Volleyball Advances to Quarters of C-USA Tournament

Golden Eagles extend win streak to eight matches

NEW ORLEANS ? No. 6 Marquette extended its winning streak to eight matches with a 3-0 (30-24, 30-27, 30-25) victory over 11th-seeded DePaul in the second match of the 2003 Conference USA Volleyball Tournament on Friday at Fogelman Arena. The Golden Eagles (13-15) advance to the quarterfinal round where they will face third-seeded Southern Miss at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The Blue Demons fall to 11-20 on the season.

Erin Freer led Marquette with a double-double performance of 16 kills and 12 digs. Erica Heisser finished with a match-high .375 attack percentage, posting 12 kills and only giving up three errors in 24 attempts. She also added five block assists. The Golden Eagles were very balanced on the afternoon, having five players with eight or more kills.

"We played OK," head coach Pati Rolf said. "We had a great serving and defensive game, but our offense was average. This team has been doing a great job of pickup up the other areas of the game when one area isn't doing so well."

For the Blue Demons, Mandy Moorberg finished with 12 kills, while Janet Cotter added nine. Defensively, Erin Hayes notched her 20th match of double-digit digs with 12. The Blue Demons dug 48 of Marquette's 134 attempts on the day.

"Today's win was a good step," Rolf said. "DePaul played tremendous defense, which prepared us for a Southern Miss team who is great on the defense. DePaul played a heck of a game."

On Saturday, Marquette will look to extend its winning streak to nine and avenge its earlier loss to USM when it fell, 3-0, on Oct. 18.