The Golden Eagles defeated Seton Hall Pirates in four games, 32-34, 25-20, 25-23, 35-33. Marquette moved to 16-5 and 7-2 Big East after handing Seton Hall its first loss in conference play.
Sophomore Autumn Bailey led the team in what was truly a team effort with 25 kills, 18 digs and five blocks. But she was just one of seven Golden Eagles in double figures. It was her fourth 20 kill game in the last five. Senior Lindsey Gosh and sophomore Nele Barber had 17 and 16 kills, respectively, while freshman Gabby Benda had an absurd 60 of the team’s 71 assists.
It looked as though Marquette would take the first game quickly, as the team lead 5-0 and forced a Seton Hall timeout. The trend did not continue though, as the Pirates battled back with a 3-0 run of their own. From there it was an exciting back and forth battle, each team going on runs. Marquette led by as many as seven, but a 10-4 Seton Hall run kept it close throughout. The Golden Eagles looked to have the game in hand at 23-20, but the Pirates refused to quit, tying the game and forcing extra points. Seton Hall took its first lead at 28-27, but it would take six more points for the Pirates to finally win, 34-32.
Bailey had eight kills and seven digs in the game, but also contributed five of Marquette’s nine errors. Seton Hall only had four errors in the game and out-blocked the Golden Eagles 4-1, proving why the team is one of the best defensively in the conference. Senior Stacey Manthorpe led the Pirates with nine kills and no errors in the set.
The second set was another tight matchup. The Golden Eagles trailed throughout the first half of the set, but went on a 5-1 run to take a 12-11 lead. Marquette kept the pressure on and increased its lead to four, 17-13. The Golden Eagles learned their lesson and never let Seton Hall regain the lead, as Marquette closed out the Pirates and won the set 25-20 and tying the match 1-1.
Marquette brought its hitting percentage up to .289 in the second set from .183 in the first set and were led by Gosh with six kills and three digs. Bailey and sophomore Nele Barber also added five and four kills, respectively.
The third set again put Marquette in a tough spot as the team trailed 6-3 early on. But the Golden Eagles fought back and took a 12-11 lead. Both teams refused to give up in an intense set that saw six lead changes and a yellow card handed out to Seton Hall’s coach Allison Yaeger for arguing an official’s call. Marquette had a 19-17 lead late in the game, but a 3-0 Seton Hall run gave the Pirates the lead and made Theis call a timeout. The Golden Eagles came out of the timeout hot and went on a five-point hot streak to bring the set to its final point. Again, Seton Hall would not go quietly and scored three straight of its own. However, Marquette would finally close out the set, 25-23.
Bailey had six kills and Barber and Gosh added five and four of their own, respectively.
Like the first three, the fourth set was hard fought and went down to the wire. Marquette led for most of the game, but the Pirates would make things interesting with several quick runs to tie the set. At 17-17, Marquette went on a 6-2 run to grab a 23-19 lead, but Seton Hall came back strong with 4-0 run to force a tie at 23. Like the first set, the fourth went to extra points. Marquette had six match-point opportunities before finally converting on the seventh and completing the upset, 35-33.
The Golden Eagles forced 11 Seton Hall errors in the final set and out-dug the Pirates 6-4. Bailey added six kills as Barber and sophomore Teal Schnurr each had four.
Marquette will next take on Creighton in Omaha Friday at 7 p.m., looking to avenge a 3-1 home loss earlier this season.
