Coming into last season, Marquette women’s volleyball had never lost to St. John’s twice in the same season. However, the Red Storm changed that last November, when they bested the Golden Eagles in five sets in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament at the Al McGuire Center.
The other loss? Another five-set heartbreaker in Queens at the hands of St. John’s last October. A match in which after dropping the first frame, the Golden Eagles commanded the second and third sets to take a 2-1 set lead. It didn’t matter though, as a season-high 22 kills from Erin Jones helped the Red Storm take down Marquette for — at the time — just the fifth time in program history.
The Golden Eagles (8-6, 4-1) travel East to Queens again Friday night to try and exercise some of the demons that haunted them almost a year ago.
St. John’s (13-5, 2-2) comes into Friday’s tilt having gotten swept in its past two matches. Even though a 4-10 Xavier squad wiped the floor with the Red Storm last Friday, head coach Ryan Theis said he is not taking this matchup lightly.
“St. John’s without question, they can play three slow matches in a row, and look like, you know they’re not prepared, and as soon as Marquette walks in, they’re ready to go,” Theis said after the Golden Eagles’ 3-0 win Sunday.
“So we’ve played some tough ones there before, and we’ll expect another tough one Friday.”
What to know about St. John’s
The Red Storm last made the NCAA Tournament in 2019 after going 22-12. They earned an auto-bid to the Big Dance after topping Marquette in four sets in the finals of the Big East tournament at the Al McGuire Center.
Since then, St. John’s has been one of most successful programs in the Big East, going 82-51 over the past four and a half seasons.
The Red Storm offense undoubtedly runs through Jones. The junior right side hitter/setter is second in the Big East in kills, tallying 52 in 13 sets played in Big East play (4.00 Avg/S).
Senior outside hitter Giorgia Walther is having a career year for St. John’s as well, having racked up 225 kills so far this season, including a career-high 27 kills against Fairfield in a five-set thriller in September.
Keys to the game
Marquette: Win the battle at the net
The Golden Eagles hitters could go blow for blow with the Red Storm’s hitters all day. However, in Marquette’s 3-0 regular season home win over St. John’s last year, the Golden Eagles had blockers getting up and affecting hitting lanes all night long, and were able to hold the Red Storm to just a .097 hitting percentage. If Marquette wants to win Friday night, it’s going to need more of the same. The Golden Eagles will be counting on middle blockers Hattie Bray and Carsen Murray to make life difficult on St. John’s’ hitters. They will look from more of the same from outside hitters Aubrey Hamilton and Ella Foti.
St. John’s: Win the service battle
The service line has played a crucial role in deciding matches in the past between these two squads. Last year in their Big East tournament win, the Red Storm had 12 aces to the Golden Eagles’ five. St. John’s currently has six players that have double digit aces this season, compared to Marquette’s four. They’ve dominated the Golden Eagles at the service line before, and they will need to do it again Friday night in order to hand Marquette it’s second loss of Big East play.
How to follow
- Watch: FloSports. The first serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST.
- Live Updates: Follow @MatthewBaltzMU and @MUWireSports on Twitter/X.
This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.
