In a conference of giants, Northwestern gets its next crack at a top-10 team today.

The Wildcats (10-6, 1-5 Big Ten) face off against No. 8 Wisconsin (13-2, 5-1).

After starting 9-1, the Cats cooled off in conference play, beating only Illinois. The rest of their opponents were nationally ranked, including last week’s losses to No. 4 Penn State and No. 18 Ohio State.

Like NU, Wisconsin was a one-loss team heading into the conference season. The Badgers’ only Big Ten loss came to No. 4 Penn State on Sunday. The loss was Wisconsin’s first in nine games.

NU is led by sophomore Lindsay Anderson who has 3.75 kills per game and senior Christie Garnder who boasts 4.3 digs per game. Gardner’s total places her at No. 7 in the conference. Gardner’s MVP performance at the Chicagoland Classic secured her a Big Ten player of the week selection.

Wisconsin and Northwestern begin play at 7 p.m.

– From Staff Reports