(MARQUETTE COMMUNICATIONS) MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University women’s volleyball team begins a stretch of six matches in 10 days with a three-game homestand at the Al McGuire Center against DePaul, Xavier and Milwaukee.
The Golden Eagles begin the weekend at 7 p.m. Central time on Friday against DePaul and welcome the Musketeers at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The match against Milwaukee is slated for 7 p.m. on Tuesday and all three matches will be available on FloSports with Bob Brainerd on the call.
Following the three upcoming matches at the Al, Marquette heads to the East Coast for three matches in three days on Oct. 25-27 at Seton Hall, Princeton and Georgetown.
MARQUETTE (9-6, 5-1 BIG EAST)
- Outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton leads the Golden Eagles with 3.23 kills per set, while also averaging 2.12 digs and 0.77 blocks. Setter Yadhira Anchante has helped MU hit a combined .248 this season and averages 10.09 assists per frame and a team-best 3.25 digs. The pair was honored on Monday for their role in last week’s wins at St. John’s and Villanova with mention on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.
- Hamilton hit a combined .377 with 4.57 kills per set last weekend, including a season-high 17 kills at St. John’s on Friday and a hitting mark of .452 (15-1-31) on Sunday at Villanova.
- Hamilton surpassed the 1,000 career kills mark last season and is eight kills away (992) from becoming the 14th player to reach 1,000 in a MU uniform.
- Redshirt sophomore Natlie Ring landed a career-high 13 kills to lead MU in the Oct. 6 sweep of Butler and has become a reliable option at outside hitter. She started Sunday’s match at Villanova and hit .300 with 12 kills, the second-highest mark in the match.
- Middle blocker Carsen Murray, MU’s all-time leader in career hitting percentage, leads the BIG EAST this season with a mark of .386 in all matches.
- Anchante has a team-best 11 double doubles this season, posted her 2,500th career assist at No. 1 Pitt on Sept. 22 and has 2,717 assists in her MU career. She is 135 assists behind Lauren Speckman (2,852 assists; 2016-19) for fifth in program history.
- Anchante also leads the squad with 172 total digs and ranks eighth in the BIG EAST in digs per set all matches.
- Sophomore Molly Berezowitz and senior Samantha Naber have split duties as MU’s primary libero since conference play began and average 2.75 and 2.53 digs per set, respectively. Junior Adriana Studer has served as MU’s alternate libero in each match alongside either Berezowitz or Naber.
- In just BIG EAST matches, Naber is second in the league with 3.85 digs per stanza.
- The Golden Eagles have raised their hitting percentage since the start of BIG EAST play and are hitting .248 (725-239-1959) on the year.
- MU is ranked 28th in the NCAA’s second RPI ranking of the season, which includes matches through Oct. 13.
- Marquette 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.
DEPAUL (13-5, 5-1 BIG EAST)
- The Blue Demons are off to a 5-1 start to conference play following last weekend’s win at Georgetown and Seton Hall. They also swept St. John’s at home on Oct. 6 after a 3-1 loss to Villanova on Oct. 4, their lone blemish in league action.
- Graduate libero Rachel Krasowski leads the BIG EAST with a 4.70 digs per set average, as does outside hitter Jill Pressley with 4.26 kills per frame. In just league contests, those numbers jump to 5.00 digs and 4.43 kills, respectively.
- The Blue Demons rank in the top-three in the league in kills (13.54) and assists per set (12.83), while leading the conference in digs (16.35).
- DePaul runs a 6-2 offense with setters Ashley Cudimat (5.45 a/s; 2.39 d/s) and Amanda Saeger (5.32 a/s; 2.17 d/s).
- In addition to Pressly, the Blue Demons are led offensively by Audrey Klemp’s 3.22 kills per frame.
SERIES HISTORY WITH DPU:
- Marquette holds a 43-29 record against the Blue Demons and has won the last 26 matches dating back to the 2009 campaign. MU’s last loss to DePaul was in 2008 and its last home loss was on Sept. 22, 2001.
- Since both teams joined the BIG EAST Conference for the 2005 campaign, MU has won 29 of 30 matches.
- MU swept DePaul at home last season and claimed a 3-1 win in Chicago. MU won 25-16, 25-11, 25-15 in last year’s home match while hitting .317 and holding the Blue Demons to a hitting mark of -.009. In the road match, Ella Foti served as MU’s 5-1 setter and tallied a career-best 47 assists and 18 digs.
- The series began in 1982.
XAVIER (6-10, 4-2 BIG EAST)
- The Musketeers have won four of their last five matches and are 4-2 in league play following wins at Seton Hall and Georgetown last weekend.
- Anna Taylor leads Xavier with 2.95 kills per set and three other players, Emma Grace (2.82), Caroline Speelman (2.55) and Margo Kemp (2.52) each average over 2.50 per frame.
- Senior setter Logan Flaugh sits between Creighton’s Kendra Wait and MU’s Anchante on the BIG EAST leaderboard with 10.52 assists per set, and a mark of 11.27 in league play.
- Xavier sits in the middle of the BIG EAST in most statistical categories and is hitting a combined .206 this season.
SERIES HISTORY WITH XU:
- Marquette is 20-9 all-time against Xavier and has won each of the last 10 meetings since a loss to the Musketeers in the 2016 BIG EAST semifinals in Indianapolis.
- MU is 15-4 against Xavier since the Musketeers entered the BIG EAST for the 2013 campaign.
- The two programs met just once last season, a 25-23, 25-22, 25-16 MU sweep at Cintas Center on Oct. 21, 2023.
MILWAUKEE (11-8, 6-1 HORIZON)
- The Panthers played a challenging non-conference schedule and won their first six matches in Horizon League play prior to Saturday’s loss at Northern Kentucky.
- UWM opened its season against Stanford at home and faced SMU, Loyola Marymount, Wisconsin, Illinois State, Iowa and DePaul before beginning league play.
- The Panthers defeated Iowa, 3-1, on Sept. 15 at the Klotsche Center and own conference wins at Oakland (twice), at Green Bay, IU Indy (twice) and at Northern Kentucky.
- Milwaukee hits .193 on the season and .226 in Horizon play. The squad is led by 3.19 kills per set from Madi Malone and employs a 6-2 offense paced by setters Josie Johnson and Milica Tomic.
SERIES HISTORY WITH UWM:
- MU and Milwaukee have met a total of 72 times, the highest total ever for any MU opponent.
- Marquette 11th year head coach Ryan Theis is a 2000 graduate of Milwaukee and served as an undergraduate assistant coach under Susie Johnson during his time on the East Side. Johnson is the aunt of MU Director of Volleyball Operations Ellie Adams, whose sister is UWM assistant coach Katie Adams.
- Marquette has won 13-straight meetings in the series, dating back to a five-set win at the Al McGuire Center during the 2008 campaign.
- MU won last season’s matchup, 3-1, on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2023 at the Klotsche Center and was led by Ella Foti’s 15 kills.
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