The Marquette women’s volleyball team began its weekend on Thursday night with a 3-1 loss to No.5 University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Golden Eagles had strong performances in all facets of the game. As usual, Allie Barber led the way offensively, tallying 21 kills, while setter Lauren Speckman led a strong passing attack with 43 assists. Libero Martha Konovodoff and defensive specialist Manon Geoffroy held down the fort defensively with 18 and 10 digs, respectively.

Prior to Thursday’s match, the Badgers had not lost a set, but the Golden Eagles came out strong and took the first set 25-19. Barber alone had six kills in the set. The Golden Eagles collectively hit .324 in the period, but they were unable to keep that pace for the rest of the match.

In the next two sets, Marquette only registered nine kills and hit well below .100. Wisconsin took the second set with ease, 25-13. Marquette made the third set interesting with an exchange of back and forth points before dropping it 25-21.

Marquette used the momentum from the third set to fight an even tighter fourth frame. An ace from Speckman tied the match at 23 and then after dropping a point to make the score 24-23, a Barber kill knotted the score back up. However, the Badgers would rally and use two unanswered points to take the set and the match 26-24.

Marquette will play its final game of the weekend on Friday night against Southern Miss at 6:00 p.m.