CHICAGO — One after another, Marquette volleyball’s worst nightmares came true. As though one bad thing wasn’t enough.
First came a 25-17 loss in the opening frame. Next was a 4-0 DePaul run to lead 9-5, erasing the Golden Eagles’ advantage and any proof it once existed. Finally, the last thing anyone in the blue & gold wanted — nay, needed — to happen, happened.
Hattie Bray went down with what head coach Ryan Theis confirmed was a right ankle injury, not returning for the rest of the match.
Given the circumstances, Marquette could perhaps be forgiven if it went on to lose the second set and then the match. But the senior-laden Golden Eagles weren’t about to let themselves reel any further than they already had. That simply wasn’t an option.
While Bray was busy going from an ankle wrapping on the bench, to a peddling session on the bike, to the locker room and then back to the bike for another peddle, Marquette was busy rallying.
The Golden Eagles (22-7, 16-2 Big East) scored four straight, tying it 9-9. They scored three straight, leading 17-15. They scored the second set winner, holding off three in-a-row from the Blue Demons, 25-23. They won the third, 25-18, and then the fourth, 25-22. Game, set, match.
No Bray, no problem.
“Let’s just get it to 1-1,” head coach Ryan Theis said about the team’s mentality after the first. “I think we could play better. Seven of their kills, or whatever number it was, were just like fingertip or off-speed, off-tape, and I just thought we weren’t seeing things clean.
“We weren’t ready for whatever near-the-net stuff was happening. I thought we did a really good job getting better defending that throughout the match.”
A Marquette team with a wealth of experience showed just how wealthy it is. It’s 21 kills and 11 digs rich from Aubrey Hamilton, who posted her second-straight double. 50 assists from Yadhira Anchante rich. 12 Ella Foti kills, 10 Carsen Murray kills and 10 Natalie Ring kills rich.
This Golden Eagles depth is so substantial that they can get a career-most five kills on .625 hitting from redshirt sophomore Morgan Daugherty, who stepped up in lieu of Bray, despite limited practice after simultaneous bouts with both shin splints and stress fractures.
“I told her after the match, that was one of the best off the bench performances I’ve seen in 25 years of coaching, and she laughed and said, ‘I’ve never been less prepared,'” Theis said.
“And this is kind of those, ‘Can you get out there?’ And so she went out and crushed it. It was fun.”
Nothing short of affluent, even without its two-time All-Big East middle blocker.
It’s all thanks to an offensive revitalization, which saw Marquette go from hitting .200 in the first to .283 in the second to .414 in the third to a match-high .442 in the fourth.
“Our offense started really slow, and just kept getting better and better throughout the match,” Theis said. “So I enjoyed watching that.”
The Golden Eagles used all that makes them an NCAA tournament team to come back and defeat the same Blue Demon team that forced them to pull off a five-set reverse sweep in their previous matchup in October. Now they’ll move on to the Big East tournament semifinals Friday in Omaha, Nebraska, a final win under their belt confirming their No. 2 seed, awaiting only the health of Bray.
“Got to see how swollen it is, if it’s black and blue,” Theis said. “I’m guessing the doctor will have X-rays on Monday. Hopefully those are negative.”
But, as they showed Sunday, they can get it done without her.
This article was written by Jack Albright. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @JackAlbrightMU.
