Marquette women’s volleyball team was on a roll this weekend, sweeping both Texas State and LSU before falling to No. 16 Baylor on Saturday night.
The Golden Eagles ended the weekend 2-1 during the Hampton Inn & Suites Waco North Baylor Invitational. Their toughest match was a four-set grind against No. 16 Baylor on its home court, dropping the match 3-1 (31-33, 27-25, 17-25, 22-25).
Even with double-digit kills from junior Allie Barber (19), senior Anna Haak (16) and redshirt senior Jenna Rosenthal (10), Baylor’s offense proved to be too strong for Marquette with each of their leaders hitting 15 or more kills. Yossiana Pressley led the Bears with a match-high 20 kills, Shelly Fanning and Aniah Philo both added 15 kills.
Although the last match of the tournament did not go as planned, two Golden Eagles received honors. Junior Lauren Speckman earned Best Setter and sophomore Martha Konovodoff was named Best Defender.
Earlier in the tournament, Marquette had no issues taking down Texas State in three sets (25-23, 25-17).
The Bobcats’ best set, posting a .257 hitting percentage, but the Golden Eagles’ hitting percentage never dipped below .300. Marquette’s offense stayed strong throughout recording hitting percentages of .310 in set one, .341 in set two and a whopping .471 in set 3.
Four Golden Eagles recorded double-digit kills Friday. Sophomore Hope Werch notched 13, Barber added 12 and Rosenthal and sophomore Elizabeth Orf each had 10.
That momentum carried into Saturday afternoon, sweeping LSU 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-14) Saturday afternoon.
Rosenthal led the team with 12 kills while Barber added 11 kills. Konovodoff had another impressive game defensively, recording 15 digs and four assists while helping her team to an error-free third set.
The Tigers struggled in the first set only having a .179 hitting percentage, but the Golden Eagles struggled as well with their lowest hitting percentage of the match at .262. Even with LSU’s star, Taylor Bannister, having 14 kills, Marquette came out victorious.
Next week Marquette will travel to Saint Louis for the Marcia E. Hamilton Classic to face Kansas State, Western Kentucky, and Saint Louis.
