The sound of the ball hitting the court echoed throughout the Al McGuire Center all game. Kill after kill, Marquette volleyball used its offense to sweep Providence 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-15) Friday night.

“It feels good,” junior right side Ella Foti said. “It is just one of those things that we have a high standard and a high expectation for ourselves and just being able to keep that consistency of our team and our coaches shows it on our record.” 

The Golden Eagles (14-8, 10-1 Big East) have never lost to the Friars (8-15, 2-9 Big East) and have only given up two sets ever, in the teams’ first meeting Sept. 10, 1999. 

Defending to win

After two back-and-forth sets, Marquette was looking to close out the game in the third set. It did so through its defense.

As the third frame was 20-14, and the Golden Eagles were five points from the sweep, the Friars offense started to unravel. Forcing Providence to commit three attack errors in four points, Marquette was very quickly up 24-14, one point from the victory, which it got two points later from a service error.

“Providence’s offense got rolling in that second set,” Marquette head coach Ryan Theis said. “And they were playing really low error, they were making us earn it and timely mistakes made it tight, but a couple of really clutch performances after 20 points by some of our players, so it was good to finish those sets and get out of here with three.” 

In the third set, Providence hit .031, earning a match-low number of kills and match-high number of attack errors across all sets.

Statistical leaders 

Foti finished with a near triple-double of 31 assists, 11 digs and nine kills in her third match as Marquette’s primary setter. Junior outside hitter Jenna Reitsma had a match-high 13 kills, hitting .444.

“It feels good, I always like having a good offensive day [and] connecting with Foti is really nice and it’s really fun to get some kills against a team like this and making sure we are staying on top of it,” Reitsma said.  

For Providence, junior outside hitter Shaliyah Rhoden led the Friars with 12 kills, also picking up eight blocks.

Anchante still injured 

For the third game in a row, junior setter Yadhira Anchante did not play. 

“The team really relied on each other without a crucial player on the team playing in a lot of the matches previously, we kind of just had to adjust and just make sure we were comfortable,” Reitsma said.  

It is unclear when she will return after starting every game she’s played in.

Up next 

Marquette will end its home stretch against UConn Saturday at the Al McGuire Center. The game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. CST.

This article was written by Sophia Woods. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @SophiaWoodsMU.