The Marquette women’s volleyball team split its weekend road trip after a loss to Creighton in four sets and a three-game sweep of Georgetown. The Golden Eagles are 17-6 on the season and 8-3 in the Big East, putting them in a three-way tie for second in the conference.
Marquette was unable to avenge the Oct. 4 home loss to Creighton. The Golden Eagles fell on the road to the Bluejays on Friday night 25-17, 20-25, 15-25, 21-25. Sophomore Autumn Bailey had 15 kills and 11 digs, but accounted for nine of Marquette’s 21 errors. Sophomore Nele Barber had 12 kills and senior Lindsey Gosh added 10 kills and nine digs, but it was not enough to carry the team to victory. Marquette had more blocks and fewer errors than its opponent, but hit a dismal .180 as a team.
Marquette came out strong in the first set and won 25-17. The Golden Eagles hit .323 as a team in the game and after a 7-7 tie, went on a decisive 12-5 run, giving them a 19-12 lead that all but sealed the set. Bailey had five kills and Gosh put up three of her own, with Barber and redshirt sophomore Meghan Niemann each contributing two. However, Marquette would not be able to keep up its strong play.
“The wheels came off for us after that first set tonight,” Marquette head coach Ryan Theis told GoMarquette.com. “The first set was the best we’ve played all year and if we can do that more consistently we will be more successful. What we are running into is that if one thing goes wrong, then multiple things go wrong. That was what this match looked like.”
The rest of the match was not pretty. The Golden Eagles never hit above .182 after the first set and never led after the second set.
Saturday’s game was a much different story for the Golden Eagles, as they traveled to the nation’s capital to take on Georgetown.
Marquette improved on offense, never hitting below .190, and made quick work of the Hoyas in three sets, 25-22, 25-22, 25-12. Bailey had 17 kills and Barber added 11 of her own, while Niemann blocked a career high nine shots and earned a spot on the Big East Conference Weekly Honor Roll. The Golden Eagles held the Hoyas to just a .096 hitting percentage, including -.120 in the third set and had a 12-4 advantage in blocks.
The Golden Eagles have an important weekend home stand starting Friday at 7 p.m. against Butler and ending with a 6 p.m. match against Xavier Saturday. Theis said he and his team know the importance of these two games and are ready for what’s coming.
“We know it’s a big weekend coming up and we already talked about it after today’s match,” Theis said. “We are going to be back at home to play two good teams and we will be prepared for a fight.”
