The last time the Michigan women's volleyball team spent a weekend with Wisconsin and Minnesota, the Wolverines came away with the second-biggest upset in team history.
Nearly a month ago, Michigan swept then-No. 9 Wisconsin, only to lose the next day to a hard-hitting, unranked Minnesota team.
Michigan (4-8 Big Ten, 9-14 overall) will travel to Minneapolis on Friday and Madison on Sunday. The Wolverines hope that history will repeat itself, for the most part.
But this time, the situation is different.
"I don't think we played our best volleyball (the last time we played) Minnesota," Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi said. "And you don't go into a weekend counting on upsetting a highly- ranked team (like Wisconsin)."
The previous Wisconsin-Minnesota weekend marked the end of the first half of the season. Since then, Michigan has struggled, going 2-5.
Now the Wolverines need to string several victories together if they hope to finish in the upper half of the conference by season's end. There are eight matches remaining.
"We have to finish with four wins in the last two weekends," Giovanazzi said. "We have to generate confidence over the next two weekends in order to do that."
On Friday, the Wolverines will find themselves in Minnesota facing the Gophers. Minnesota (9-3, 18-7) defeated the Wolverines handily when the two teams last met a month ago, 15-12, 15-6 and 15-11. Michigan has gone 5-1 since.
Minnesota is one of the hardest hitting teams in the country. The Gophers rank in the top 20 in team hitting with a .271 percentage and in the top 10 in team kills with 17.4 per game.
"For Minnesota, as (Katrien) DeDecker goes, so goes Minnesota," Giovanazzi said.
All-American Katrien DeDecker is the leading hitter in the nation, averaging an impressive 6.18 kills per game. Minnesota teammate Jane Passer averages 2.98 kills per game.
"(Minnesota) had the luxury of observing an entire match of ours against Wisconsin, so they were very well prepared for us," Giovanazzi said. "Now we've had a week to prepare for them."
On Saturday, the Wolverines head out to Madison to face the No. 13 Badgers. Wisconsin is 9-1 at home and most likely has not forgotten its loss in Ann Arbor a month ago.
"Wisconsin is more dangerous (than Minnesota) because they have a balanced attack," Giovanazzi said.
Laura Abbinante, arguably the best setter in the Big Ten with 13.21 assists per game, leads the balanced Minnesota offense.
Michigan's trip to Gopher and Badger country won't be a friendly one. The Badgers, seventh in the nation in attendance, draw an average of 2,048 people per game, while Minnesota's 1,440 average ranks 15th in the country.
Michigan seems poised for a big weekend, having defeated Northwestern and putting up a tough fight against Michigan State last weekend.
Shareen Luze is coming off a career weekend and appears to be emerging from a mid-season slump. Kristen Ruschiensky has returned from knee surgery and Linsey Ebert is playing well. Karen Chase is ready to return to the lineup after a minor injury, Giovanazzi said.
"In the past ... we've always played our best volleyball in November," Giovanazzi said. "We peak late because of the way we train. We're usually healthy when everybody else is beat up.
"I think once again we'll find that we play our best volleyball in November."
JOE WESTRATE/Daily
Sarah Jackson and the Michigan volleyball team travel to Minnesota and Wisconsin this weekend. The Wolverines hope to launch themselves into the upper half of the conference by the end of the season. Michigan has eight matches left, four of them at Cliff Keen Arena, including a nationally televised contest against Ohio State on Nov. 16 on ESPN2.