Marquette advances in NCAA women’s volleyball tournament

(MARQUETTE COMMUNICATIONS) – WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana – The sixth-seeded Marquette University women’s volleyball team swept Eastern Illinois, 25-19, 25-16, 25-14, behind 11 blocks and nine service aces in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship on Thursday afternoon at Holloway Gymnasium.

“I thought we played really well,” Marquette 10th-year head coach Ryan Theis said. “If we ever got in a pickle somebody made a really nice play to get us out of it. Whether it was a good secondary set and a throw off the block. Or whether it was a stuff block or a big dig in transition. I thought people stepped up to keep the lead and push further forward.”

Outside hitters Jenna Reiutsma and Aubrey Hamilton powered the Golden Eagles (21-10) offensively with 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Reitsma continued her late season surge with three aces and a pair of blocks on a hitting mark of .423 (13-2-26).

Marquette hit a combined .362 and hit no lower than .333 in any of the three sets. The Golden Eagles used contributions from their entire lineup and setter Yadhira Anchante posted 25 assists, 14 digs, two service aces and a pair of blocks.

“I thought Yadhi was really balanced,” Theis said. “She used some right-side stuff early to open up out of the back row. She did a really nice job distributing and making it really tough for Eastern to get stops or get double blocks up. A lot of that was our first touches too. I thought our pass and dig game was really high quality.”

Eastern Illinois (28-5) hit a combined .111 (20-19-99) and was swept for the first time this season. Giovana Larregui Lopez led the Panthers with 10 kills.

Marquette middle blocker Carsen Murray posted a match-best nine blocks, while right-side hitter Anastasija Svetnik notched four along with five kills