Marquette University Athletics
Volleyball to Renew Cross-Town Rivalry with Wis.-Milwaukee
10/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 9, 2006
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MILWAUKEE - Winners in five of its last seven matches, the Marquette volleyball team (8-9, 4-2) welcomes intracity rival Wis.-Milwaukee (10-5, 4-1 Horizon) to the Al McGuire Center, Tuesday at 7 p.m. The contest will be the 68th all time between the teams, the most ever for MU against an opponent. The Panthers lead the Golden Eagles 22-44-1 in the series.
"We are looking forward to having UWM come to The Al," said head coach Pati Rolf. "One thing about them is they are extremely scrappy and very hard working, and should pose a big challenge for us. We had new faces step up their play last weekend and we look to incorporate them more into the offense Tuesday. It should be an exciting match."
MU is coming off the 500th victory in program history, Oct. 8, against DePaul. The Golden Eagles defeated the Blue Demons, 3-0 (30-24, 31-29, 30-15), in Chicago, Ill., behind double-doubles by senior Jamie Mueller (13 K, 13 D) and junior Monica Renfrow (29 A, 10 D).
Two days previous, Marquette was in Notre Dame, Ind., to take on the Fighting Irish in hopes of breaking a 0-8 all-time record against the squad. Down 2-0 in the match after consecutive 30-17 losses, the Golden Eagles rallied to win game three, 30-21. Poised for a comeback, MU rushed out to a 6-0 lead in the fourth frame, but only to see its lead diminish to 7-7, and then 30-24. Junior Kimberley Todd led Marquette with 19 kills and 10 digs in the loss.
Mueller and Todd each moved closer to milestone marks over the weekend. Mueller, after recording 42 digs, is just 10 from tying current assistant coach Erin Freer (2001-04) for first on the all-time list with 1,405. Todd needs just eight kills to reach 1,000 in her career. She would become only the eighth student-athlete in the history of the program to accomplish the feat.
The pair also continues to lead the team, and rank among the best of the BIG EAST in numerous categories. With 5.39 D/G, Mueller leads the Golden Eagles and the conference. She also ranks second on the squad and is ninth in the league with 3.86 K/G. Todd is tops for MU, second in the BIG EAST, and through Oct. 1 ranks 20th in NCAA DI with 4.76 K/G. Renfrow ranks ninth in the BIG EAST with 10.00 A/G, and freshman Leslie Bielski, with 12 blocks combined against Notre Dame and DePaul, leads Marquette with 1.07 B/G.
Looking to run their wins streak against UWM to three games, the Golden Eagles will have to deal with some of the best volleyball talent the Horizon League has to offer. Senior Cheryl Hegemann ranks fourth in the conference with 1.24 B/G and sixth with 3.26 K/G. Just behind her is fellow senior Melissa David with 3.25 K/G. Sophomore libero Becky Peters ranks fifth in the Horizon with 4.06 D/G, and freshman Lauren Felsing leads the team with 9.58 A/G. Last season at the Klotsche Center, Marquette defeated Wis.-Milwaukee 3-1 (30-25, 25-30, 30-28, 30-24). Golden Eagles Jamie Mueller (17 K, 26 D), Kimberley Todd (15 K, 14 D), Theresa Coughlin (28 K, 14 D) and Katie Weidner (52 A, 11 D) all recorded double-doubles in the victory to outlast an 18-kill performance by the Panther's Melissa David.
For the first-time ever at the Al McGuire, the match can be see live over the internet by clicking the Marquette All-Access button at www.gomarquette.com. Live statistics and a radio broadcast will also be available by following the links on the volleyball schedule.
