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The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

Marquette Women’s Volleyball: Chance for redemption this weekend

Ashley Beyer (#5) huddles up with her teammates at the start of a game. Photo by Aaron Ledesma/ [email protected]

Twelve Big East games down, two to go for the Marquette women’s volleyball team (20-8, 10-2 Big East), who will take on Notre Dame (15-9, 8-4 Big East) and DePaul (7-20, 3-9 Big East) this weekend.

Its previous two matches against Cincinnati (20-8, 10-2 Big East) and Louisville (19-7, 11-1 Big East) did not go as successfully as the women had hoped, but the two losses have only motivated them more, senior outside hitter Ashley Beyer said.

“I think it put a fire under us,” Beyer said. “We know we have to come out and work hard this week, and that this weekend still isn’t going to be easy regardless of who the teams are.”

Not only would two victories give the Golden Eagles their best conference record since last year’s 11-3 mark, but it would also build momentum going into the Big East Championship tournament held at the Al McGuire Center this year.

Notre Dame’s defensive net game might be the greatest challenge for Marquette Friday night. The Fighting Irish are third in the conference in blocks, putting up 2.67 blocks per set, and are one spot ahead of the Golden Eagles at No. 3 for kills with 13.31 per set.

“I think the important part is the passing,” coach Bond Shymansky said. “Our offense is very explosive. It can be very complicated for an opponent to handle, but it has to happen through good passing, so we need to make sure that our whole system is running smoothly. We have a lot of firepower, and a lot of weapons that can hopefully exploit our size and our athleticism against Notre Dame’s blocks.”

Junior middle hitter Danielle Carlson holds the Big East’s top hitting percentage (.390), and alongside a strong front line composed of Beyer, redshirt junior right side Holly Mertens and senior outside hitter Ciara Jones, will play a major role in getting around the Irish defense by avoiding their blocks.

“It’s just going to push us more, and make us practice harder, play harder,” Beyer said.

Although their record puts the Blue Demons near the bottom of standings, both Mertens and Beyer agree they cannot be taken for granted.

“They’re both tough teams, they’re not just going to lie down for us,” Mertens said. ”They’re going to put up a fight as these are the two last games of the regular season, and everybody is fighting to get into the Big East tournament.”

DePaul’s three victories in conference came against Georgetown on Sept. 25 (3-2), St. John’s on Oct. 28 (3-0) and Rutgers on Nov. 5 (3-2). DePaul’s level of play is still not drastically different than what the Golden Eagles faced against Louisville and Cincinnati last weekend, though.

“I don’t think we need to change anything, we just need to produce better,” Mertens said about last week’s losses. “We knew what we had to do, and it just didn’t mesh. It just didn’t end up working out for us. I just think we need to refocus and want it even more.”

Sunday’s match against DePaul will also be senior night for the two 1,000-kill club outside hitters, Beyer and Jones. They will be honored alongside senior team manager Karla Thorpe for their years at Marquette.

Beyer and Jones are really a cool combination for us,” Shymansky said. “I always call them thunder and lightning. And to have two outside hitters that have over 1,000 kills in a program in the same class that’s a really rare thing.”

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