never arrived after a win. You’ve got another one that is coming right around the corner. You’ve got to be a competitive junkie to want to be around it.”

Great service: For the past three matches, a UW player has established a career high for aces. Junior MJ Hammill had five against Northwestern and Franklin set her career high (five) against Minnesota. Freshman Gulce Guctekin started the run with six aces in a sweep of Rhode Island Sept. 18.

“We’ve had a lot of different people have moments of being really good and now our challenge as we move toward the middle part of our season is can we be more consistent with it,” Sheffield said

Focus doesn't change: When asked what was at the top of his list to work in practice following the loss to Minnesota, Sheffield said what he usually says after a win.

"No matter if you're winning or losing, when you're coaching, you're always in the mindset of we've got to find ways to get better...," he said. "That part of it doesn't really change. Ever."

BY THE NUMBERS

8 Consecutive matches with at least 10 digs for Guctekin, who ranks eighth in the Big Ten with an average of 3.71 digs per set.

4 Matches with hitting percentages of .400 or better for Danielle Hart and Devyn Robinson, the most on the team.

.356 Hitting percentage for Minnesota against Wisconsin, the highest for a Badgers opponent this season.

12 Consecutive wins for UW over Northwestern with 10 coming in straight sets.

2018 Last time Minnesota defeated the Badgers before its win Sunday.

COMING UP

Two home matches on tap this week

Vs. No. 12 Penn State 8 p.m. Friday (BTN): The Nittany Lions, picked during the preseason to finish fifth in the conference, opened the season with 12 straight wins before getting swept at home against Michigan Saturday. They have victories over two teams ranked in the poll this week: No. 9 Stanford and No. 16 Oregon.

Vs. Illinois, 1 p.m. Sunday (BTN+): Illinois opened Big Ten play with a 3-1 win over Maryland Friday and a sweep of Northwestern on Saturday. The team is 7-5 overall. Junior outside hitter Raina Terry ranks fourth in the league in scoring with 4.53 points per set.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Player of the week Julia Orzol leads Wisconsin Badgers volleyball