We'll give the women's soccer NCAA Tournament game its own space a little later on today, so that leaves us with the last two volleyball matches of the Big East season for Marquette. Marquette still has a chance to snag the Big East regular season title, but they no longer control their own destiny after last weekend's losses to Louisville and Cincinnati.
Marquette will need to win both of their home matches against Notre Dame (15-9, 8-4) and DePaul (7-20, 3-9) to have a chance at the regular season title and top seed in the Big East Championship. They will also need one loss from Cincinnati in their road trip to Georgetown and Villanova as well as needing Louisville to drop both matches as the Bearcats' travel partner on that same road trip to win the Big East outright. It is worth noting that, while Marquette would not earn the #1 seed in the Big East Championship, just one loss from both teams and 2 wins from Marquette would lead to Marquette being co-champs with Louisville, which would be Marquette's first Big East volleyball title.
Tonight's match against Notre Dame will get started at 6pm, and the university has been kind enough to arrange for a shuttle to take people straight from the Al McGuire Center to the Bradley Center for the men's basketball game against Mount St. Mary's. The Irish are led by recent Big East Weekly Honor Roll honoree Jeni Houser. The freshman hitter leads the team with 3.01 kills/set. Senior libero Frenchy Silva gets mentioned here for two things: 1) her fantastic name and 2) being the stalwart of the ND back line with 4.26 digs/set.
Sunday's match with DePaul will be Senior Day as well as Marquette's Dig Pink event. I'll let the athletic department explain further:
Sunday's Dig Pink match against DePaul raises money for the Side-Out Foundation's fight against breast cancer. Fans will have the opportunity to pledge money on a per-dig basis or a set amount and will also have the opportunity to purchase a Marquette Dig Pink t-shirt for $10. The event will feature free admission for any breast cancer survivors and fans are encouraged to wear pink to show their support.
DePaul has struggled this season, but the Blue Demons are in the process of building a solid foundation for the future with two freshmen leading up front. Amy Lanski leads the team in kills at 2.86/set and setter Katie Gamsky has the team lead in assists at 5.65/set.
Both matches will be streamed live through GoMarquette.com.