After a successful seven-game homestand, the Marquette women’s volleyball team will head east this weekend for a three-game road trip to start Big East road play with matches against Sacred Heart, Connecticut and St. John’s.
Beginning with a home opener sweep of Southern Mississippi on Sept. 9, the Golden Eagles finished the stretch at 6-1, with their only blemish coming against No. 9 Minnesota, 3-2.
If there was one downside to a long break from traveling, it was that the Golden Eagles struggled at times to set up their offense with accurate passes, something coach Bond Shymansky said his veteran group will need to focus on this weekend.
“Still at times, I feel like we act like a young team that will wane a little bit in our focus on those contacts,” Shymansky said. “And we start giving the mentality of ‘just serve it’ or ‘just pass it’ instead of saying, ‘I want to take the ball and put it in this small of a window.'”
Last year, the Golden Eagles picked up home wins against St. John’s and Connecticut, sweeping the Red Storm and beating the Huskies in four sets. Senior outside hitter Ashley Beyer led the way for Marquette against the Red Storm with 11 kills and seven digs, while senior outside hitter Ciara Jones finished with a team-high 13 kills against the Huskies.
The Huskies (8-7, 0-2 Big East) are led by senior outside hitter Jordan Kirk, who ranks fourth in the Big East with 3.71 kills per set and 4.20 points per set. Junior libero Kelsey Maving ranks fourth in the Big East in digs per set (5.08) while setter Angela Roidt is ninth in the conference in assists at 9.67 per set.
Sacred Heart (11-4) will be no easy task for the Golden Eagles. Senior outside hitter Kimmee Roleder leads the Knights with 203 kills and has helped her team to a 2-0 start in Northeast Conference play.
Beyer said the Golden Eagles will not take any team lightly this weekend, knowing that a slow start could lead to an upset.
“The road games are the hardest to win, so I think we have to go out and play like we know we can,” Beyer said. “We know we can beat these teams, but anything is possible. Any team can beat you.”
After back-t0-back road sweeps at the hands of powerhouses Cincinnati and Louisville, the Huskies will be glad to come home, where they have compiled a 7-2 record this season.
The Red Storm, traveling partners with Connecticut, also were swept by Cincinnati and Louisville and have lost four straight. Senior outside hitter Darlene Ramdin has led the way with 203 kills.
For Marquette’s junior middle hitter Danielle Carlson, playing on the road is never easy, but creating a home-like atmosphere within the team will be important.
“We know it’s hard to win on the road,” Carlson said. “But we have to create our own atmosphere within our team at away gyms.”
While the competition is not the stiffest, she said the team is looking forward to starting the game out strong and getting after it on the defensive end.
“Sometimes we get a little loose, and we’re not really sure what we’re doing,” Carlson said. “But we just have to keep looking across the net and see who we’re playing, be smart about our defensive positions and then we’ll get it done.”
