Golden Eagles Take Opening Match From Western Michigan, 3-2

Sept. 11, 2009

MILWAUKEE- The Marquette women's volleyball team returned to action Friday morning in the Panther Invitational by defeating Western Michigan, 3-2 (23-25, 25-16, 18-25, 25-15, 15-8).

"I give our team a lot of credit, we got whipped in game three and we could have packed it in, but our team is showing a lot of desire." said head coach Bond Shymansky. "Our team is showing a lot of resolve It was a quality win over a Sweet 16 team from last year. What a great fight back, I am so pumped for our team. It is clearly the best win we have had this year"

Sophomore Ciara Jones continued her strong play, tying a career high with 16 kills, while junior Leslie Bielski led the team with 17 kills and also tallied 13 digs. Setter Nikki Klingsporn recorded another career high in assists with 62 and freshman libero Kelsey Warner dug out 24 Bronco attacks.

MU and WMU engaged in a tightly contested first set until the Golden Eagles pulled out to a 11-8 lead following a 7-1 MU run. From there the Broncos responded to retake the lead at 13-11 and ultimately won a close one, 25-23. Freshman Kelsey Mattai, starting in only her second match, made her presence felt for MU in the first with a kill and three blocks.

In the second, MU fell down early but came back to take a 14-9 lead, forcing a Bronco timeout. Out of the timeout, MU pulled out to a 20-12 advantage on a kill from Mattai and after another WMU timeout would close out the set 25-16. The Golden Eagles hit .351 (16-3-37) as a team in the second, compared to .133 for the Broncos.

Marquette jumped out to an early 8-5 lead on a powerful kill by Jones and led 9-6 before a fury of Bronco attacks netted WMU six straight points and a 12-9 lead. The Golden Eagles struggled to get the ball over the net in the rest of the frame, falling 25-18. Marquette hit .167 (11-6-30) in the third, while Western Michigan hit only a bit better at .185.

The Golden Eagles trailed 5-1 to start the fourth and it looked like the match would quickly end. MU finally showed their form from the first two sets and took a 12-8 lead on a kill from sophomore Ashley Beyer. Jones recorded five kills for the Golden Eagles in the fourth and lead the team to a 25-15 victory. Jones and Bielski helped MU record a remarkable .455 (17-2-33) attack percentage, while the Broncos hit .079 in the frame.

Marquette kept up the intensity in the final frame and pulled out a 15-8 victory with three kils from Bielski and two from Jones.

The Golden Eagles return to action in their second match of the day against South Dakota at 5 p.m. at the Klotsche Center.