After going 2-0 over the weekend, the No. 16 Marquette women’s volleyball team was back in action as they took on their I-94 rivals in the DePaul Blue Demons at the McGrath-Phillips Arena.
And though it took five sets (32-30, 25-18, 25-20, 19-25, 15-8), Marquette was able to earn its 19th win of the season and sweep the regular season series with DePaul.
The first set was a marathon between the two sides. After falling behind 21-16, Marquette would rally back to tie the match at 22-22.
Each side had several chances to end the set much earlier as there were seven set points throughout the back half of the frame. After tying the match at 30-30, two kills by Jill Pressly secured the 32-30 victory for the Blue Demons.
The set one loss was just the fifth frame that Marquette has lost in Big East play this season.
Set number two would be a much different story as Marquette jumped out to a 7-1 lead early and never looked back, taking the set by a final score of 25-18.
Sophomore Hattie Bray had five kills in the second frame alone and led the team after two frames with 10 kills.
The third frame seemed to be off to a similar start to set two as the Golden Eagles got out to a 7-3 lead. However, the Blue Demons battled back to tie the game at 11-11 forcing he
After head coach Ryan Theis called timeout, Marquette responded with a 5-0 run to take a 16-11 lead, fueled by two more kills from Bray.
The Golden Eagles made another extended run taking their largest lead of the frame at nine points, 21-12. DePaul would try to rally, cutting the deficit to just four points, 22-18. The comeback would come up just short as Marquette would take set three 25-20.
DePaul was able to find its footing in the fourth set as after seven ties in the first 10 points of the frame, the Blue Demons took a 13-10 lead and didn’t look back as they forced a fith set.
Another 7-3 hot start from Marquette in the fifth set would propel it to winning the match.
It was a career day for Bray and junior middle blocker Carsen Murray, as both each set new career highs in kills with 21 and 16 respectively.
Sophomore setter Yadhira Anchante also had a record setting day in the blue and gold, as she racked up her 10th double-double of the season while also dishing out 63 assists and 17 digs.
Meanwhile, for DePaul, junior outside hitter Jill Pressly collected 21 kills on the night, while recording a hitting percentage .362%.
The Golden Eagles (19-2, 10-1) will stay on the road as they travel to Indianapolis to take on the Butler Bulldogs Friday at 5 p.m. CST.
This story was written by Jackson Gross. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JacksonGrossMU.
