Marquette University Athletics
Volleyball Team Travels East To Michigan
9/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 7, 2006
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MILWAUKEE - The Marquette volleyball team travels to Cliff Keen Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich., Sept. 8-9, for the Michigan/Pepsi Challenge, its third tournament of the season. MU (2-4) opens play against undefeated Michigan (7-0) on Friday at 10 a.m. CT before taking on Pacific (1-4) in a matinee at 4 p.m. CT. The Golden Eagles will conclude the tournament with a contest against the Virginia Cavaliers (5-1) at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday. Live statistics for all games and radio broadcast of MU's match with Michigan can be found by visiting the Wolverines web site: www.mgoblue.com.
Marquette is coming off a 1-2 record at its own tournament, the Marquette Kick-Off, last weekend. The Golden Eagles fell to Mississippi, 3-0 (23-30, 26-30, 26-30), and Illinois, 3-0 (30-32, 24-30, 27-30) in the first two games, but came back to sweep Loyola (Ill.), 3-0 (30-27, 30-18, 30-27) in the final game of the tournament.
Head coach Pati Rolf was encouraged by the team's play in the final game of the tournament and hopes the momentum carries through to this weekend.
"I think we just have to continue to have good communication and continue to be comfortable," said Rolf. "The more the team plays together, the more comfortable we become. We've been playing with each other for some time now, but there are still some new people on the floor. I felt like Sunday (vs. Loyola) was a step in the right direction."
Senior Jamie Mueller had a stellar weekend for the Golden Eagles, tallying her fourth, fifth and sixth double-doubles of the season. She led all student-athletes with 5.22 K/G and was fourth with 4.22 D/G. The outside hitter leads MU and ranks second in the BIG EAST with 4.67 K/G.
Kimberley Todd was another bright spot for Marquette on the weekend as she averaged 1.44 B/G, leading all four teams in the tournament. The junior's 1.33-season average leads the team and ranks fourth in the conference.
A 50-assist performance by junior Monica Renfrow was also a highlight for the Golden Eagles as the setter etched a new personal-best mark for a match.
MU will face even stiffer competition this weekend against Michigan, Pacific and Virginia, all programs with size and experience.
"This is a big-team tournament," Rolf added. "Each of these teams has a lot of experience and come from strong conferences with a lot of tradition in terms of their success."
Michigan is first for up for Marquette. The Wolverines are perfect in seven games to start the 2006 season, winning 21 games to their opponents two. In the UC Irvine Classic last weekend, they defeated No. 20 San Diego, 3-0 (30-25, 30-25, 30-21), Iowa State, 3-1 (23-30, 30-28, 30-28, 30-28), and California Irvine, 3-0 (30-22, 30-22, 30-27) to win the title.
Michigan junior Katie Bruzdzinski, named the MVP of the Classic, leads the team with 4.52 K/G and is second with a 31.0 hitting percentage. Junior Lyndsay Miller, who is averaging 3.78 K/G, ranks second.
Another key contributor is an all-tournament team member from last weekend, Stesha Selsky, who leads the Wolverines with 4.52 D/G. The junior also ranks 16th in the national and leads the squad with 13.26 A/G.
Senior Megan Bowman leads Michigan and ranks 26th in NCAA DI with 1.61 B/G.
In two matches, the Golden Eagles have yet to defeat the Wolverines. The last meeting between the teams came Sept. 20, 1991, in the Michigan Invitational, a match lost by MU 3-0 (1-15, 8-15, 4-15).
Pacific is next for Marquette. The Tigers come to Michigan having won just one match this season, against Montana, 3-1 (30-24, 31-29, 18-30, 30-22), in the AT&T Invitational in Reno, Nev., last weekend.
Junior Johanna Hilbers, an all-tournament team selection, leads the Tigers with a 38.1 hitting percentage and 1.12 B/G, while ranking second with 3.50 K/G. Sophomore Alexa Anderson leads the squad with 4.00 K/G, and junior Kara Uhl, also on the all-tournament team, ranks first for the Tigers with 3.81 D/G.
MU has met Pacific just once before, coming up on the short end in a 3-0 loss on Aug. 27 of last season in the Marquette Kick-Off.
Marquette concludes the tournament with a match against Virginia. The Cavaliers hosted and won the Jefferson Cup last weekend, taking 3-0 victories over Georgetown (30-20, 30-24, 32-30) and Wright State (30-27, 30-22, 30-21), along with a 3-1 defeat of East Carolina (30-19, 27-30, 30-22, 30-24). Virginia's only loss of the season came at No. 11 Tennessee, 3-1, in the first match of the season.
Tournament MVP Sarah Kirkwood leads the team with 3.95 K/G. She also leads the team and ranks ninth in the country with 0.90 aces per game.
All-tournament team member Katie Oakes leads Virginia with a 29.2 hitting percentage and is second with 3.45 K/G. The junior also leads the team and ranks eighth in the nation with 1.85 blocks per game.
This match will mark the first meeting ever between the teams.
"We like playing big teams," Rolf added. "We are going to do the best we can and come in ready to fight. We have everything to gain by doing well and having a positive weekend."
