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Volleyball: Marquette Rolls Through DePaul, 3-0

Autumn Bailey's pretty good at this volleyball thing.

Autumn Bailey made a strong statement towards her Player Of The Year candidacy against the Blue Demons.
Autumn Bailey made a strong statement towards her Player Of The Year candidacy against the Blue Demons.
MarquetteImages.com

Marquette defeated DePaul in a sweep on Saturday night, 25-15, 25-19, 25-16, but those scores don't quite tell the full story of Marquette's dominance.

Reading Autumn Bailey's scoreline does do that, though.

The sophomore from Canada had 16 kills while hitting .375, seven service aces, five digs, and four blocks.  That gives her 25 total points in the match.  To put that into perspective, that's 8.33 points per set, and Butler's Belle Obert leads the Big East in that category at just barely under five per frame.  While that's borderline absurd on its own, it's the aces that are particularly crazy.  The 2.33/set performance from Bailey boosted her into first place in the Big East in that category, as she now averages 0.48 aces per set.

Again: She averages 0.48 aces per set AFTER averaging 2.33/set against the Blue Demons.

I'm going to need to lay down for a while.

The first set started out close, with a Colleen Smith kill knotting it at five apiece.  A 9-2 run by Marquette broke the set wide open and the Golden Eagles rolled to a first set win.  DePaul hung with MU longer in the the second set, and even led 9-6 after Caitlyn Coffey blocked an attack from Bailey.  From there, Teal Schnurr recorded a kill and teamed up with Mary Nilles for a block as part of a 4-0 run that put the Golden Eagles on top for good, and not just for the second set.  MU took a 3-0 lead in the third set and never looked back.  DePaul was able to keep it close, but an 8-0 run with Bailey serving turned a 10-7 score into an 18-7 score, and things were pretty much over from there.

Mary Nilles handled all the setting duties for Marquette in this one, recording 31 assists along the way.  Nilles also had a match high 12 digs.  While Bailey was a dominant force, she wasn't without assistance.  Meghan Niemann hit .538 on 13 error free swings, and Teal Schnurr had five kills on eight attacks and a new career high nine blocks.  DePaul was led by 10 kills off the bench from Callie Huebener.

Up Next: Marquette travels to Butler on Wednesday, and due to renovations to Hinkle Fieldhouse, it'll be a noon Central start at BU's Health & Recreation Complex.  The Bulldogs are 12-7 overall and 4-3 in Big East matches after sweeping Providence on Saturday.