Volleyball Sweeps Southern Miss in Home Opener

Sept. 9, 2011

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MILWAUKEE - Ciara Jones' 15 kills led the Marquette University women's volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep (25-22, 25-17, 25-21) of Southern Miss Friday afternoon in the opening match of the Marquette/Milwaukee Invitational at the Al McGuire Center.

Marquette improves to 5-3 on the season with the victory, while Southern Miss falls to 3-4 overall.

In addition to the 15 kills by Jones, fellow senior outside hitter Ashley Beyer also reached double digits with 10 kills. Beyer notched 13 digs for her second double-double of the season and helped MU to its second consecutive win.

Marquette out hit Southern Miss, .206 to -.018, in the match.

Marquette took an early 5-2 lead to begin the first set and held the advantage for the remainder of the frame. In the opening stanza, Jones and Beyer lead the way for MU with four kills each and sophomore Courtney Mrotek tallied a hitting percentage of .429 with three kills of her own.

After a kill by Beyer to make it 14-7 in the second set, junior Holly Mertens saw her first action since the St. Louis match on Aug. 26 when she checked into the match for Catherine Mayer. Mertens responded immediately with a block on USM's Halie Ecker.

With MU down, 14-15, in the third set, Beyer and Jones combined for three kills to give Marquette a 17-15 lead, which it held for the remainder of the third. Freshman setter Chelsea notched 15 of her 38 assists in the final frame, including seven assists on MU's first seven points of the set.

Ecker lead Southern Miss with eight kills and 11 digs in the losing effort.

Marquette tallied 12 team blocks in the win.

Marquette returns to action Friday evening at 7 p.m. against Akron at the Al McGuire Center. USM will play Milwaukee at the Klotsche Center.