Marquette University Athletics
Marquette Volleyball Hosts Marquette Cheese Bowl
9/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 18, 2008
MU Volleyball Match Notes (9-20) 
MILWAUKEE -- The Marquette women's volleyball returns to action this weekend as it hosts the Wisconsin Cheese Bowl on Saturday and Sunday at the Al McGuire Center.
Coming to Milwaukee to face the Golden Eagles and participate in the tournament are American (5-4), Oregon State (8-2) and No. 13 Wisconsin (8-1), while the UW-Milwaukee Panthers (7-3) will make the cross-town trip to compete in one match against Oregon State on Sunday.
Sunday's match against No. 13 Wisconsin will be televised locally on tape-delay by Time Warner Cable Sports, Channel 32. The match will air Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 25 at 12:30 p.m., and Saturday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.
"We are looking forward to great competition," said head coach Pati Rolf. "All three teams that we play are very strong and powerful within their conferences. We will be challenged this weekend by some very good teams. "
The Golden Eagles open play Saturday at noon against Oregon State before facing American at 6 p.m. Oregon State heads to Milwaukee after playing the Zhejiang Club Team from China in an exhibition match on Monday. American, which boasts the world's tallest female twins according to Guinness World Records, 6-foot-8 Ann and Claire Recht, enters the tournament fresh off wins over Harvard and Dartmouth in the Harvard Invitational. Senior outside hitter Rubena Sukaj was named the Patriot League's Player of the Week following the Harvard Invitational. Sukaj became the Patriot League's all time leader in kills on Friday with 14 against Harvard.
The Badgers enter Sunday's match with the Golden Eagles on a four match winning streak following a 3-1 loss to future MU opponent Miami (Ohio). UW and Marquette are meeting this weekend for the first time in nine years. Wisconsin won the teams previous meeting 3-1 on Sept. 17, 1999.
"We always look forward to playing Wisconsin teams because of the in-state rivalries and this match with the Badgers is no different," said Rolf.
Leading Marquette into the tournament are Marquette Challenge All-Tournament Team honorees Caryn Mastandrea, Rabbecka Gonyo and Ashlee Fisher. Mastandrea was named to the BIG EAST Conference weekly honor roll this past week after recording 144 assists over three matches last weekend. Fisher leads Marquette, and ranks second in the BIG EAST, with 3.86 kills per set, while Gonyo paces MU's frontline with 0.97 blocks per set.
"We are looking to gain more experience this weekend," Rolf said. "As the ladies get more playing time and experience it will benefit us when we get into BIG EAST play."
