The Marquette Golden Eagles finished the non-conference slate ranked 10th in the nation after getting ranked as high as 7th. The Golden Eagles beat some of the country’s best while only losing to Baylor — now ranked 2nd — and Illinois, who is at #20. The team kicked off Big East play with a drubbing of Butler on Wednesday. I am guessing that’s how most Big East matches are going to go unless your opponent’s name is Creighton. The Big East kinda low key stinks at volleyball, so it’s good the Golden Eagles got all these great wins in the non-con schedule.
Big East Match #2: vs Seton Hall Pirates (5-9)
Date: Friday, September 27, 2019
Time: 7 PM CT
Location: Al McGuire Center
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Streaming: GoMarquette.com
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Twitter: @MarquetteVB
Seton Hall is not very good. I could probably end the preview right there, but nonetheless (I love using that word) I will talk about how bad the Pirates are at volleyball. I could even mention that they don’t even belong in the same gym as Marquette, but I won’t. Isn’t that nice of me?
Haylee Gasser leads the Pirates in kills per set, with 2.77. Through only 14 matches, 2.77 kills per set to lead the team is not very good at all. The senior has had a solid campaign so far, but she needs to get those numbers up if Seton Hall wants to be any successful. She’s only hitting .147 this season, which is.... um, bad. Part of the problem is probably that Gasser is SHU’s only reliable offensive option. What I mean is that she’s played in 47 of the Pirates 48 sets....... and neither of the other two attackers over two kills per set have cracked 40 sets. That’s not good.
Maggie Cvelbar and Grace Rosenberg have been setting for the Pirates so far. Cvelbar is averaging 7.30 assists per set, while Rosenberg is averaging 5.85. Rosenberg is actually from my home town so it’s awesome to see another Long Islander do well, even if it is in Pirate blue. Rosenberg is only a freshman so she has a bright future herself, as she was an absolute boss in high school.
This is gonna be an easy one for the Golden Eagles after sweeping Butler in just over an hour. I say a sweep of the Pirates in about an hour and a half. I’ll be generous.
Big East Match #3: vs St. John’s Red Storm (8-5)
Date: Saturday September 28
Time: 5 PM CT
Location: Al McGuire Center
Streaming: GoMarquette.com
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Twitter Updates: @MarquetteVB
St. John’s is probably the third best team in the conference. Four of their losses have come against teams that either were ranked at the time or are ranked now (Shouts to Hawaii, who started the year unranked and are now #11). They even have a 3-1 neutral site win over Oregon who was ranked 14 at the time. The Johnnies are looking solid and I think third place in the conference is looking good for them.
Unsurprisingly, Efronsi Alexakou leads the Johnnies with 3.86 kills per set, which is pretty good for where we are at in the season. She has been playing really well all season and it helps that the team has two other members hitting over three kills per set. This team looks the most dangerous it has in my three years writing for this site.
Setting for the Johnnies is Erica Di Maulo with 11.10 assists per set. She has been outstanding in her career as a Johnnie. She’s having her best season so far and her pace and control is helping the team stay in these big matches. She was lights out in the win over Oregon, dishing a season high 48 assists.
I think Marquette still wins in a sweep but I wouldn’t be shocked if it went four. Regardless, Marquette is coming out victorious.