Marquette Volleyball Trounces DePaul, 3-0

Heading into Saturday evening's volleyball contest against DePaul, there was reason for trepidation.  DePaul had been victimized by a slew of five set losses recently, including to first place Creighton and second place Villanova.  On top of heading into a match against a team that looked like it might be trending upwards, Marquette's next match after the Blue Demons is the home end of the season series against Creighton.  If DePaul was going to show the intensity they had shown while forcing the Jays and the Cats to the brink against a Golden Eagles squad that was looking ahead to Creighton, well, that could be trouble.

Trouble was easily avoided.

Marquette knocked DePaul out of their way with ease, winning three sets by the scores of 25-20, 25-17, and 25-20.  Taylor Louis led all attackers with 18 kills on the night, easily raising her per set kills average on the night, all while hitting .375.  As a team, the Golden Eagles hit .289 while holding the Blue Demons to just .147.  Marquette has now won six straight matches to move to 18-7 on the year and 9-3 in Big East play.

After DePaul took an 8-7 lead in the first set on a kill from Jameson Macphie, Marquette rattled off the next six points in a row to take a 13-8 lead.  The Blue Demons managed to drag it back to within two at 19-17 late, but MU closed out the set with three straight points.  The second set was awfully similar, except Marquette put that set changing run earlier, scoring five straight to take a 6-3 lead on a kill from Louis.  Caitlyn Coffey pulled DePaul even at 10 each, but Marquette took the next three points and just maintained control the rest of the way before closing strong with four straight points.

The DePaul that forced Creighton and Villanova to five sets showed up in the third set, as they built an 11-5 lead in the early going on an attack error by MU's Joy Miley.  Marquette answered with a 10-3 run that included two kills and two assisted blocks from Jenna Rosenthal.  That had MU up 15-14, and another five point run with five different players recording the point for MU had them in control of the set, and Sara Blasier capped off the match with her second service ace of the night.

Up Next: As mentioned, Marquette gets league leader Creighton in the McGuire Center in their next time out.  The Jays (18-8, 12-1 Big East) bounced back from their first Big East loss on Friday night at the hands of Villanova by sweeping Seton Hall on Saturday.