Aubrey Hamilton has had a lot of dominant spans in her three years at Marquette.

This weekend was no different — the obvious being her best-ever 28-kill belting, along with 13 digs, Friday. But that wasn’t the only time she put up career numbers, as she tied a personal-best 16 digs to go along with 13 kills in Sunday’s sweep over Xavier.

Across the two games, she hit .264 with 41 total kills and 29 digs, resulting in glittery averages of 5.13 kills and 3.63 digs per set.

Despite this, head coach Ryan Theis wouldn’t go so far as to declare this stretch the best he’s ever seen her play.

“She had one or two of these last year where she’d go like six straight matches of hitting .400,” he said. “But no doubt, she’s been pretty hot lately.”

So this begs the question, how does this weekend for Hamilton compare to some of her other statistically staggering ones?

Well, she’d never had 28 kills in a match before, but she’s had 16 digs two other times, so let’s start there.

They were two years ago against Illinois and last season vs. Drake. Though, both of those were in five sets. In fact, before Sunday, 11 was the most digs Hamilton earned in a three-frame match. Impressive, yes, but not as impressive as what she just did.

Now, when else has she averaged a double-double?

In the 2023 season, Hamilton did average a double-double across two matches another time — home against UConn and at DePaul — but those weren’t in a weekend swing.

She has also had arguably better individual games than either of the two on their own this weekend: her 25-kill, 15-dig double-double in the 2022 Big East tournament championship (despite it being a loss); 17 kills in a Sweet 16 clinching sweep over Georgia Tech also in 2022; and any of the other double-doubles she’s ever posted, like the one at Dayton last year and Western Kentucky this year, all spring to mind.

But, across a whole weekend, the numbers Hamilton put up Friday and Sunday have the highest consistent averages among any other in her three years at Marquette, and came at the same time as she recorded career-bests in multiple categories.

This is all not to take away from the litany of other aforementioned — and not aforementioned — noteworthy performances from Hamilton’s illustrious time as a Golden Eagle, but rather to highlight how across-the-board stellar she was the last two games.

‘Settling into’ the libero lineup

Ryan Theis has found a rhythm with his liberos.

After starting Molly Berezowitz for the entire non-conference slate, he flip-flopped between her and senior Samantha Naber for the first four matches of Big East play.

Now, Naber has been the primary off-colored jersey for the last two weeks — starting with the Golden Eagles’ first conference East Coast road swing at St. John’s and Villanova.

“Sam’s been playing well, and so we’re using Molly in some different ways, in different matches and sets,” Theis said Friday. “So I think we’re settling into this one a little bit.”

What different ways, you ask?

“[Berezowitz] played two of the six rotations today throughout,” Theis said Sunday. “We usually do that if Natalie (Ring) is involved as an attacker. If Jenna (Reitsma) is attacking, Molly’s role is a little bit less. So it just depends on on what the hitter’s rotation is.”

Berezowitz, when playing as a defensive specialist, has seen a lot of action in the serve-recieve. Theis has frequently elected to line her and Naber up together in the back row — giving the Golden Eagles another defensive-minded passer on the court.

Theis said the decision to make Naber the starting libero is because of how she’s been able to perform regardless of who on the court she’s on the court with.

“Her temperament, her personality with teammates, and all that has just really grown and evolved over four years, to where she’s comfortable around anybody and anybody is comfortable around her,” he said.

But, Berezowitz won’t necessarily go away from libero responsibilities for good, she could still wear the off-colored jersey if the Golden Eagles’ rotation calls for it.

A long week ahead

The weekend was the beginning of a six-matches-in-10-days grind for the Golden Eagles.

Marquette hosts its crosstown rival Milwaukee Tuesday, before playing three days in a row on the road: Friday at Seton Hall, Saturday at Princeton and Sunday at Georgetown.

Theis didn’t mince his words when discussing the challenges of playing so much in so little time.

“We definitely have to manage the workload, practices will be very light,” he said. “Just handle the ball and get touches in.”

But there is a way to make it easier to manage.

“You got to play well and hopefully be efficient,” Theis said.

This article was written by Jack Albright. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @JackAlbrightMU.