Marquette University Athletics
Marquette Volleyball Faces DePaul in C-USA Tournament
11/20/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Match Information
The Marquette Volleyball team begins its post-season play this week, with a trip to the Conference USA Tournament, hosted by Tulane University in New Orleans, La. The No.6 seed Golden Eagles square off Friday against No. 11 DePaul, in a re-match of last Friday?s C-USA finale for both ball clubs.
The Coaches
The Golden Eagles are led by Head Coach Pati Rolf (North Dakota State, ?92). She sports a 25-31 career effort at Marquette over two years. For her 16-year career, Rolf has compiled a 335-200 record, for a .626 winning percentage. Only the third coach in Marquette?s 29-year program, Rolf brings a successful resume with her, having recorded a 310-169 mark at Minnesota Duluth. Rounding out the Golden Eagle coaching staff are second-year assistants Amy Lee (Wisconsin, ?98) and Todd Nelson (Minnesota Duluth, ?98).
Leading DePaul for the seventh season is Dawn Dockstader (Montana Tech, ?88). Her record with the Blue Demons, as well as her career is 100-122. Prior to taking the reins at DePaul, Dockstader was Associate Head Coach at Valparaiso. Before heading to Valpo, she was an assistant with Central Michigan. Dockstader is assisted by Julie Wiejak, Phillip Wantoch and Katie Engel.
About Marquette
Marquette enters the C-USA Tournament riding a seven-match winning streak, the longest for MU in the tenure of Head Coach Pati Rolf. The Golden Eagles finished the regular season with a mark of 12-15, 8-5 in C-USA competition. Last week, the Golden Eagles knocked off in-state rival UW-Green Bay 3-0, before winning 3-0 at DePaul to wrap up the program?s best season of C-USA play.
Tuesday night, the Golden Eagles overcame early mental errors against UW-Green Bay to get their first sweep since an Oct. 11 tangle with Charlotte. Leading the way for Marquette were Theresa Coughlin (16 kills), Aga Niemcezewska and Erica Heisser (nine kills each). Marquette also got solid middle play out of Ann Lopata (nine kills on .318 hitting) and a great all-around effort from Erin Freer (eight kills, eight digs).
Marquette continued its hot play with a 3-0 ay DePaul on Friday night. The Golden Eagles were paced by a trio of double-digit attackers. Lopata and Freer each tallied 14 kills, while Coughlin chipped in 12 finishes. Freer recorded her team-leading 13th double-double of the season, as she also swept up 12 digs. Leading the defensive effort was sophomore Caitie O?Brien, who notched 13 digs. Marquette?s offense dominated the match, as the Golden Eagles racked up a 59-34 advantage in kills, while hitting at a prolific rate of .325. The Blue Demons struggled early to mount any attack, hitting .l67 and .079 in the first two frames, before waking up to hit a respectable .200 in game three. For the match DePaul hit .150.
Marquette is led offensively by Coughlin?s 4.23 kpg. Lopata (2.90 kpg), Freer (2.91 kpg) and Heisser (2.25 kpg) add depth to the MU attack, which is run by senior Gemma Greer (12.33 apg). Defensively, the Golden Eagles feature five players who average more than two digs per game. They are Freer (3.53 dpg), freshman Jamie Mueller (3.08 dpg), O?Brien (2.57 dpg), Greer (2.21 dpg) and junior Sarah Vernon (2.24 dpg).
Coughlin All-Conference
Sophomore Theresa Coughlin was recognized by Conference USA coaches for the second-straight year. The All-Freshman team member of a year ago was named to the 2003 Second Team All-Conference, after leading Marquette in kills (4.23 per game) and points (490.5 on the season). Coughlin has led Marquette in kills in 19 of 27 matches this year. With 448 kills, Coughlin?s season is the third-best all-time for a Marquette hitter
