Volleyball Heads East for Two Pivotal Conference Matches
10/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
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MILWAUKEE - The Marquette women?s volleyball team (10-9, 3-4 BIG EAST) will look to move up in the conference standings this weekend when they travel to the east coast for a pair of pivotal BIG EAST matches at St. John?s (17-6, 3-3 BIG EAST) and Connecticut (10-9, 2-4 BIG EAST). The Golden Eagles will match up against the Redstorm in Queens, N.Y., Saturday, October 22, at 2 p.m. in the Carnesecca Arena before battling Uconn in Storrs, Conn., on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Gampel Pavilion.
?We need to come out prepared in both matches,? said head coach Pati Rolf. ?It is important for us to play well and play smart against both of these teams. St. John?s is a good team, so they will be a challenge for us. We will take it one match at a time this weekend and hopefully get the result we are looking for.?
Marquette enters the weekend riding a loss to conference foe Syracuse, 3-1. The Golden Eagles have earned weekend splits the last five weeks. Marquette is 6-2 following a loss, 3-6 on weekend afternoons and 1-3 on the road this season.
With the loss on Saturday, the Golden Eagles dropped to ninth place in the BIG EAST standings with seven conference matches remaining. Marquette needs a top-eight or better conference finish in order to qualify for the BIG EAST Conference Tournament in Louisville, Ky., November 18-20.
Senior outside hitter Theresa Coughlin continues to lead the Golden Eagles offense with 4.40 kills per game and matched her career high number of kills for a single match with 29 against Syracuse. Sophomore middle blockers Tiffany Helmbrecht and Jenn Brown each have contributed 2.19 kills per game and .97 and .85 blocks per game, respectively.
This will be the first-ever contest between the Redstorm and the Golden Eagles as St. John?s enters the weekend with a win under its belt sweeping long time rival Connecticut, 3-0, in its only contest this last week. It was the Red Storm?s second straight BIG EAST sweep, as they sit eighth in the conference with an even 3-3 record. St. John?s league win total (three) in 2005 already surpasses last year?s conference wins (1-9 in 2004).
Senior outside hitter Shameka Mitchell leads St John?s attack with 3.66 kills per game, while the team ranks second in the BIG EAST in kills (16.26) and hitting percentage (26.0). The Redstorm has limited its opponents to hit an average 14.7 percent per game, ranking them second in the conference. St. John?s is currently ranked seventh in the northeast region in Rich Kern?s weekly RKPI poll, a mimic of the RPI used by the NCAA at the end of the regular season to determine the tournament field.
After a 3-0 loss to Albany, the Huskies enter the weekend losing two of their last three matches including the 3-0 loss to rival St. John?s. Senior outside hitter Heather Ashley leads the young squad of eight freshmen and sophomores with 3.50 kills per game, while senior middle hitter Megan Crawley contributes an average of 3.33 kills per game and 2.03 digs per game. The Golden Eagles and the Huskies met for the first time last season with Marquette coming away with the win, 3-1. The Huskies are currently 14th in the Northeast Region in the Rich Kern weekly RKPI poll.
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