Volleyball Holds on to Beat Saint Louis
10/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 25, 2003
MILWAUKEE - Marquette got back in the win column Saturday night, beating Conference USA foe Saint Louis 30-13, 30-20, 25-30 and 30-26. The Golden Eagles dominated the first two games of the match, and overcame sloppy play late to improve their record to 6-15 (3-5 C-USA). Marquette committed a scant four attack errors while hitting .517 and .358 in the two opening frames. Saint Louis hit .169 (50-23-160) for the match, while dropping its record to 8-16 (1-6 C-USA).
The Golden Eagles got offensive contributions from senior Ann Lopata, who led the team with 20 kills, followed by sophomore Theresa Coughlin (17 kills, nine digs), junior Erin Freer (12 kills, 14 digs) and junior Erica Heisser (12 kills, four total blocks). "This is the most balanced offensive attack we've had all year," said Marquette Head Coach Pati Rolf.
Saint Louis was paced by juniors Kayla Kmitta (12 kills, five block assists) and Alexis Cooley (11 kills and two total blocks).
Early on in game one, the Golden Eagles used a variety of middle and weak-side attacks to forge a 20-8 lead. Following a SLU timeout, senior Ann Lopata took over. Lopata notched three kills and two blocks over the final eight points of the game, to help Marquette cruise to a 30-13 win.
In game two, it was time for a different middle blocker to make her mark. This time junior Erica Heisser stepped up, chipping in three kills and one block during MU's 10-1 run early in the second game. However, Lopata made her presence felt again, scoring Marquette's final four points of the game with kills out of the middle. Rolf commented, "we got great efforts from our middle blockers tonight. They've been playing better volleyball recently, and their improvement showed tonight."
Marquette couldn't keep the hot streak going however, and Saint Louis took game three, behind the hitting of Kayla Kmitta (5-2-9) and Alexis Cooley (5-1-6). The Billikens were aided by Marquette mistakes in the third game, including two ball handling errors and three service errors. However, as a team SLU posted a .324 hitting average in the third game, and pulled away with a block and a kill by Kayla Kmitta, over the last three points of the game.
Game four saw the two teams trade points without either squad establishing control or a sustained rally of points. Erin Freer stepped up for Marquette, carding five kills and seven digs in the final frame. That combined with eight SLU attack errors to allow Marquette to escape with a 30-26 game four win.
The Golden Eagles return to action next weekend, playing at Houston on Friday and at TCU on Saturday. Marquette's next home match will be November 7 against South Florida.
