Marquette Volleyball Bounced From C-USA Tournament

NEW ORLEANS -

Marquette's nine-match win streak, the longest in the tenure of Head Coach Pati Rolf, was snapped Sunday night, when the sixth-seeded Golden Eagles (14-16, 8-5 C-USA) were up-ended by second-seed Louisville (22-4, 11-2 C- USA) in the Conference USA Tournament.

Marquette ran into the stiffest defense it has seen all year, as the Cardinals out-blocked Marquette 13.5-to-4. Sophomore Erin Freer's 15th double- double of the season (12 kills and 15 digs) was not enough to rally Marquette. For the evening, the Golden Eagles were limited to a .103 hitting average, while Louisville hit .270.

Bing Sun dominated the Cardinals' offense, downing 13 kills for a .323 attack percentage, while Lena Ustymenko added 11 kills and 13 digs. "Our block was greatly improved this match," said Louisville head coach Leonid Yelin."We controlled the net in hitting and blocking and that enabled us to play the big hard-hitting physical style we like to play."

Marquette got solid middle play out of sophomore Erica Heisser, who tied Freer for the team-lead with 12 kills, while adding four total blocks. But the most notable change between Marquette's nine-match win streak and Sunday's loss was the play of sophomore Theresa Coughlin. Despite a valiant effort on Coughlin's part, the Louisville defense proved to be too much, limiting her to six kills on a hitting average of .038

The Cardinals advance to play in the conference tournament championship seeking their third tournament crown and guarantee their 14th NCAA appearance.

Marquette finished its season with a record of 14-16, one half-game better than last year's mark of 13-16.