No. 19 Marquette had no trouble beating the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix in straight sets (25-10, 25-19, 25-19) Tuesday night at the Al McGuire Center.
“I liked our pressure we really put on from the service line, I liked our net play, I thought even the balls we had to juggle at the net, we’ve made progress in that not costing us points,” head coach Ryan Theis said. “Yadi (Yadhira Anchante) had a good match, Carly (Skrabak) had a really good match and so that makes everybody look pretty good when those two play well.”
It was all Golden Eagles in set one as they ran away with it, winning 25-10. Sophomore outside hitter Jenna Reitsma had six kills in the frame while Marquette as a team hit .417%.
The second frame was a bit more competitive between both sides as the score was tied 6-6 early on. Marquette was able to overcome its nine attack errors in the set, outscoring Green Bay 19-13 to round out the stanza taking it 25-19.
“It started from the service line, they (Green Bay) got back-to-back aces on a let dribbler and then an error and it did get sloppy,” Theis said. “What I’ve said before is that I think we’re playing two and half good sets for the match right now, it’s going to need to be three and half and four and half to beat somebody good.”
Green Bay got out to a quick start in the third set, taking an early 3-0 lead. The lead for the Phoenix would not last for long, as the Golden Eagles responded with a 8-1 run.
Much of the remainder of the frame consisted of the same Marquette domination, never relinquishing the lead and claiming a 25-19 victory to secure the sweep.
The Golden Eagles finished with 10 service aces and committed just two service errors for the second consecutive game.
Sophomore setter Yadhira Anchante earned her third double-double in her last four games, putting up 37 assists, 10 digs and three service aces. Anchante also contributed three kills for the game.
“Felt really confident today and I feel like that was a key point today,” Anchante said. “I feel like every match makes you better and that is what is happening in general with the team (and) with me, every player is gaining more confidence and I feel that’s reflecting on the court.”
The Golden Eagles had three players with 10 or more kills with junior Aubrey Hamilton and sophomore Ella Foti each finishing with 11, while Reitsma added 10.
With the win, the Golden Eagles have won five consecutive matches since their loss to Wisconsin Sept. 2.
Next up for Marquette (7-1) will be No. 25 Illinois Saturday at 6 p.m. CST as part of the Marquette Invitational. It is the third ranked opponent Theis’ squad will face already on the season.
“They’ve got a real aggressive serve, very aggressive and it seems to travel. They’ve been on the road and still serving it really well,” Theis said. “I think they got some experience in a couple of positions, I just watched them a little bit the last day and half to get a feel for what they are doing.”
This story was written by Jackson Gross. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JacksonGrossMU.
