Volleyball Takes Care of Wis.-Green Bay, 3-0

Oct. 24, 2006

MILWAUKEE - Led by 13 kills from junior Kimberley Todd, the Marquette volleyball team earned a 3-0 (30-23, 30-16, 30-25) victory over in-state rival Wis.-Green Bay on Tuesday night at the Al McGuire Center. With the win, the Golden Eagles improved to 11-11 on the season, reaching the .500-mark for the first time in 2006.

"We are continuing to improve on our consistency," said head coach Pati Rolf. "We had great serving today and were tremendous defensively with our blocks. We did a better job of spreading out our players, really mixing it up and getting more people in the game. Our bench put a little pressure on people to step it up and they did."

Seven of the first eight points of game one belonged to the Golden Eagles as senior Jamie Mueller and freshman Leslie Bielski each tallied two kills. The Phoenix called a timeout at that point, and out of the break scored the next four points to cut the MU lead to two at 7-5. Marquette answered, scoring six of the next seven points to increase its lead to seven at 13-6, before moving ahead eight points at 22-14 on a hitting error by Wis.-Green Bay. The Phoenix called their second timeout, but would only get within six as Todd finished the frame, 30-23, with her third kill of the evening.

After a much closer start to the second frame, Marquette began to pull away, scoring four-straight points to go ahead 10-6, prompting a timeout by Wis.-Green Bay. It continued the run, scoring five of the next seven out of the break to take a seven-point lead at 15-8. The Golden Eagles increased their lead to 12, matching their largest of the game to that point at 26-14, on a kill by junior Tiffany Helmbrecht. A hitting error by Wis.-Green Bay gave Marquette the second game, 30-16, and a 2-0 lead in the match.

Todd recorded seven kills in the frame, leading Marquette to a 34.3 hitting percentage.

The Phoenix scored seven of the first 10 points to start game three. The Golden Eagles rallied, however, tying the game at 12-12 on a kill by Bielski. After back-to-back aces by the freshman and a hitting error by Wis.-Green Bay, MU took the lead, 16-15. Marquette increased its lead to 14 at 28-14 on another kill by Bielski, before a hitting error by the Phoenix concluded the game, 30-25.

Mueller finished with nine kills and Bielski, eight. Senior Lauren Pierce led the team with 10 digs, and freshman Katie Vancura was tops on the squad with four blocks (1 BS, 3 BA).

Sarah Rauen and Holly Visser each recorded 10 kills to lead Wis.-Green Bay.

Marquette resumes BIG EAST play when it travels to Piscataway, N.J., to take on Rutgers, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. ET, before finishing the weekend with a match in Villanova, Pa., Oct. 29 at 2 p.m. ET, against the Wildcats.