The Marquette women’s volleyball team inched closer to the top of the Big East standings after wins against Villanova in straight sets and Seton Hall in four sets. The team is now 16-5 overall and 7-2 in the Big East.
In Friday’s match against the Wildcats, the Golden Eagles made quick work of the Villanova in a 3-0 sweep, winning 25-16, 25-17, 25-23. Sophomore Autumn Bailey led the team with 21 kills and nine digs, and had a .419 hitting percentage. Freshman Gabby Benda contributed 28 of the team’s 37 assists and redshirt sophomore Meghan Niemann, sophomore Teal Schnurr and senior Lindsey Gosh got on the stat sheet with three blocks.
With the victory against the Wildcats, the Golden Eagles turned their attention to Seton Hall, who was undefeated in conference play going into Saturday’s match.
Seton Hall came in with confidence, but Marquette came out with the 32-34, 25-20, 25-23, 35-33 victory. In a match that saw 50 ties and 14 lead changes, the Golden Eagles came out on top thanks to seven players scoring in double figures. Bailey set a Marquette record with 89 attack attempts and had 25 kills, 18 digs and five blocks in the match. The Golden Eagles also broke the NCAA record for points in a match with 117 against Seton Hall. Benda had her first career double-double with a career-high 60 assists and 15 digs, while Gosh and sophomore Nele Barber came up big with 17 and 16 kills, respectively.
Bailey and Benda each received conference honors for their performances during the weekend. Bailey was named Big East Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week, thanks in part to a 30 kill game in a loss to Butler, which was the highest kill total by any player in the Big East this season. Bailey also leads the conference in total kills with 181 and kills per set with 5.66. Benda earned her second Freshman of the Week award this season, and currently leads the Big East in assists per set with 10.68.
Marquette comes in either first or second in the conference in every offensive statistical category, while holding its opponents to just a .148 hitting percentage to the squad’s .281.
Marquette will look to avenge a 3-1 home loss to Creighton as the Golden Eagles travel to Omaha, Neb., to face the conference favorites at 7 p.m Friday.
