Marquette Volleyball Faces Road Tests This Weekend

Nov. 6, 2002

MATCH INFO - The Marquette volleyball team will play its final two regular-season conference road matches this Friday and Sunday (Nov. 8 & 10) when it plays at UAB and South Florida, respectively. Bartow Arena on the UAB campus will be the site of the 15th meeting between the Golden Eagles and Blazers and the match is slated for a 7:30 p.m. start. The Corral on the South Florida campus will be the venue for the 10th-ever battle between USF and Marquette and that match will begin at 1:00 p.m. (CST).

THE COACHES - Marquette is directed by first-year head coach Pati Rolf (North Dakota State, '92) who was appointed to her current position on May 10, 2002. Heading into this weekend, Rolf has a 15-year career won-lost slate of 321-181 including a 11-12 effort at Marquette. She joined the Golden Eagles following a successful 14-year career at Minnesota-Duluth where she compiled a 310-169 won-lost slate.

UAB Head Coach Melinda Claiborne (Washington, '90) is in her third season at the helm of the Blazers' program. Heading into Friday's match, she has compiled a school and career record of 28-58.

South Florida Head Coach Nancy Mueller (Tennessee, '93) is in her fourth year guiding the Bulls and checks into the weekend with a school and career record of 87-38. Mueller has guided the USF program to three consecutive 20-win seasons.

THE RECORDS -- Marquette claims an overall record of 11-12 (2-8 C-USA) following a split of home matches last weekend against TCU and Houston. The Golden Eagles topped TCU in three games before dropping a hotly-contested four-game verdict to Houston.

UAB hosts Marquette with an overall mark of 11-17, 3-6 in conference play. In their most recent outings, the Blazers captured a five-game decision vs. Georgia State on Tuesday evening.

South Florida heads into a Friday night meeting against DePaul with an overall record of 23-5 including a league-leading 9-0 slate in conference action. The Bulls have won their last four and 13 of their last 14 matches.

SERIES NOTES - UAB leads the all-time series with Marquette, 8-6, however Marquette was won the last four meetings. Last year, MU posted a 3-0 win at home over the Blazers.

South Florida holds a 7-2 edge in the all-time series. The teams split two meetings last year with the Bulls winning in Milwaukee before Marquette claimed a four-game win in the C-USA Tournament.

ON THE HORIZON -- Following this weekend's road action, Marquette makes its final home appearance of the year on Friday, Nov. 15, against DePaul starting at 7:00 p.m.

MARQUETTE PLAYER & TEAM NOTES - Freshman Jesse Klein (Lena, Ill.) recorded a personal-best 19 kills against Houston last Saturday, her sixth outing of double-figure attacks this year ... In addition to her 14 kills against TCU, freshman Theresa Coughlin (Chicago) doled out a season-best six aces, tying the team's high-water mark by an individual this year ... Coughlin has a team-high 38 service aces to her credit and her 0.45 aces per game placed her fourth among C-USA players at the start of the week ... Sophomore Shannon Devine (Harris, Minn.) picked up 14 attacks along with 13 digs against TCU, her eighth double-double of the year ... Devine has a team-high 94 total blocks and her 1.11 blocks per game average ranked her seventh in the conference at the start of the week ... Sophomore Erin Freer (Stevensville, Mich.) leads the squad with a 3.45 digs per-game average and she'll enter the UAB match just five digs shy of reaching the 500-career mark.

MARQUETTE ON THE INTERNET - Up-to-date Marquette Volleyball information can be found on Marquette's website, located at: www.gomarquette.com