Volleyball Downs Villanova in Marathon Match, 3-2

Feb. 21, 2006

MILWAUKEE - Four Golden Eagles tallied double-figured kills as the Marquette women's volleyball team earned a critical BIG EAST Conference victory defeating Villanova in five games, 3-2. With the win, the Golden Eagles improve to 12-10, 5-5 BIG EAST, while the Wildcats fall to 19-6, 6-3 BIG EAST.

"This was a tremendous team effort tonight," said head coach Pati Rolf. "This is probably the best effort I have seen the players put forth all season. I was especially impressed by the defense of Caitie O'Brien and the play of our younger players, Jenn Brown, Kim Todd and Tiffany (Helmbrecht). This is a big win, we needed this one."

The Golden Eagles triumphed in the first and second games winning both, 30-18, 30-22, respectively. Behind a 51.5 attacks percentage, the Golden Eagles went on a 10-1 run midway through the first and never looked back en route to the lopsided victory. Sophomore Kim Todd led the way for Marquette with six kills in the first stanza, while fellow sophomore Jenn Brown led the way in game two nailing six kills and not one error in her eight attempts hitting 75 percent.

The Wildcats claimed the third game, 30-24. A block assist by Alona Cherkez and Kacy Sellers helped Villanova mount an 11-2 run to hold a 10-point advantage (22-12) with Marquette not being able to relinquish the deficit. Both teams recorded 39 errors in a meager hitting effort, but the Wildcats won the kills battle 15-9 in the game three win.

The intensity picked up in the fourth game as the Wildcats and the Golden Eagles traded points for most of the game with neither team holding more than a two-point advantage. Sparked by a kill from Cherkez, Villanova earned three consecutive points to clinch game four, 31-29, and force a fifth and deciding game. Even with the loss, Marquette put up a tough defensive effort at the net registering five blocks with Todd and Brown combining for seven block assists.

Despite being down by as many as four points in the fifth game, the Golden Eagles didn't back down and fended off four game points to tie the game at 14. After the game was taken into extra points because of attack errors by both teams, the Golden Eagles pulled off the win, 17-15, with back-to-back kills from Brown and sophomore Tiffany Helmbrecht.

"We were confident going into the fifth game knowing we could win it," said Helmbrecht. "We came together and got it done. I am proud of the way we pulled it together and give a lot of credit to our backline who played outstanding defense throughout."

The Golden Eagles ended the evening hitting 20.3 percent, while holding the Wildcats to just a 12.9 attack percentage. Todd was just shy of a triple double tallying 22 kills, 13 digs and nine blocks, while senior Theresa Coughlin notched her ninth double double of the season with 10 kills and 17 digs. Helmbrecht and Brown put forth outstanding efforts with Brown recording a career high 15 kills and Helmbrecht putting down 10 kills. Seniors Heidi Pfeiffer and Caitie O'Brien held the back line combining for 20 defensive digs.

Adrian Semrau and Kacy Seller led Villanova with 16 kills each.

The Golden Eagles return to action Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Al McGuire Center when the host Rutgers.