Volleyball to Host Seton Hall on Senior Night
11/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Golden Eagles honor their seniors and put four match win streak on the line.
MILWAUKEE - The Marquette volleyball team (14-10, 6-5 BIG EAST) will wrap up its home conference slate Friday, November 4 when the Golden Eagles host Seton Hall (12-14, 2-8 BIG EAST) at 7 p.m. in the Al McGuire Center. It will be the last BIG EAST Conference home match for seniors Theresa Coughlin, Caitie O?Brien and Heidi Pfeiffer.
?We are looking forward to our match against Seton Hall,? said head coach Pati Rolf. ?Every week we keep improving each week, so I am excited to see the surprises the players will come with. We are working toward solidifying our spot in the BIG EAST Conference Tournament with each match.?
Marquette enters the match riding a four-game winning streak including three straight conference victories over Connecticut (3-1), Villanova (3-2) and Rutgers (3-0). With the wins Golden Eagles captured sole possession of eighth place in the conference standings. Should Marquette stay in the eighth spot it will qualify for the BIG EAST Conference Tournament, November 18-20, in Louisville, Ky.
Coughlin, who nearly matched her career high number of kill against Wis.-Milwaukee on Tuesday nailing 28, leads the Golden Eagles with 4.24 kpg, good enough for fifth in the conference. Sophomore Kim Todd continues to sparkle in her new role at middle blocker and was named BIG EAST Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 31. Todd was the Golden Eagles' offensive catalyst with arguably her best performance in back-to-back games. She registered 22 kills, 13 digs and nine blocks, just shy of her first career triple double in the win over Villanova on Friday, Oct. 28. The sophomore followed that with her sixth double double of the season nailing 17 kills, hitting a season high 48.3 percent, and adding14 digs in the sweep of the Scarlet Knights on Sunday, Oct. 30. The award marked the Golden Eagles second player of the week selection as Coughlin earned the honor on August 29.
The Pirates enter Friday?s match with the Golden Eagles with a string of three losses under their belts in 11th place in the conference earning just two BIG EAST victories (Rutgers, 3-0 and DePaul 3-0). Freshman Breanna Leisner leads Seton Hall?s attack averaging 3.43 kills per game and .79 blocks per game. Junior Jessica Pompei, who recently broke the Pirates? single season digs record in their loss at West Virginia, holds down their defensive unit with 4.17 digs per game ranking her sixth in the conference. Head coach Maureen ?Mo? Rafferty Del Ross brings a young squad of nine freshmen and sophomores to Milwaukee as Friday?s match-up will mark the first time in history the two teams have met.
?I am interested in seeing how we respond to Seton Hall because they have a talented outside attack and they are a good defensive team. We are working hard at our outside blocking and eliminating Seton Hall?s outside hitters? threats.?
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