Tonight is a night Wisconsin volleyball fans look forward to every year.
When the Badgers host Penn State tonight at 8 p.m. at UW Field House, it will be a chance to remember an old coach, an old friend and an old family member. That honoree is Steve Lowe, a former women's volleyball coach for Wisconsin who died of lung cancer in 1991. Every year for the Big Ten conference opener, the program celebrates Lowe's importance to the Madison community and the university. The coach was able to bring the Badgers into the national picture during his five-year career for the Red and White. From his arrival in 1986, he was able to build the program to an eventual Big Ten power.