Heart Leads Volleyball to Come From Behind Victory

Sept. 16, 2006

MILWAUKEE - The Marquette volleyball team won its final game of the Marquette Challenge Saturday night thanks to an incredible come from behind 3-2 (27-30, 30-32, 30-26, 30-28, 15-13) victory over Stony Brook (5-9) at the Al McGuire Center. With a 2-1 record over the weekend, the Golden Eagles (4-7) garnered two all-tournament spots as senior Jamie Mueller and junior Kimberley Todd were acknowledged with honors.

"We came out with and played with a lot of heart today against a Stony Brook team that played an excellent game," said head coach Pati Rolf. "Our team stuck together, even after being down such a big deficit in game four. I think they finally started believing in what we've been preaching and the plan and started to execute. The team finally had the faith that they were going to pull out a match that was really a tough match to play."

Junior Jenn Brown began game one 2-for-2, connecting for consecutive kills to give Marquette a 2-0 lead to start the frame. From then on, the teams remained within two points of each other until Stony Brook took a three-point lead at 23-20, forcing the Golden Eagles to call a timeout.

Out of the break, Mueller and freshman Leslie Bielski scored with back-to-back kills to cut the lead to one at 23-22.

The Seawolves used a timeout and after the huddle scored the next two points, increasing their lead back to three.

Back came Marquette, however, as it went on a 3-0 run of its own to tie the game at 25-25 on blocks by Mueller and Bielski. MU scored the next two points to take a 27-25 lead, bringing about a second timeout by Stony Brook.

The Seawolves rallied out of the break to tie the score at 27-27, and the Golden Eagles used their final timeout. With the ball, Stony Brook served three-straight aces to win game one, 30-27.

Mueller led Marquette to a 27.8 hitting percentage in the first frame with five kills.

The teams sparred with one another once again to start the second game, trading the lead five times while remaining within a point of one another until Stony Brook took at two-point lead at 11-9.

The Seawolves increased their lead to three at 13-10, but back came the Golden Eagles, tying the game at 15-15 on a block by Mueller and Bielski, before taking a two-point lead on a kill by freshman Caryn Mastandrea, forcing a timeout by Stony Brook.

The Seawolves tied the game at 19-19, and took the lead three points later, 21-20.

After trading the next five points, the Golden Eagles scored two consecutive, the second on a kill by Todd, to take a 25-23 lead.

Stony Brook rallied to tie the game at 26-26 before the teams traded points until another tie at 28-28 prompted a timeout by Marquette.

A tie score at 29-29 ensured extra points would be played in the game, but it was the Seawolves who came out on top, 32-30, to take a two games to none lead in the match.

Mueller, Todd and senior Nicole Wallace each tallied four kills to lead the Golden Eagles.

Blocks by Mueller and junior Tiffany Helmbrecht highlighted a 4-1 run to start game three as Marquette controlled the first half of the frame leading by as much as five at 16-11.

Stony Brook called a timeout down four at 20-16 looking to gain ground in the game, but MU slowly increased it lead out of the break to as much as six, leading 28-22.

The Seawolves would make a run, however, breaking game-point three times to pull within three at 29-26, forcing a timeout by the Golden Eagles.

Out of the break, MU set up Wallace for a slam to end the game, 30-26.

Mueller and Todd led the Golden Eagles in the game with five kills each.

Stony Brook regained its momentum from games one and two, jumping out to a 9-3 lead in game four, before increasing its advantage to eight at 13-5.

Marquette used a timeout and went on a 4-0 run out of the break to cut the lead to nine at 13-9 and soon found itself down two at 15-13 on a kill by Mueller.

A kill by Wallace cut the Golden Eagles' deficit to one at 18-17, but a 3-0 run by the Seawolves extended their lead back to four at 21-17.

Down 25-20, Marquette used a timeout and out of the huddle scored four-straight points to cut the lead to one at 25-24, before tying the game on a hitting error by Stony Brook at 28-28. The Golden Eagles took the lead 29-28 on a second error by the Seawolves before winning the game on a kill by Mueller, 30-28.

Todd led MU to a 2-2-match tiebreaker with seven kills in the game.

Stony Brook started the final game with the serve and a 3-0 lead, but back came Marquette to tie the frame at 4-4 on a kill by Todd.

The Seawolves increased their lead back to three at 8-5, but a 3-0 run for the Golden Eagles, culminating in blocks by Brown and Helmbrecht, tied the game at 8-8, forcing a timeout by Stony Brook.

A hitting error out of the break gave Marquette the lead at 9-8. After trading the next six points, MU still controlled the lead at 12-11 as Stony Brook called a timeout.

Out of the huddle, the teams once again traded points and were tied at 13-13 before a kill by Todd gave the Golden Eagles a one-point lead. Blocks by Helmbrecht and Mueller sealed the comeback for Marquette with a 15-13 game-five victory.

Mueller (19 K, 27 D), Wallace (14 K, 10 D) and Todd (25 K, 15 D) all registered double-doubles for the Golden Eagles. Todd's 25 kills were a season high.

"We were very satisfied with our play this weekend," added Rolf. "I think this gets us really prepared for next weekend. It was nice that we not only won, but we also had to work hard to get the victory. It was a really fun match that ended a great weekend."

At the conclusion of the match the Marquette Challenge All-Tournament Team was announced:

Jamie Kartchner, San Francisco - MVP

Haley Carroll, San Francisco

Kristen Hassell, San Francisco

Jamie Mueller, Marquette

Kimberley Todd, Marquette

Morgan Sweany, Stony Brook

Marquette resumes play when it opens BIG EAST competition, hosting Cincinnati, Sept. 22, and Louisville, Sept. 24.