While half the Marquette campus was spending time outside last Saturday, chasing little siblings and throwing around footballs and Frisbees, the women's volleyball team was busy with the second Marquette Spring Challenge at the Al McGuire Center.

Joining Marquette in the four-team tournament were Minnesota, Northern Michigan and North Dakota State.

The Golden Eagles started the morning off right, defeating North Dakota State, 3-0. Sophomore outside hitter Jamie Mueller led Marquette in kills, landing 13 attacks. Mueller hit 38.5 percent for the morning, and as a team Marquette hit an impressive 35.7 percent.

The Golden Eagles' next victim of the tournament was Northern Michigan. Marquette dropped the first game, but rebounded to win three straight to take the match.

Despite the opposing team's powerful defense, Marquette was able to push through and rally despite Northern Michigan's aggressive players.

Mueller once again led Marquette in kills, with 15 attacks and a 35.1 hitting percentage. Freshman middle blocker Kimberley Todd made her presence felt on the court with 10 kills, hitting 37.5 percent.

Because the spring season is a much more "friendly" environment, Rolf was able to show more of her players on-court action during the matches.

"During spring, not as much pressure is there for the girls," Rolf said. "I'm not going to take them out for errors that would cost us in the fall. The opportunity to actually play in a match is where the girls are learning."

Marquette's closest and most exciting match was against Minnesota. After being up 13-9 in the fifth and final game of the match, the Golden Eagles were not able to push through for the victory.

Despite the loss, Rolf could not have been happier with the results.

"That was such an important game to see where we're at," she said. "Minnesota was in the finals of the national championship last year, and we played an impressive match against them."

Wallace was on top of her game against Minnesota, leading Marquette with 14 kills.

Mueller proved once again to be bad news for the other team, landing 13 kills. She ended the weekend with a total of 41 kills and hit 31.9 percent.

With a short spring season and only four dates of competition, the weeks of competitive play in April are an essential ingredient to get the team prepared and ready for the fall.

"Next season," Rolf said, "we have the size. We're finally going to be big enough. We need to work on strong leadership at the end of games. And all of the girls need to learn that they have a personal responsibility to the team. They need to know the scope of their abilities and control what they can do."

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on April 19 2005.