Just 24 hours after taking down Providence, the Marquette women’s volleyball team looked to win its final road game of the season when it took traveled to Storrs, Connecticut to take on the UConn Huskies.
The win marked the Golden Eagles’ ninth win in a row, as they took down the Huskies in straight sets.
“I was really impressed with our overall performance today in a lot of areas,” Marquette head coach Ryan Theis said in a statement. “‘Yadhi’ (Anchante) was particularly impressive and I’m hopeful we can continue to improve as we head into late November and December.”
It was a back and forth first frame as neither side was able to build much of a lead throughout. Marquette was able to create a bit of a cushion as they outscored Connecticut 4-1, powered by three kills from junior outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton to take a 20-17 lead.
The Huskies were able to cut the lead down to two points, 23-21, but the Golden Eagles were able to capture the final two points of the set to win by a score of 25-21.
The second set was a bit different than the first. It remained competitive early and the second half of the set was all Marquette. After taking a 14-10 lead thanks to a 4-0 run, the Golden Eagles would outscore the Huskies 11-7 to take the second stanza 25-17.
What would end up being the final set seemed at the start that it would be all Marquette as they jumped out to a 5-1 lead early in the frame.
However, UConn would not be denied as it went on a 9-4 run, thanks in part to first-year outside hitter Emma Werkmeister who had two kills and block during that run which gave the Huskies a 10-9 lead.
The Huskies would continue to pad out their lead as after Theis called a timeout and UConn put up a quick point, the Golden Eagles found themselves down 14-11.
Despite that, Marquette would flip the script down the stretch as they outscored UConn 11-5 as they claimed set three and the match by a score of 25-19, thanks to sophomore outside hitter Jenna Reitsma’s fifth kill of the match.
Hamilton and junior middle blocker Carson Murray led the way as they collected a total of 25 kills, nine digs, four assists and three blocks on the afternoon.
As a team Marquette hit .324% while holding UConn to 33 kills with 15 attack errors.
Marquette (24-2, 15-1) will return home for the final weekend of the regular season as it will host the Xavier Musketeers Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. CST for Senior Night.
This article was written by Jackson Gross. He can be reached at [email protected] on Twitter @JacksonGrossMU.
