After earning a three-set sweep earlier in the day against UTSA, the Marquette volleyball did just the same in their nightcap sweeping the Wright State University Raiders in straight sets (25-16, 25-18, 25-20) Friday night at the Al McGuire Center.
“It feels really good. Last weekend was against really tough opponents and it kind of got the ball rolling for us to be home again after a long time with no fans,” graduate student Savannah Rennie said. “It’s really awesome to be in the atmosphere and get two wins in the stadium.”
Marquette jumped out to an early 13-7 lead in the first set forcing Wright State to call a timeout.
Following the Raiders timeout, the Golden Eagles continued to apply the pressure as they’d go on a 4-0 run before taking the set 25-16.
Marquette had four players — Ellie Koontz, Savannah Rennie, Taylor Wolf and Hannah Vanden Berg — with four kills in the first set. The Golden Eagles hit .326 in the set while holding Wright State to .119.
The second frame was a different story, as WSU jumped out to an early 4-2 advantage. But Marquette fought its way back and took a 17-10 lead thanks to 6-0 run, which also consisted of three blocks.
“It was needed and timely,” Marquette head coach Ryan Theis said. “One thing wasn’t working, from the service line, then all of sudden you start getting serves in, get a couple blocks and it goes a long way for a point run.”
Following Marquette’s run, Wright State would go on their own run to bring the set within three forcing a Marquette timeout. But the Golden Eagles held ground and took the set 25-18.
The third set was similar to the first, with Marquette controlling early on and building a 11-4 which caused Wright State to burn another timeout.
Marquette was able to close the door outscoring Wright State six to two to win the set 25-20 and finish the match in a sweep, despite two late Raiders pushes.
“I thought they started scoring,” Theis said. “I give their offense credit, their offensive efficiency really picked up in the third.”
The Golden Eagles hit .280 in the match while the Raiders hit .118 on the evening.
Graduate student Hope Werch led Marquette with 11 kills, 10 digs and an ace. Werch now has 153 career aces as a Golden Eagle.
Rennie contributed 10 kills of her own while adding two blocks. Redshirt first-year Carsen Murray had a match-high six total blocks.
Marquette (8-2) will conclude the Marquette Invitational tomorrow against the University of Northern Iowa at 6 pm. The match can be stream on the Marquette University Television Youtube page.
“We’re fired up to play tomorrow,” Rennie said. “We want to get another 3-0 win and really put a exclamation point on preseason and then roll right into conference play.”
This story was written by Ben Schultz. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @benschultz52.
