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Marquette had a 2-1 lead after three sets against Butler on Wednesday afternoon, and had a 17-14 lead in the fourth on a kill from Jackie Kocken. The Bulldogs snagged the next six points to take a 20-17 lead, and while MU was able to pull within one at 23-22, Butler closed out the fourth set on a kill from Erica Stahl and a block by Belle Obert.
That sent things to a decisive fifth set, and by "decisive," I mean completely random. Yes, Butler won, 15-11, taking the match. But was anything really decided by not playing the remaining 20 or so points that every other set would have played? Already this season we've seen Marquette rip off huge runs at the end of a set to take a win on multiple occasions. But we didn't get a chance to see if the Golden Eagles had run in them, and thus, Butler moves to 5-3 in league action, while Marquette falls to 5-2.
Autumn Bailey had 30 kills to lead MU in the losing effort, the highest kills total in the Big East this season. Both Bailey and Nele Barber recorded double-doubles yet again, with Bailey chipping in a match high 25 digs and Barber recording 11 kills and 15 digs. Gabby Benda returned to action for the Golden Eagles and notched 49 assists while sharing time at setter with Mary Nilles. 15 kills from Stahl led the charge for the Bulldogs, who had three players reach double-digits.
Up Next: The Golden Eagles return home for two matches this weekend. They'll see Villanova (10-12, 3-4) at the Al McGuire Center on Friday, followed by first place Seton Hall (17-3, 7-0) on Saturday.