Bielski Skies High, Leads Volleyball to 3-2 Victory

Oct. 1, 2006

TAMPA, FLA. - Behind a record-tying 12 assisted blocks by freshman Leslie Bielski, the Marquette volleyball team (7-8), with a 3-2 (30-26, 30-25, 20-30, 25-30 15-11) victory over South Florida (6-9, 2-1), Sunday afternoon at The Corral in Tampa, Fla., ran its BIG EAST record to 3-1 to start the 2006 season. The win marks the first time since 2000, when the Golden Eagles were part of Conference USA, the team has started league play winning three of its first four contests.

MU found itself in a hole early to start the match, down 7-3 after a 3-0 run by USF. The Golden Eagles responded with a 4-0 run of their own, tying the game on a kill by senior Jamie Mueller. The Bulls scored the next three points and soon had a six-point lead at 17-11.

Marquette rallied with a 5-0 run, cutting South Florida's lead to one, 17-16, on an ace by junior Kimberley Todd, and then tied the game at 19-19 on a ball handling error by the Bulls. An ace by freshman Hailey Viola gave the Golden Eagles their second lead of the game at 20-19, and after trading points, MU pulled away to win the first frame, 30-26, on a kill by Bielski.

Todd led the squad with five kills.

After falling behind 4-1 in game two, the Golden Eagles scored three-straight points, tying the frame on blocks by juniors Monica Renfrow and Tiffany Helmbrecht. With the teams tied again at 7-7, Marquette went on a 7-1 run to take a 15-8 lead with blocks by Renfrow and Bielski. The advantage was increased to eight at 25-17, the largest of the game, on an attack error by USF, before Todd tallied the final point of the game with a kill, giving MU a 30-25 victory and 2-0 lead in the match.

For the second consecutive game Todd led the Golden Eagles, who hit 30.6 percent in the frame, with nine kills.

USF started game three with a 7-4 lead. Todd cut the MU deficit to two at 11-9, but a 5-0 run by the Bulls increased their advantage to seven, 16-9. South Florida continued to build its lead, soon finding itself up 23-12, before winning the frame, 30-20.

The first half of game four was close throughout. USF started with a 3-0 run, but the advantage was soon matched as MU scored three-straight to tie the game on an ace by Viola. The team's stayed within a point of each other until the Bulls took a 13-11 lead. Blocks by Helmbrecht and Bielski tied the game at 14-14, but only before USF began to pull away, taking a 24-20 lead. South Florida increased its advantage to six at 27-21 before finishing off Marquette, 30-25, to tie the match at 2-2.

South Florida's momentum continued into game five as it started with a 6-3 lead. An attack error brought Marquette back within one, 7-6, but just before USF increased its lead back to three at 9-6.

It was then that the Golden Eagles took control of the game, regaining their momentum from the first two, as they scored six consecutive points to go ahead 12-9. In the run, Todd and Bielski teamed together for three-straight blocks, the third giving Marquette a 10-9 lead and Bielski a share of the assisted block record.

MU held the lead for the remainder of the frame, as a kill by Todd sealed the 15-11 victory and a 3-2 match win for the Golden Eagles.

Bielski finished with her first career double-double, recording 12 kills to go along with her 12 blocks, which tied the record held by current teammate Jenn Brown.

Todd led Marquette with 26 kills, connecting for a 33.9 hitting percentage on the afternoon. She also tallied 11 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. Renfrow led the squad with 55 assists.

Mueller, in her 100th career match, registered her 14th double-double (14 K, 21 D) in 15 games this season.

The victory for the Golden Eagles marked the third time in as many chances this season the team has won a match in five games. MU also tied a record, set Oct. 6, 1995, for most assisted blocks in a match, when it recorded 39 this afternoon.

Marquette, winners in four of its last five matches, will be back in action, Oct. 6, at 4 p.m. ET, when it travels to Notre Dame, Ind., to take on the Fighting Irish.