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The Marquette Golden Eagles played 15 sets of volleyball last weekend down in Normal, IL. That’s a lot of volleyball to be played, I expected UCF and Illinois to maybe go five, but Illinois State put up a good fight as well and had the Golden Eagles on their heels. Now, it’s time to ease into Big East play with Marquette hosting a couple unranked foes this weekend at the McGuire Center.
BY THE WAY: If you’re a fan of one of the three teams that MU is playing this weekend, and you would like to watch your team in their non-MU matches, you can! Go check out the GoMarquette.com schedule page for the appropriate FREE streaming and live stats links.
Match #10 Preview: vs Green Bay (7-2)
Date: Friday September 20, 2019
Time: 7 PM CT
Location: Al McGuire Center
Stream: GoMarquette.com
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Twitter Updates: @MarquetteVB
Green Bay comes into this contest with a solid 7-2 record. While most opponents haven’t been great, they do have a win over Ohio State. If you’re a Horizon League team and you can beat a Big Ten team, you’re doing something right. They did get swept with ease by #6 Pitt, who is on Marquette’s level.
Taylor Wolf leads the team in kills per set at a whopping 4.50. That’s fantastic for nine games into the season. She has been on an absolute tear so far, and no one can seem to stop her, unless she plays a top ten team in the nation. She had just seven kills against six errors against the Panthers.
Maddie Yoss sets for the Phoenix, averaging 10.53 assists per set. Her go to target has been Wolf all year, with nearly 29% of all attacks. She has put up multiple 50 assist games this season and has looked really good all season.
I think this match should be easy for Marquette. Three sets and out, none of that 15 sets in a weekend junk again. I’m hoping nine sets for the whole weekend.
Match #11 Preview: vs Saint Louis (6-4)
Date: Saturday September 21, 2019
Time: 10 AM CT
Location: Al McGuire Center
Stream: GoMarquette.com
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Twitter Updates: @MarquetteVB
St. Louis comes in at 6-4 on the season. They haven’t played anyone good though and they have still lost some easy matches. The Billikens aren’t very good after going 8-20 last year.
Maya Taylor comes in averaging 4.36 kills per set, which is really good, considering SLU isn’t very good. She’s only hitting .256, so you can imagine how much of the offense that she’s carrying. This Saint Louis team is young with only two seniors and Taylor is a leader on the team.
Kennedy Cordia is setting for the Bills, averaging 9.82 assists per set. Cordia has been decent for the Bills this season. Those numbers should probably be higher, but she doesn’t really have anyone else to go to besides Taylor. The junior is another leader on this team and has been setting for the past two seasons.
Again, this one should be a breeze and Marquette should roll. Three sets and we’re out.
Match #12 Preview: vs Northern Iowa (4-7)
Date: Saturday September 21
Time: 7 PM CT
Location: Al McGuire Center
Stream: GoMarquette.com
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Twitter Updates: @MarquetteVB
Northern Iowa comes in with a tough record of 4-7, but I wouldn’t look past that because they have played a really tough schedule so far. They lost to Texas, Creighton, USC, Kentucky, all of whom are ranked in the top 20 right now, as well as pretty good Iowa State, Mizzou and Boise State squads. Northern Iowa is a regular Missouri Valley contender as well as NCAA tournament team, so this is just a situation of trying to schedule up biting them in the leg.
Karlie Taylor leads the offense with a whopping 4.70 kills per set. That is actually crazy for being 11 games into the season. It seems she likes the big competition, because all of her best work has come against ranked opponents. She is playing really well and Coach Theis is gonna have to scheme around her.
Rachel Koop is setting for the Panthers, averaging 10.47 assists per set. She likes to go to Taylor for the most part, but she has no problem spreading the ball around. Kate Busswitz is averaging over three kills per set, so the team should keep an eye on her as well.
This one might actually go longer than three sets. I’m gonna say Marquette in four. Northern Iowa has been preparing for these matches all season so far and they have the chance to be a good team.
Get out and support the team at the AL this weekend folks! Marquette Volleyball is the best overall team on campus and they deserve the support! Friday’s match will be the first time that a top 10 ranked MU team has played a home match in program history.