Marquette volleyball fulfilled its goal.
Every year, the team has the objective to do what’s never been done before in the program’s 50 years of existence. And while they didn’t win a fourth straight Big East regular season title or first conference tournament championship, the Golden Eagles still made history.
Their Sweet 16 clinching victory over No. 4 seed Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City Friday night marked the first time they won a Round of 32 match on the road. Marquette had made the second weekend twice before (2018 and 2022) but both of those births were earned at the Al McGuire Center.
“We were able to accomplish the Sweet 16 my freshman year,” redshirt sophomore outside hitter Natalie Ring said. “But to be able to go on the road and get an upset to make it there is pretty awesome. And I think it’s just a testament to this group and what we’ve been through and what we can accomplish.”
Here are some notes from the weekend:
Veteran Golden Eagles remain undefeated in five-setters
Friday night, Marquette made true the adage that history isn’t easy.
Up two sets to zero, it looked as though the Golden Eagles might only need three sets to move on. But after a not-so-close third and a so-close-yet-so-far fourth frame, it was first to 15, winner-take-all.
Before then, Marquette had three five-set matches on which it could look back and draw experiences from. The first was at Western Kentucky, which the Golden Eagles secured 15-10. The second was home against DePaul, when Marquette pulled off a reverse sweep in extra points, 16-14. And the third and final was at the Seton Hall Pirates, which the Golden Eagles also won, 15-9.
So when Utah tied the match 2-2, Marquette went into the huddle with no fear.
“‘Come on, we have this in the bag. We’re doing this. This is our game. We know what we can do against them,'” middle blocker Hattie Bray said about the mentality going into the fifth set.
And, just like the other three times, the senior-laden Golden Eagles walked away with a win.
“I said after [the fourth set] — we lost the lead; we were up 22-20 and we lost it — and I said that a young team would be distraught, a young team would be disappointed, a young team would not be able to rebound. But that’s not this group,” head coach Ryan Theis said after the win.
“And so, if this senior group was going to go out, we said it’s not going to be tonight. They did it, they earned it, just an impressive effort by so many of our players against a really good team.”
Marquette rallies after losing Foti
Ella Foti’s teammates describe her a “spark plug.”
The senior right side is the first person to start yelling and the last to stop. When she gets going, the team gets going.
So when, halfway through the final set, Foti went down with an ankle injury, her quiet, sullen demeanor was nothing short of unseen.
“I saw her sitting at the end of the bench, kind of staring into nothingness. And I’m sure it had crossed her mind that her career could be over,” Theis said. “And the least selfish kid in the world, right? But I just think in that moment, she was distracted.”
But Theis knew how to get her — and the entire Marquette team — going for their most important points of the season.
“So we actually talked about trying to win this one for her and ‘Play fearless like Foti,'” he said. “And all sudden she stood up, [screamed] ‘Come on,’ and just jumped in the huddle and just gave it everything she had. And then the team got into it and and tried to win it for her.”
The program confirmed Foti is day-to-day right now ahead of Marquette’s match against Penn State Friday.
“She’s moving around,” Theis said. “I don’t know, as far as Friday. I’m glad we play Friday and not Thursday this week. So hopefully that helps.”
‘Business as usual’ for Bray
It wasn’t a guarantee Bray would be healthy to play in the first weekend.
While she started in Marquette’s Big East tournament championship game against Creighton, the ankle injury she suffered in the regular season finale at DePaul still limited how much she could practice.
But then Thursday rolled around, and Bray’s ankle was healthy enough for her to start, and she finished with nine kills and the match’s only solo block before following it up with another nine kills 24 hours later.
Bray said she has taken it light in practices since suffering the injury, but games are a different story
“Once game time comes, adrenaline hits and all pains off,” she said. “It’s pretty business as usual.”
This article was written by Jack Albright. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @JackAlbrightMU.
