The Marquette women’s volleyball team, with a record of 9-2, has gotten off to its best start since 1997 when it started that season 10-1, but the toughest part of the season is yet to come.
“We have to keep our head on straight and make sure we keep working hard and not believe that we’ve simply arrived just because we’re close with good teams,” coach Bond Shymansky said.
The Golden Eagles will travel to Michigan for the Michigan/adidas Invitational this weekend to take on three powerful teams in Michigan, Oregon State and Dayton.
Michigan is currently the No. 6 team in the country, boasting a perfect 10-0 record and some impressive statistics. The Wolverines have a 50-match winning streak against non-conference opponents and have won 17 straight tournaments during the regular season.
Michigan is led by Brazilian outside hitter Juliana Paz, who has 145 kills this season and has been named tournament MVP in consecutive tournaments.
Oregon State comes in with a 7-2 record and received eight votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 poll, while Dayton is undefeated at 9-0 and received 58 votes in the Top 25 poll. Both teams are on the cusp of being ranked and come in having won their last tournament.
“We have to come out and really compete,” junior Nikki Klingsporn said. “We play three probably Top 25 teams and it will be a good test for our team to see where we’re at, but we like being the underdogs, so I think we’ll come out and play really hard and work for those wins.”
Klingsporn has been crucial to the team’s success thus far and will continue to be so this weekend. She was named the MVP of the Panther Invitational last weekend and was also named to the Big East Honor Roll for women’s volleyball on Monday.
Klingsporn leads all setters of the four teams participating in the tournament in assists with 492, which is 127 more than her nearest opponent.
Outside hitter Leslie Bielski will also play a big part this weekend. She leads the team with 122 kills and is coming off a career high 18 kills in the match against Ohio State.
“(We expect) to go out and play as hard as we did against Ohio State,” Bielski said. “We have to play even harder and make less mistakes.”
The junior has once again solidified her spot as a starting outside hitter after playing “hot potato” with sophomores Ashley Beyer and Ciara Jones for the two available spots.
“I think we’re all in it for each other,” Bielski said. “We know that whoever is having an on day is going to be out there.”
This weekend will be a big test for Marquette, and the last one before the start of its Big East schedule. Predicted to finish sixth in the Big East in the preseason, Marquette leads the conference with nine wins and an .818 winning percentage.
