No. 24 Marquette beat the High Point Panthers in four sets (25-23, 25-10, 19-25, 25-18) Sunday night in Madison at the UW Field House.
The prospects for the Golden Eagles looked grim in the first set as the Panthers led 10-6 early on. Then Marquette fought its way back on a 8-1 scoring run to take a 17-13 lead. Though High Point used a 6-2 run to tie it at 19-19, Marquette held its ground taking the set 25-23.
Madison native Ella Foti led the Golden Eagles with five kills in the frame, as they outhit the Panthers .314 to .297 in the stanza.
Marquette seemed like a completely different team in the second frame, getting out to 5-0 run which forced High Point to called a timeout.
Out of the timeout, Marquette kepts its foot on the gas en route to a 25-10 set win. Sophomore setter Yadhira Anchante finished with three service aces in the set alone.
Additionally, the Golden Eagles held the Panthers to a -.121 hitting percentage in the frame.
Marquette begun the third set in similar fashion to the second, getting out to a 5-1 lead. High Point then battled back capitalizing on Marquette’s 12 attack errors to take the set 25-19.
The fourth and final stanza was more contested, as both sides exchanged the lead early on. Late in the frame, the Panthers brought the score within two, 20-18, before the Golden Eagles went on a 5-0 run to take the set and match.
On the night, Marquette hit .178 while High Point hit .112. The Golden Eagles finished with nine aces compared to the Panthers four.
Foti finished with a match and career-high 14 kills while hitting .433 to go along with six digs. Sophomore outside hitter Sydney Palazzolo led the Panthers with 12 kills and 12 digs.
Marquette (3-1) now returns home to the Al McGuire Center to host the Loyola University Chicago Ramblers Tuesday in its home-opener at 7 p.m. CST.
This article was written by Ben Schultz. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @benschultz52.
