RV Marquette Volleyball Moves To 4-0 In The Big East

Marquette Golden Eagles volleyball went into this past weekend with a chance to knock two of the other three unbeaten Big East teams out of the four-way tie for first place in the league. By the time we got to Sunday afternoon, the Golden Eagles were gifted a chance to confirm themselves as the only undefeated team in conference play.

And so they did.

Thanks to some help from St. John’s in Queens, YOUR Marquette Golden Eagles are 4-0 and alone atop the Big East standings right now after knocking off Connecticut (25-22, 12-25, 25-22, 25-9) on Friday and DePaul (25-23, 25-17, 25-17) on Sunday. The Golden Eagles find themselves one game in front of Creighton, UConn, and Xavier in the standings after just two weeks of conference action.

Connecticut came into the McGuire Center on Friday night with the same chance that Marquette did: knocking two undefeated teams off the top of the Big East standings. It appears that the Huskies took their opportunity very seriously. Even though UConn hit a flat .000 in the first set, they fought Marquette all the way to the end, even coming back from down 19-16 to pull within one repeatedly late, including at 23-22. Then, for an encore, the Huskies absolutely whipsawed Marquette in the second set. UConn’s early 5-2 lead quickly ballooned to 9-3 and 13-4. The Golden Eagles hit just .074 in the frame while letting the Huskies go to town to the tune of .522 as they evened it up at one on a very ugly 25-12 margin.

You would think that Marquette doesn’t like getting punched in the face like that, and yet somehow, the third set was a duel. Connecticut had the early advantage, but a hot serving streak by freshman Jadyn Garrison let Marquette run off seven straight points to take a 19-13 lead. It looked like MU was going to close it out quickly, but the Huskies fended off set point FIVE TIMES before a service error by Kennadie Jake-Turner gave MU the 25-22 win.

As it turns out, that’s what pissed Marquette off. 5-2 early turned into 11-3, which turned into 23-6 as Taylor Wolf served Marquette through a 10-0 run. At the end, it was an anti-climactic service error that ended UConn’s chances at breaking double digits in the fourth set, and thus gave Marquette the match.

Hope Werch led with 11 kills while Savannah Rennie added 10. Taylor Wolf had nine to go with her team high 27 assists and tied-for-the-team-high 14 digs to just barely miss a triple-double. Carsen Murray was a terror, hitting .438 to record nine kills and partnering up with a teammate four times for blocks.

How about some highlights, courtesy of FloSports and GoMarquette.com?

That same night in Queens, St. John’s knocked off #16 Creighton to give the Bluejays their first loss. On Saturday, UConn went down to Chicago and swept DePaul. All of a sudden, Marquette was 3-0 and the last unbeaten squad in the Big East. All they had to do was get through the Blue Demons and they could confirm themselves as the top team in the conference, at least for the time being.

I don’t want to say it was easy, because that’s being mean to DePaul, but it wasn’t hard, either. Marquette won a close first set even though they got outhit, and then ran away from the Blue Demons while hitting over .400 in each of the remaining two sets. Five aces on the day helped Marquette’s cause, as did nine blocks.

To win the first set, Marquette made plays when they needed to. A kill by Bailey Nelson put DePaul up 17-16.... and then Marquette went on a 7-2 run. Two kills from Hope Werch, two kills from Carsen Murray, Werch and Murray teaming up for a block, and two straight up mistakes by DePaul left the Golden Eagles up four, and that was all the margin they needed. DePaul was able to cut it to 24-23 late, but Avery Horejsi put her serve out of bounds and the Golden Eagles went up 1-0.

Set 2? Marquette just slooooowly walked away from DePaul. Nothing fancy, no big long streak, just two or three points at a time, and all of a sudden it’s 24-15 on a block by Savannah Rennie and Jenna Reitsma.

Marquette decided to slam the door shut in the third set. After a back and forth start, a kill by Jill Pressly left Marquette up just one, 15-14. Bang, three straight for the Golden Eagles that turned into an 8-1 run featuring a block and two kills from Savannah Rennie. Now it’s 23-15, and this thing is pretty much over.

DePaul hit just .207 in the match which ended up tamping down Marquette’s kill totals. Taylor Wolf and Hope Werch led the way with nine kills and four more women had at least six on the afternoon. Yet again, Wolf just barely missed a triple-double after adding 12 assists and 10 digs. Carsen Murray continued to be a problem for the team on the other side of the net, getting seven kills while hitting .462 and getting a solo block along with five assisted stuffs.

How about some highlights, courtesy of FloSports and GoMarquette.com?

Up Next: Those nationally ranked Bluejays. Marquette gets a chance to create some real space in the Big East standings when they visit Omaha to play now-#19 Creighton on Sunday afternoon, but first, a trip out east. Yes, it’s time for the worst road trip in the Big East, as MU will be in Rhode Island on Friday night to face Providence. The Friars are 13-4 overall this season but just 1-3 in Big East play. Creighton is 15-2 overall and 3-1 in the league after losing to the Johnnies back on Friday. They’ll host DePaul on Friday before MU comes to town.