Marquette University Athletics
Marquette Volleyball Tops Favored South Florida
11/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 16, 2001
Milwaukee -- The Marquette volleyball team pulled an upset on Friday in the quarterfinal round of the Conference USA Tournament held in Houston, Tex. The Golden Eagles, seeded No. 6 in the tourney, upended No. 3 seed South Florida in four games. Marquette raised its overall record to 19-11 following a 30-24, 30-28, 30-32, 30-28 decision over the Bulls who fell to 21-8. The win sends Marquette into the semifinal round against No. 2 seed Louisville on Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m.
Freshman Jennifer Amobi (Silver Springs, Mary.) continued her torrid play and paced Marquette with 21 kills while chipping in four block assists. Amobi was one of five Golden Eagles to record double-figure attacks and the balance was needed as Marquette played the match without its top offensive threat, Vesna Grbavac, who stayed at the team hotel battling a case of the flu. Sophomore Megan Markowski (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) played a key role in the win, coming up with a season-high 12 kills along with a match-high 17 digs. Freshman Shannon Devine (Harris, Minn.) totaled 14 attacks and led the squad with seven blocks. Junior Danielle Hagen (Milwaukee) and senior Mehgan Devine (Harris, Minn.) each came up with 11 kills with Hagen adding 10 digs and Devine five total blocks.
"It was a fun match to coach," said Marquette's Laura Farina. "We did miss Vesna in the lineup but the team pulled together and accomplished what they set out to do. We've been preaching all year that, in order to be successful, you need to be a team of twelve, not just the six players who are out on the court. We have been encouraging our players always to be ready to make the most of the opportunities when it came their way and that attitude served us well today."
For the match, Marquette recorded a 23.3 hitting percentage (71-31--172) compared to South Florida's 14.0 percent. MU totaled 66 digs to USF's 60 and held a slim 13.5-13.0 margin in total blocks.
