WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Jenna Reitsma did not confirm whether or not she changed her diet halfway through the season.
But the junior outside hitter, who has led Marquette volleyball in kills and service aces in the past month, continued on her hot streak Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“Things just started to click for me and just get rolling and it helps build a lot of confidence,” Reitsma said. “Once you have a really good match, you’re confident going into the next, and that’s continued on for me through a lot of the last matches, which I’m hoping it’ll keep going.”
With a game-high 13 kills and three service aces, Reitsma helped No. 6 seed Marquette sweep Eastern Illinois 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 26-14) at Holloway Gym to keep the Golden Eagles dancing.
“We played really well. I thought if we ever got in a pickle somebody made a really nice play to get us out of it,” Marquette head coach Ryan Theis said. “Whether it was a good secondary set or throw off the block, whether it was a stuffed block or a big dig in transition, I thought people stepped up to keep the lead and push further forward.”
Spread out attack
Five different Golden Eagles finished with at least five kills, and senior outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton (along with Reitsma) finished with double-digit kills (10).
“I actually said to Abby (Gilleland), on the bench during the end of the first set, is that I thought Yadhi (Anchante) was really balanced,” Theis said. “She did a really nice job distributing, making it really tough for Eastern to get stops or to get double blocks up.
“A lot of that was our first touches to0, I think our pass and dig game was really high quality.”
In the match, Marquette had 38 assists on 42 kills and hit .362 as a team.
The Golden Eagles also had at least 13 kills in every set and never hit below .300. Conversely, Eastern Illinois finished hitting .111 and hit -.067 in the final frame.
Standing tall
Senior middle blocker Carsen Murray finished with nine total blocks by herself, the second most she’s earned in a game this season and the most she has earned in a sweep.
“A lot of it was block setup. Yadhi, Nastya (Svetnik), and then (Reitsma and Hamilton) were really good seeing the hitter, which made my job a lot easier when they set up well just put my hands up,” Murray said.
As a team, The Golden Eagles earned 11 total blocks compared to the Panthers’ two, and six different players chipped in.
“It’s not always about getting the actual block, but just putting up a block in good spots helps the defense out a lot which is what leads to good swings,” Murray said.
Statistical leaders
Junior setter Yadhira Anchante earned her 13th double-double of the season with 25 assists and 14 digs.
“She can keep teams off balance, she puts a lot of pressure, when she’s playing balls with her hands 14-15 feet off the mat and still keeping the offensive rhythm it just puts a lot of stress on opponents,” Theis said.
For Eastern Illinois, senior outside hitter Giovana Larregui López was the only Panther to earn double-digit kills, scoring 10.
Up next
Marquette will play the winner of No. 3 seed Purdue versus Fairfield Friday at 6:00 p.m. CST.
“We’re really efficient offensively and we did really well defensively,” Murray said. “Just carrying that momentum and that energy into the next match is super important. And not settling in and expecting anything because it’s only going to get harder for you.”
This article was written by Jack Albright. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @JackAlbrightMU.
