(MARQUETTE COMMUNICATIONS) MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University women’s volleyball team continues BIG EAST Conference play against Butler on Sunday afternoon at the Al McGuire Center.
First serve is scheduled for just after 1 p.m. Central time and the match, produced by MU’s Diederich College of Communications, airs live on FloSports with Bob Brainerd on the call.
Following this weekend’s match against the Bulldogs, MU is back on the East Coast for contests at St. John’s and Villanova on Oct. 11-13.
MARQUETTE (6-6, 2-1 BIG EAST)
- All five hitters in the MU starting lineup are averaging over 2.00 kills per set, led by outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton at 3.02 with a team-high 127 total terminations. Fellow outside Jenna Reitsma has posted 2.29 kills per set with 17 service aces, 2.83 digs per set and 12 blocks, while Ella Foti (2.16), Carsen Murray (2.16) and Hattie Bray (2.09) are above the mark as well.
- The Golden Eagles began conference play with the seventh-toughest strength of schedule in the country according to the NCAA Division I Massey Ratings.
- Eight of MU’s nine nonconference matches so far this fall have come against squads that competed in the 2023 NCAA tournament.
- Setter Yadhira Anchante has a team-best eight double doubles this season and averages 9.95 assists and 3.19 digs per set. She posted her 2,500th career assist at No. 1 Pitt on Sept. 22 and with 2,610 currently is 16 from tying Nikki Klingsporn (2009-10; 2,626 assists) for the sixth-highest total in program history.
- Anchante also leads the squad with 137 total digs for an average of 3.19 per set.
- The Golden Eagles raised their hitting percentage at the start of BIG EAST play and are hitting .234 (581-204-1613) in 2024.
- Sophomore Molly Berezowitz has served as MU’s libero in all but two matches and has 126 digs for an average of 3.00 per frame.
- Outside of MU’s core starting group of the last three seasons, redshirt sophomore Natalie Ring has started to work her way into the lineup at outside hitter and is averaging a career-high 1.71 kills per set. She posted a season-best nine kills in matches against Western Michigan (Sept. 8) and Providence (Sept. 29).
BUTLER (2-12, 0-2 BIG EAST)
- Butler has defeated just one team this fall (Indiana State on both Sept. 6 and 7) and has dropped its last eight matches, including sweeps at the hands of DePaul and Xavier to open league play last weekend.
- The Bulldogs are last in the BIG EAST with a combined hitting mark of .157 this season. They do rank third in the league with 2.24 blocks per set, led by a pair of players with at least one block per frame in Grace Boggess (1.13) and Sawyer Jones (1.00).
- Outside hitter Abby Maesch leads the squad with 3.21 kills per set, while Elise Ward averages 2.93 kills and 2.31 digs.
- The Bulldogs are led by head coach Kyle Shondell in his second season. He was 2022 AVCA National Coach of the Year with the NAIA men’s program at Indiana Tech before heading to Butler.
SERIES HISTORY WITH BU:
- Marquette is 20-9 all-time against Butler and has won each of the last five matches against the Bulldogs.
- Save for five-set losses during the 2014, 2017 and 2020 regular seasons, MU has won 19 of 22 contests since the Bulldogs entered the BIG EAST for the 2013 campaign.
- MU swept last season’s lone match against Butler, 25-15, 25-9, 25-17, at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. It was Foti’s first at MU as a 5-1 setter as Anchante missed her first of five matches due to illness. The Golden Eagles hit a combined .447 in the win and limited BU to a mark of just .062.
Comments