Things were not looking up for the team in blue and gold.
Senior middle blocker Elise Goetzinger had just notched her tenth kill of the match to put No. 6 Creighton (12-2, 3-0) up 22-19 late in the third set. That’s when Marquette women’s volleyball (6-6, 2-1) decided to make things interesting at D.J. Sokol Arena.
The Golden Eagles would finish the set on a 6-1 run, fueled by a kill from graduate middle blocker Carsen Murray, two kills — including the final kill of the frame— from junior outside hitter Natalie Ring and a service ace from graduate setter Yadhira Anchante.
After avoiding the sweep in set three, Marquette wouldn’t be able to replicate the same magic in the fourth frame.
The Bluejays blitzed the Golden Eagles out of the gates in the fourth, getting out to a 20-8 advantage. Creighton won the set 25-12, swinging .500 in the process.
Senior setter Kendra Wait shined as usual, racking up 47 assists against the Golden Eagles. She also continued to make history Tuesday evening.
The reigning Big East player of the year overtook former former setter Kailey Reyes for third place on the all-time assists list at Creighton.
Along with its offensive struggles in the fourth set, Marquette swung just .098 in the first frame of play. After trailing by a sizable margin for the bulk of the set, the Golden Eagles went on a 5-2 run to bring the Bluejays lead to 20-17, forcing head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth to call timeout.
Out of the timeout, a pair of kills by Goetzinger then forced head coach Ryan Theis to call a timeout of his own with his team trailing 22-17.
Three kills and a Marquette service error later, Creighton had taken the opening set. The Bluejays won the battle at the net pretty easily, out-blocking the Golden Eagles 5-2 and out-killing them 15-9.
Trailing 16-10 in the second frame, the Golden Eagles would benefit from a Bluejay service error followed by a trio of attack errors by Goetzinger as part of a 4-1 run. After three straight Creighton points, consecutive kills from senior outside hitter Ella Foti and a service error by senior middle blocker Kiara Reinhardt brought Marquette right back to within three.
But a pair of kills from former All-Big East outside hitter Norah Sis, helped Creighton seal the deal on set two, winning it 25-18. Sis finished the match with 14 kills hitting .256 in the process.
Sis was just one of four Bluejays with more than nine kills Tuesday (Goetzinger, Reinhardt, Martin and Sis).
With the loss, Marquette now falls to 2-12 over the last two seasons against ranked opponents.
The Golden Eagles will look to get back on track Sunday against the Butler Bulldogs (2-12, 0-2) at the Al McGuire Center. The opening serve is set to take place at 1 p.m. CST.
This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.
