#19 Marquette Rushes Through Green Bay

The message from the coaching staff was clear on Tuesday night: Take care of business.

That’s what Marquette volleyball did, dispatching Green Bay in straight sets, 25-10, 25-19, and 25-19. With the win, the #19 ranked Golden Eagles are now 7-1 on the season and a perfect 4-0 on their 10 match homestand.

The first set was over pretty much before it started as the Golden Eagles went up 8-2 out of the gate. Then they cranked it up to 12-3 and then 17-4, and at that point, you’re just coasting the plane home. MU very nearly finished the set holding the Phoenix to single digits before a kill from Shannon Coughlin pulled things to 21-10 in the late going.

Green Bay got their act together a bit as the second set started, opening things up with a 4-0 burst. Marquette almost immediately tied it at 5 on an ace by Carly Skrabak, and that was part of a 9-2 run by the Golden Eagles to go up 9-6. MU just kept on chugging, pushing the margin first to five at 13-8, and then six points at 15-9. Green Bay answered to pull within two, but MU thundered back with four straight for a 21-15 lead. The two sides traded points the rest of the way before Aubrey Hamilton closed it out with a kill.

Set #3 started out kind of like the second one did, with the Phoenix running off a few points to start, three of them in fact. Then it was Marquette’s turn, and they put up seven straight as part of a 9-1 run that left them up 9-4 after a Hamilton ace. An 8-2 run made it 18-9 favoring the home team, and a little bit later, a kill by Carsen Murray made it 20-11. This is effectively where the match was over. Head coach Ryan Theis emptied his bench to get Natalie Ring and Sienna Ifill some court time, and as you might expect for a roster on the floor that was one-third rarely used freshmen, it wasn’t 100% the best volleyball that Marquette could play. Green Bay threw up a few more points to make this thing look closer than it was before eventually a Murray block wrapped the night up.

Marquette finished up hitting .337 on the night, heavily driven by a .727 from Carsen Murray on 11 error free swings plus a .389 and .381 from Ella Foti and Aubrey Hamilton respectively. Hamilton shared high kill marks on the night with Jenna Reitsma as both women tallied a game high 11 followed quickly along by 10 from Ella Foti. Yadhira Anchante had a whopping 38 assists in just three sets to with 10 digs for a double-double, while Carly Skrabak led all players in the dig department with 16.

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

Up Next: It’s the biggest home non-conference match of the season, and one of just two home games against a ranked opponent this fall! Get to the McGuire Center early on Saturday, because #19 Marquette will be squaring off with #25 Illinois with first serve set for 6pm Central. The Illini are just 4-3 this season with losses to then-#9 Georgia Tech and then-#14 Washington marring their record. They will play at Eastern Illinois on Wednesday night and take on Illinois State on Saturday morning at the McGuire Center before facing off with the Golden Eagles that evening. It’ll be a quick turnaround for MU after Saturday night, as they’ll get Illinois State at 1pm on Sunday.